General
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Spring Mulching
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 07 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: General
If it is dry this weekend I am planning to wire the backyard (only got
to the front last year) and let Betsie do some mulching of leaves and
overgrown ground cover plants.
The backyard is small and bordered by the deck and some 4x4s lining
the flower beds. It sees almost 100% shade so the grass is rather on
the thin side. The previous owners of our house also had 3 kids, so
it’s a bit trampled and muddy. Once I get the leaves cleaned up I
want to put down seed so Betsie has more to mow.
Brrr!
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 06 Feb 2007 | Tagged as: General
Hard to believe the groundhog was serious about spring coming soon
when it’s 10 degrees (F) in Virginia….
I didn’t put Betsie into indoor storage because we haven’t really had
any rain or snow around here. I do check now and then and make sure
she’s still receiving power… but she’s been in Pause mode since late
November.
Blade Height Adjustment
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 21 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: General
This is what Betsie’s blade height adjustment looks like when it’s pulled up. I have it set right around the 2″ line right now…. or maybe those are centimeters…
Lawn Links
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 21 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: General
I’ve been digging up some links that I want to read later….
Clover is good for your lawn
http://www.lesslawn.com/articles/article1061.html
More Clover and Frequent Mowing to Remove Dandelions
http://www.holisticbirds.com/HBN01/june/pages/clover1.htm
An Amazon Guide: So you’d like to… *Have a Nice Lawn without Dedicating
Your Life To It*
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/3T5ESEN0PK1LI
Gardener Yardener Blog – I think I’ll start reading this one, looks fun.
http://gardeneryardener.blogspot.com/
This page is about Lawn Restoration:
http://www.hometips.com/articles/yardcare/lawn_restoration/lawn_rest1.html
The Consumer Reports review of Robotic Lawnmowers – with Betsie’s kind right
at the top
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/lawn_and_garden/robotic-lawn-mowers/index.html
Not related to Betsie, but I’m in the market for a hedge trimmer.
Hedge Trimmers –
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/lawn_and_garden/hedge-trimmers/index.html
Shiny!
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 21 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: General
Here’s the shiny new blade sent from KA. All the better to chop up leaves with!
Original Blade after one rough summer
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 21 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: General
Time for a new blade…. I’m not sure what broke the two end tips off… it was partly repetitive strain from straightening them numerous times. And it might have been that pesky tree route near the edge of the house. I have to wire that out.
Super Short Grass
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 09 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: General
I was browsing the FAQ at the Probotics Lawnbott Learning
Center and it refreshed my memory to the varying blade lengths Betsie
can cut to: “3/4 to 2 3/4 inches.” I usually leave her set for the taller
end of that. I can’t imaging how short 3/4 of an inch is! Most of my
neighbors leave their lawns longer than even the 2.5 inches mine ends up
being. 3/4 inches must look like a golf course…
Actually a little research shows that golf course greens are generally 3/16″
tall…
It seems like when I cut it it went from very green to less so, because it
had never been that short before. I am curious about thatch and how my lawn
will do in the spring and whether I can make it shorter over time.
It’s been raining for a few days, but is finally sunny today. Tonight I’ll
let Bets chop up more leaves, after I install the new blade.
Mulching the leaves
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 05 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: General
We might still have to rake, but for now Betsie is chomping up the
leaves. As you can see, the one tree (aspen I think) hasn’t dropped any
yet.
View from my living room
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 21 Oct 2006 | Tagged as: General
It’s been raining a lot here, and with all the house stuff, and it being
fall now, Betsie hasn’t been out much.
She is out now though! I wired out one of the trees and fixed the wire
where the utility people messed it up (they dug up the yard to run new
cable tv cables). Someone in a big green SUV is sitting in the middle
of the street watching her mow… at least, I think that’s what they’re
doing.
Rain Storms
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 11 Oct 2006 | Tagged as: General
It started raining here in Charlottesville and didn’t stop for 2 days. Many inches of water fell, maybe a record for this time of year. The creek that runs behind our house looked high enough to navigate, even 2 days later. Water was pouring out of the downspouts in rivers (except the back one, it must be clogged).
How did Betsie handle this? No major problems. The temporary cover I had set up for her charger and transmitter got flooded, but once dried out everything worked fine. I’m working on a better location for them, but she’s back to mowing away on the front lawn.
I set up wiring on the side lawn, but since we didn’t want too many wires crossing the driveway, this is a manual mow area, I have to carry her over there and start her. The area is so small though that I think it would be a waste of time to mow it automatically as a zone.
The back yard is mostly mud right now. Hopefully we can add some drainage, top soil, and more grass next year.
One thing that has been interesting… everyone compares Betsie to the Roomba. This is probably good news for iRobot if they ever do come out with a lawn mower… but for now, it makes the robot concept easier to grasp.