I have always found the lawn the least exciting aspect of the garden. It possesses no real habit or flower. Its color, while often bright and agreeable, is uniformly unsubtle. The scent of the blades of grass, especially when freshly cut, may evoke pleasant memories, but will not elicit our higher senses or appetites the way the fragrance of Rose, Jasmine, or Honeysuckle might. At its best, the lawn can be a comforting presence, giving rise to cool moisture on a hot summer day.

For many Northwest homeowners, however, the lawn is all that matters. There is summer irrigation, fertilizer, broadleaf herbicides, moss killer, thatching, aerating, edging and mowing, mowing, mowing. My neighbor’s lawn, for example, looks something like a billiard table. I suspect that its chemical makeup is about as close to a real meadow as a swimming pool’s might be to a lake. Nearly every other day I hear the jet-engine roar of the Toro next door, followed by the menacing buzz of the line trimmer.

I decided to abandon my gas-powered mower this year in favor of a manual reel push mower. I was motivated less by abstract environmental concerns than practical considerations and a desire to emit less noise. My friend Ljiljana gave me one that she had in her possession and I took it to Aurora Lawnmower this week to have it oiled and sharpened. Today I thought I would test it out for the first time. The sensation of the rotating blades slicing the grass and propelling into the air was as pleasant as the high-pitched whirring sound it made. It was so light weight that it left no brown scars on the turf. Before long my lawn was looking better as good as I’ve ever seen it. Best of all, the noxious fumes and deafening motor sounds were nowhere in evidence.

Unless you have a large estate, I would recommend following my example and making the switch to a manual. If you have one that is well-cared for, you will find that it has many advantages over gas powered models. There is less maintenance, less expense, less pollution, and less annoyance of people in the immediate vicinity.

I have a few other tools that I use on my lawn regularly. For cutting my grass at the shrub bed border, I use a pair of dangerous-looking sheep shears instead of the traditional line trimmer. When I need to edge, I simply use a narrow square shovel. My favorite tool, though, is the ancient Dandelion puller I found in the garage. It is a most remarkable thing: you place the two teeth around the offending weed, put your foot on a pedal, and slowly tilt. More often than not, the Cat’s Ear or Dandelion will pop right out of the lawn.

I do not use any herbicides or pesticides on my lawn. Many of the weed-killing agents in Scott’s turf products are harmful to shrubs and trees whose roots invariably extend outwards into the lawn. I might apply an organic fertilizer in the spring and will sometimes use sand and compost to fill in holes or dead spots before overseeing. When the summer drought hits I don’t bother watering the lawn. Now that my backyard trees are fairly large, however, this area remains shaded through most of the season.

One important thing to remember is that the residential lawn is not a natural state of affairs. The more natural you want your yard to be, the less like a perfect lawn it will look. And if you’re like me, you won’t mind the presence of moss in winter, dried-up grass in summer, and a few harmless broadleaf weeds the rest of the year.