Letters

Lawn care is hard work, and Southampton Village and the Town of Southampton are lucky to have so many fabulous landscaping companies contributing to the extraordinary beauty of our community.

We started a company, Reel Quiet Mowing, in 2015 with two reel push mowers, two rakes, a broom and a battery-powered blower. Although, we might not have been able to mow a yard as fast as those sitdown, driven gas-powered mowers, we were certainly able to do the small properties in the village quite expediently with no loud motor noise and much less air pollution. Also, we did time ourselves and could rake as fast as three guys using gas-powered blowers.

We did invest in a battery-powered blower but rarely used it, and never to blow off a sidewalk or driveway — we had a broom for that. Those blades of grass on a gravel driveway have a magical way of disappearing overnight. You don’t have to blow them off.

For the record, we don’t like the noise from any powered blower, but as a first step we hope the village trustees and Town Board will take the responsible step of banning gas-powered blowers year-round.

Drawdown East End and the Perfect Earth Project are leading the way in helping property owners understand the big picture of lawn care. Let’s hope the owners of the properties who want every blade of grass blown to kingdom come learn that it is up to them to ask their lawn care company to roll back the use of blowers.

Hilary Herrick Woodward

Sally Van Allen

Southampton