June 26, 2011 - Recycle your rain water

Install a Rain Barrel and Recycle Your Water

If you’ve wondered if there was a simple way for you to contribute to using water responsibly, then you should consider installing a rain barrel. All of the water that runs off your roof and down through your down spouts, is essentially wasted water. Unless of course you have your downspout drain into one of these elegant water barrels like the one featured above. It is an urn-style rain barrel with planter, and includes a drain hose with shut-off valve, and even gives you a small area at the top to plant some flowers. You can use this water to water your gardens or even wash your car. It makes for a great addition to your garden and we can install one for you on your next service.

June 15, 2011 - What’s the correct mowing height?

We always get asked, “how long should I wait before cutting my lawn?” According to the Cornell University Cooperative Extension, cutting the lawn with a lawnmower set at a proper mowing height can save you from having to bag your grass clippings, even if you don’t own a mulching mower. The rule of thumb suggested by the Cornell Extension is, “Mow when your grass is dry and 3 to 3-1/2 inches tall. Never cut it shorter then 2 to 2-1/2 inches or remove more than one third of the leaf surface at any one mowing.”

The idea behind this mowing tip is that the valuable nutrients in the grass clippings can do your lawn some good, left right where they lie after cutting — as long as their bulk is kept at a minimum. By following this rule of thumb and cutting only about an inch off the top of your lawn at any one time, the bulk of the grass clippings is kept low and your lawn will love you for it.

October 25, 2010 - Electric riding mower ahead of its time

Here’s a product that was slightly ahead of its time–The Electric Ox electric riding tractor. Manufactured right here in Burlington Ontario, it was a truly multi-purpose vehicle built before the green movement became so dominant. The Electric Ox – MP was capable of pushing, mowing, towing, grading a path and throwing snow, even a Mennonite would be proud. It had incredible amounts of torque, capable of pulling 7,000lbs! The patented Quick-Attach system meant you could change attachments not machines to do the next chore. In less than ONE MINUTE, you were off to the next task. Another very cool option was the ability to add an AC Inverter that supplied 3 AC power outlets for cord-bound electric tools that could be used in the remotest areas. Very cool!
The Electric Ox – MP’s unique drive system was the key to its power and long battery life. Using a motor for each drive wheel and an electronic differential, the operator received smooth torque on demand with little energy loss. This allowed the Electric Ox to work all day long without a charge in most towing applications and run up to five continuous hours when mowing.
Unfortunately the company went prematurely bankrupt last year, right before the push for commercial grade electric equipment had become so important to the lawn care industry. There is good news however, we spoke to the former president of the company in the summer, and it looks as though they will be back in 2011 with new funding and an all new Electric Ox! The company will be moving manufacturing to the US, which is a little disappointing, but they will be using Canadian engineering none the less. We had a chance to share some of the challenges that we faced this past summer using consumer grade equipment, and expressed our hopes for their next electric riding mower. If we had our druthers we would like the next Electric Ox to have the following features:

• We definitely need a system with swappable batteries. That way, we can charge a second or third set of batteries and simply change them over without having to wait for them to recharge.
• We want a mower with a 60″ cutting path and suggest a reel mower setup as opposed to a rotary blade. We believe this would extend the life of the batteries.
• We also want a snow thrower attachment so that we can extend our zero emissions service to our snow removal customers.

We look forward to seeing what the industry develops over the winter months. Having commercial grade electric and/or battery powered equipment is a must. Let’s hope the industry is listening.

October 4, 2010 - Using The GrassCutters saves the environment…

Throw away your stinky, noisy, fuel sucking lawn mowers.

The GrassCutters zero emissions lawn care service are proud to announce that we saved 4500lbs of greenhouse gases (CO2) from entering the atmosphere this summer. Using the energy produced by our portable solar generator, we were able to charge all of our electric equipment without the need for a single ounce of fossil fuel. Pretty impressive!

Using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Non-Road Emissions Model, a gas mower used for 25 hours will emit the following each year:

• 87 pounds of CO 2 — the greenhouse gas Carbon Dioxide
• 48 pounds of CO — the poison Carbon Monoxide
• 5.6 pounds of VOC — Volatile Organic Compounds
• 0.25 pounds of NO x — Nitrogen Oxides
• 0.02 pounds of SO 2 — Sulfur Dioxide
• 0.02 pounds of PM — particulate matter linked to heart disease and lung cancer

Something to think about the next time you start the mower and cut your lawn.

September 13, 2010 - Book your fall Clean up now!

The GrassCutters are now booking for fall clean ups. Don’t break your back this fall raking leaves, let us look after this for you. Have your leaves raked and bagged for as little as $7 per bag. Book now for late October and November time slots. Space is limited, don’t miss out.

August 10, 2010 - Another lawn repair in East York

The GrassCutters team answers another call for greener lawns. Here we are repairing a small backyard in East York. Smoothing out the lawn with the roller, then adding a fresh layer of triple mix soil and then rolling out fresh new sod. Then soaking it thoroughly with water for 14 days. It will be a green patch of heaven when it’s done.

August 3, 2010 - Greener lawn repair

Our service continues to become greener as our services expand. We found this elegant electric tiller at the Home Depot that plugs into our portable solar power generator which produces clean renewable energy to tear up this customers dried, cinch bug infested lawn. Brian is shown here at the beginning of this 900 sq.ft. lawn repair. Once he’s finished tearing up the old grass, we will dispose of the old lawn, put down a layer of fresh triple mix soil, then lay fresh sod and soak it right through with water. Of course, it is important for the customer to continue watering for 14 days in order for the new sod to take.

June 29, 2010 - Dead grass? Try our lawn repair service.

Lawn repair for as little as $1.55 per/sqft.

The GrassCutters provide a fast, friendly lawn repair (sodding service) for as little as $1.55 per/sqft. We clear your existing dead grass, add and level a fresh layer of triple mix soil, then we lay down brand new sod. If you have a damaged lawn from insect infestation, water damage, or poor soil conditions, this is the best way to correct the problem.

Once the sod is installed, the most important part begins – the watering.

It is absolutely crucial to keep the lawn constantly moist for the first 14 days. That means watering it at least 2 times a day, and if possible – even more! The extensive watering schedule must be maintained during the first weeks after Sodding is done, until the roots take deeper into the ground, and are able to draw moisture deeper below the surface. Get the lawn you deserve now!

June 18, 2010 - Live Green Toronto Festival

The GrassCutters are proud to be an exhibitor at the Live Green Toronto Festival happening August 28 & 29, 2010 at Yonge-Dundas Square. Last year’s event had about 40,000 people in attendance. It’s a great opportunity for local businesses to promote green living and feature their green products and services. Please join us on Yonge Street Saturday August 28, from 11 am to 8 pm. We’ll be demonstrating our portable solar generator and giving away free organic lemonade and some tasty organic ShaSha cookies. We’ll also be drawing 3 FREE residential grass cutting service packages for the 2011 season. So, get your keister down there to say hello.

June 15, 2010 - Winner of The GrassCutters Photo Contest

Winner of TheGrassCutters "How Green are You" photo contest

We are thrilled to announce the winner of our “How Green are You” photo contest we ran in April/May with Lenzr photo contests. Lenzr did a great job putting together a successful campaign and we are very grateful. Slimmswitch (I hope this is his nickname) won the Neuton CE6 battery powered lawnmower that we gave away for the best example of green. He’s pictured here enjoying his new battery powered mower courtesy of The GrassCutters. Maybe we should offer him a job?

Slimmswitch reports that the high technology lawnmower is flawless. It’s good, fast and really quiet. He’s been tweeting about it @LOCOHIPPO.