a necessary tool if you have shrub-trees too

Wishing I took a photo of him
using it. He was SO happy!

Saturday was yard work day at our house. I love productive weekends in the outdoors because it means we get to enjoy our yard and patio for a few weekends before having to get back out there and get our hands dirty...and arms scratched, and shoes grass stained, and knees bruised. I completed a second phase of weeding our flower beds and between our patio bricks, and some pruning. My husband mowed our lawn and cut back our wood scrap pile with a new power tool he is jazzed about. It is a cordless reciprocating saw and it is amazing.

I was out pruning two weekends ago and our neighbor came over with one. Thank you helpful neighbor. It did wonders on some of the larger branches we have on our shrub-trees. Our yard is full of plants that most people keep pruned and tidied to shrub height, but because the prior homeowner did a whole bunch of nothing in terms of landscaping, we now have shrub-trees. Although they are larger than normal, they are strong and healthy and were a little out of control until these past few weekends. I am not afraid to cut back plants - that is for sure. However, I wanted to watch the nature in our yard for a full year before going buck nutty with the pruners and clippers. If you have branches to cut that don't easily snip off when using a pair of lopping sheers, then you need a reciprocating saw. It also cuts metal, but I cannot think of a time when that will actually be useful. The large branch/small trunk chopping is the only thing I can foresee us using them for and it is well-worth the purchase. I know we could do the work with a chainsaw, but those things scare the hell out of me. I was trained on one many moons ago during a trail crew stint in Vermont, but haven't touched one since and no longer feel comfortable using one. This tool is a happy medium. As long as you are sensible and wear protective goggles, you can't go wrong. Hooray for a beautiful yard and a wonderful new tool!