Technological upgrades in electric lawn care spark buzz of interest

BY STEVEN WISBAUM Special to the Observer

While the incessant drone of gas-powered lawnmowers has long been associated with summer in Vermont, it’s a sound that’s becoming less common with the growing popularity of battery electric lawn equipment.

There’s lots of reasons to switch to e-lawn equipment. For one thing, there are now over 25 manufacturers that are making residential zero-turn e-riding mowers. There are also now four manufacturers of heavy-duty commercial lawn mowers with “all-day” run times. In Vermont, these commercial e-mowers are now being used by the University of Vermont, the City of Burlington, Shelburne Farms, the Burlington Airport and at least nine lawn care contractors.

The purchase price of e-lawn equipment is competitive with gas-powered equipment, and the operating costs are significantly lower. In part, this is be - cause the cost of the electricity used by e-lawn care equipment is a lot less than the cost of the gasoline used by conventional equipment. And without an in - ternal combustion engine and fuel system, e-lawn care equipment doesn’t require oil changes or tune-ups. In Vermont, almost

Soil instructions and additional event details can be found at www.go.uvm.edu/soilhealthday. There is a limit of three soil sample bags per family.

In addition to the screening, attendees will learn how to build and maintain healthy garden soils through informational exhibits, self-guided tours of innovative cover crop research and exchanges with UVM Extension Master Gardener volunteers and soil science and health profes -