More lawn-mowing solutions.

Lately Jethro the donkey has been spot-trimming my yard. The damp spots already have lush, tall grass. In the old days I would have grabbed the weedwhacker. Now, on our way out to the neighborhood for our walks, I point him to the tall spots and use the special command: "EAT!" and he mows down the offending patches lickety-split. He's very good at edging - especially where grass grows out between rocks.

Down-side, I never get to use the weed-whacker any more. I mowed more than an acre of grass and weeds with a string trimmer for years, and loved it. I console myself by marveling over the efficiency of donkeys as composting mechanisms.

From Treehugger:

Sheep Replace Lawnmowers In Italy

About 700 sheep have now been employed by Turin officials to keep the grass verges and lawns in city parks neatly trimmed.

Manager of the project, Federico Tombolato, said: "Using sheep is not only cheaper and more environmentally friendly, but we also get to sell them at the end of the process to raise more money."

Here is a smaller scale solution, also four-legged, from New Zealand.

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