RogerBW's Blog

One Man Went To Mow 26 September 2014

After I did the scythe course in August, I ordered one from The Scythe Shop, and now I've put it to use in the garden. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

As those of you who've been to recent barbecues will have seen, the garden has been turned over to tall grass and meadow plants. They've gone to seed now, so it was time to take them out for the winter.

Before:

The First Swath:

(According to Clive Leeke, in standard English it rhymes with "moth", not "bath" or "bathe". Compare "wrath".)

This took about five minutes. All the time I was cutting, I was surrounded by a glorious smell of cut plants, something I've never noticed with a lawnmower.

I did most of it in five and ten minute chunks, pausing to cool off. Once one's got the hang of the motion, one can make remarkable progress in a short time, while retaining a feeling of contact with the earth and an awareness of the differing lumpiness and firmness of the ground.

Alas, I rapidly filled our garden bin, so I left most of the cuttings on the ground.

And then a final trim with the cuttings removed:


  1. Posted by Michael Cule at 10:47am on 26 September 2014

    Next time you should see if you can manage video of the event.

  2. Posted by RogerBW at 11:29am on 26 September 2014

    Heh. A time-lapse camera might have been more to the point.

    This video is pretty much what I was doing (when I had the space to do it in; edges and tubs and things are tricky).

  3. Posted by Carinthia at 02:46pm on 26 September 2014

    I'm sure that it is particularly satisfying. I could sneeze at the mere thought though. ;) xx

  4. Posted by RogerBW at 02:50pm on 26 September 2014

    I bet it happens less than with a lawn mower; the stems aren't being thrashed about as much. (Not that this garden is particularly allergy-friendly in the first place.)

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