When the homeowner shuns the lawn care contractor or lawn care service, it's important to know what equipment is critical to work the landscaping.

When a homeowner opts to avoid the lawn care contractor or service company and instead takes the bull by the horns and does it personally, it's important to have a dependable arsenal of lawn care and landscaping tools. A recent article covered lawnmowers since that's the workhorse of the arsenal. Let's look at other kinds of lawn equipment.

The Landscaping Edgers

The landscaping edger is a specialized tool to do what the name implies – trim edges. Most often these are used to cut a smooth line along curbs, sidewalks, and driveways. In short, anywhere concrete meets lawn. They can also be used where grass meets flowerbed.

Like lawnmowers, there are two basic types of edgers: electric and gas powered. The selection is really a matter of personal preference. The electric edger is a green tool on the user's end (only the electricity produced at the source puts out carbon emissions).

The gas-powered cordless edger has a big advantage over the electric model – no cord to drag around. But the two-stroke engine produces fumes and is quite a bit louder.

The Weed Eater or Weed Whacker

Ah, multi-tasking at its best! The weed eater is a great tool. With a bit of practice, it can do the job of the landscaping edger, eliminating one tool from the arsenal. This tool also performs other tasks, such as getting in where the mower doesn't reach, and clearing grass or brush that's too high for the mower.

This baby also comes in a gas or electric model. The gas weed eater will give you more bang for the buck. They are basically easy to maintain. The most common weed eater parts that get replaced are the cutting string and the head that holds the strings.

There's not much maintenance other than that. The head only needs to be replaced when it gets too banged up (it's whacked on the ground to extend the string). The spark plug should be changed in the spring. Under most conditions, a reel of cutting string will last an hour or two.

The Wheelbarrow

Okay, a wheelbarrow might seem pretty basic, but this one-wheeled friend will save you a lot of work. It can be used to move all the landscaping equipment from one area to the next or help hump bags of soil and landscape supplies to the newest focus area.

The wheelbarrow has only one wheel in front. There are two tire choices: solid, and inflatable. An inflatable wheel will give you softer, less bouncy ride, but it needs to be filled up with air and may go flat.

Shovels and Rototillers

The shovel is a basic tool for preparing small landscape areas or digging post holes. Several blade designs are available: flat, spade, or post hole, for example.

A rototiller on the other hand, is used to turn soil in larger areas of the garden or landscape area. These are motorized, will save you hours of back-breaking work, and best of all, you don't need a mule!

Landscaping Equipment Manufacturers

There are many selections out there but which manufacturers make reliable models? Stihl, Black & Decker, John Deere, Ryobi, Honda, and Homelite are considered the leading companies.

As always, use your safety equipment when operating landscaping equipment.