maintaining grass/meadow areas with scythe?

our garden 'lawn' has varying length areas of grass & wildflowers/weeds, we like the long parts but down-side is when you need to cut it, it takes longer to cut with strimmer or shears as its too much for our mower. I've been thinking about whether there is a more efficient hand tool, maybe a scythe?

Does anyone have experience using one?

Note, I'm quite short and weak! but I do like exercising via gardening.

 

Used them years ago and can be good, but there is a nack to useing them, you've either got it or not, good for your lower back muscles and you have to watch out for your feet, you will have to make sure the scythe is sharp or it will be very hard to use, it even can be faster than a strimmer

scythe vs strimmer - Bing video

 

Hi,

Depends on how many visits to A&E you want !!

Seems the essence of the Scythe or smaller Sickle is keeping the blade razor sharp and being able to hold and move it in the correct manner to effect a good cut.
Plenty of Ytubes on using them, looks like hard work to us !

Have to ask how big an area your lawn /meadow is and why a strimmer is not doing a good job ? Would getting a bigger one as used by the professional gardeners work better ?
You could also just hire a big one for a day to prove it does the job ok.

 

Hehe yes - I've already thought about how scary those blades are

the areas are small and easily doable with shears/strimmer, will probably always needs shears when near trees etc - I just get bored easily!

looking about online another option is a scythette? -maybe better for small person in smaller area with some obstacles.

 

I was under the impression that scythes actually are easier to use on long grass.

If I cant be bothered to get out extension and strimmer I often grab my old sickle to cut down the odd bit of grass on the allotment, it does do my back in, mostly because I have to bend all the time I'm using it.
I would think a scythe would be less hard on the back, but only suitable for larger areas really.

 

I have lots of long grass here and cut it once or twice a year with a strimmer. I always check the grass first for anyone who may be sleeping/ living in it, ie, hedgehogs, shrews, baby birds, etc.

 

I use to cut several acres a year on a local job. Was good old tough grass and used a Stihl brushcutter. The secret for grass is not to use the star shaped metal tools as they are slow and a nasty surprise may happen if somethings in the grass.
The line needs to be a thin as you can get away with as the wider the diameter the more resistance you have which slows down the head speed. The only reason I used the big old brushcutter was it had cow horns, harness and low vibrations which helped my white finger issue.
thankfully I don’t do that job now as it was mind numbing.

 

hmmm- many options worth trying, Thanks to everyone for all the input!
guess it boils down to upping the sharpness of hand tools or a better power tool (our cheap strimmer is broken/apparently burnt out)...

So my plan of action now - 1st sharpen the shears, then @pete reminds me I've always wanted to have a go with a sickle, not sure why I'm drawn to sharp things on sticks

I normally cut in sections over a month or two, 50% flattened rather than cut! so long as its ok for the mower to take over then its fine. So plenty of time for experimenting. Hope I can develop a good sickle technique, i saw a promising method with a stick in other hand, and may be ok without a strimmer.

 

Lovely wild patches I would be super chuffed to have orchids growing in mine!

 

It is around 30 years since I used a scythe but that was the only grass cutting method at my grandparents' place. I remember scything being easy and enjoyable once you got the rhythm right, swing-step-swing-step-swing. I still own a fair few toes.

Technically you are supposed to do it sort of sideways so as not to step on the cut grass but I never learnt that, much to the desperation of my brother in law. But the grass got cut and BIL got the boring duty of collecting the cuttings.

The important bit is to sharpen the blade ever so often, and not to cut too low as swinging the blade into the soil will give a nasty jerk to the arms. But all in all, scytheing is nicer than using a power strimmer that gives unpleasant shakes to the hands. Then again, it could just be that my 20 years old body was better placed for any job than this 50 years old one