Whether you cross your lawn simply as a path from the car to the house or pause to admire the fruits of your labors, we've got what you need to care for your patch of green, green grass.
Most people fall into one of two categories when it comes to lawns. Type A homeowners go beyond simply caring for their lawns. These people are obsessed. The Ohio man, for example, who spends four hours every Saturday mowing his acreage to perfection. Type B includes all those who label lawn care a nasty chore. Some in this category also go to the extreme, like the Arizona couple who let their grass go to scrub in the scorching heat, then covered it with a load of gravel and two low-maintenance cactuses. Whether Type A or B, or somewhere in between, most people want the same thing: a beautiful lawn. A thick, cool, emerald green, walk-across-it-barefoot lawn. This spring, do-it-yourself lawn owners have more mowers, blowers, gadgets, techniques, and chemical compounds at their disposal than ever before. Here's a roundup of the best new stuff to tame your terra firma.

MOW NO MORE
For those who don't want to mow but get impatient waiting for the lawn guy to show up, the Jetsons era is here. Friendly Robotics' $795 battery-operated Robomower RL500 (pictured above) can typically trim lawns as large as 3,200 square feet. First, lay a perimeter wire along the boundaries of the yard (the wire sends signals to the sensors in the mower). Next, flip on the switch. Then, take to your hammock and watch Robomower work. Robomower utilizes tactile bumpers to avoid rocks, pets, and sprinkler heads. It's fully automatic, but can be converted for manual use. (But why would you want to do that?) One more thing: It mulches automatically. Now, if they could just teach it to take out the garbage and sort laundry. Also out this spring is Toro's iMow robotic lawn mower, which uses Friendly Robotics' licensed technology.