This post is sponsored by Toro, but all content and opinions are solely my own.
My yard is approximately the size of a postage stamp. A 3,000sf postage stamp. That includes the house, shed, driveway, brick patio, 1 tree, 170sf of grass, and gardens around every corner- literally. It's my little garden oasis. At the beginning of every summer, it's a process to get it season-ready, though. Between cleaning up leaves, weeding, trimming the bushes. and spreading what seems like a million bags of mulch (ok closer to 30), I always spend more of my free time doing yard work in June than I ever anticipate. Luckily once the bulk of work is done, the daily and weekly maintenance is a breeze for the rest of the summer and we get to sit back, relax, and enjoy our little yard.
Prior to it's yearly taming each spring, the yard starts getting a little wild and with it's minuscule size, a little wild feels a lot wild.
In my minuscule yard, we also have a minuscule shed that needs to hold a snow blower, manual lawn mower, all of my shovels, rakes, and outside tools, and now a stroller. For me, not only is having the right tool to get the job done important, but the more compact the better...... cordless is a plus, multipurpose tools is a huge plus, easy to store is a massive plus. To help with this year's taming of the yard, Toro kindly sent me a couple Toro PowerPlex™ 40V Max* Lithium Ion Products to try.
I first set out on the front yard with the Toro PowerPlex™ 13 inch string trimmer/edger on the front yard. All 170sf of it. We use a manual mower that came with the house, but with each mow, we use a trimmer to get all the edges and anything the push mower missed. And the morning glories. I have a love/hate relationship with morning glories. Every year, by the end of summer, the metal fence is covered with beautiful morning glories (yay!) but they grow like weeds and will try to take over my lawn, garden, and anywhere possible (boo!)- string trimmer to the rescue!
This handy little trimmer has an extra long battery life (up to 45 min!) which was an issue we had with our previous trimmer. It can also easily rotate to be used as an edger with a guide and wheel. Multi-purpose tool? Sold!
String trimmers/edgers are nice and handy, but what I was more excited to use was the Toro PowerPlex™ 24 inch hedge trimmer. This was my old hedge trimmer.....
They work great for small tasks, but trimming larger bushes... say a 12+ foot tall burning bush... is pretty much impossible with it. Toro PowerPlex™ 24 inch hedge trimmer to the rescue! Please excuse the stank-face...I was glaring at the sun, not the trimmer.
I'm loving that it's cordless. In years past I've tried borrowing my dad's corded trimmer for the task, and this trimmer is so much easier to navigate than a corded one that you're constantly afraid of cutting the cord. It also feels so much safer since you need to have both hands on the trimmer or it will automatically turn off.
When at long last (or so it seems) the yard is finally tamed for the season, I get to take a deep breath, pull out my folding hammock, and enjoy the space all summer with minimal maintenance.
Thanks Toro PowerPlex™ 40V Max* Lithium Ion Products for helping me get my yard summer-ready!