Doing lawn care myself
 

I have a courtyard villa, which has very little grass and some shrubs. After dealing with a lawn care service, I've decided try doing it myself. Please give me any advice from any of you that do your own lawn care. Since I have very little grass, I'm wanting to know if a real mower will be good or an electric or battery powered mower will be best. Also, trimming shrubs, what should I use...electric or battery. I tend to want battery powered items for the yard. Also, any advice on fungicide and fertilizer for zoysia grass in Fl. Thank you for any advice you can give me :)

Zoysia info:
Central Florida Sod Farm | Lake Jem Farms
EMPIRE Turf | Zoysia Grass | One Lawn, Many Benefits
http://www.sodsolutions.com/t_empire.shtml
Circle C Farms - Interactive Problem Solving

I have an electric mower and hedge clippers. They work great and never have a problem starting, which can easily happen with gasoline engines. I have a big lawn and my electric mower gets it done. You will learn how to efficiently handle the electrical cord- get one that is at least 50 -57 foot; depending on the size of the area you have to cut. Also, it is critical that you do NOT run over the cord and do NOT mow when grass is wet...remember you are dealing with electricity. The mower blade is same as gas mower and will take a hand or finger if you reach under!!!! Be SAFE!!! :)

Sounds like a Reel Mower would do the job. Get a decent one (circa $100) that will push easily. For trimming shrubs all you need is a Black and Decker 18v Battery operated hedge trimmer and possibly a string trimmer for edging. Both are easy to use and are powered by rechargeable batteries. No gas and no power cords. Treating the grass, you're on your own.

I tried a reel mower that was supposed to work well on the type of grass I have....very hard to push...did cost about $100. I sent it back to Amazon. bought a used corded electric mower from someone on this board. haven't used it yet but it looks like it will do the job fine.

i like electric battery just does not do the job on our shrubs

We have a regular ranch style. Use a gas powered mulching mower and usually cut in in evening hours. I prefer to cut ours and do all trimming and edging. No one ever acused me of having good sense anyway!

Thank you all for your advice. I'm going to try to do this myself, because I got tired of having to call the lawn care service telling them things that needed to be done when I paid for full service. It was really disappointing.

We have a patio villa - we do everything - small cordless electric mower - trimmer - we even apply the lawn care products - Scott's has a program for zosia grass at Ace Hardware - pm me if you need any additional info.

Ace in Wildwood has a master gardener who can help with the treatments If you have a problem take some pictures with your phone and take them to Ace guy. It has worked for me.