It’s no secret gas-powered leaf blowers make a lot of noise.
“I think we’ve all had the experience of walking past somebody using a gas blower on full throttle,” says Dan Dyson, branch manager of the Burtonsville branch of Level Green Landscaping.
“You can’t hear anything except the blower. Put a couple of them together and it’s deafening noise.”
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
“Last week I was on a job where the edgers, the weed eaters and the blowers were all electric,” Dyson says. “You barely knew we were there. You could actually have a conversation.”
Expect more of that quiet in Montgomery County next summer when a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers goes into effect.
Starting July 1, 2025, the use of hand-held, backpack, and walk-behind gas-powered leaf removal equipment is banned in Montgomery County.
Landscaping crews used to wielding the powerful gas tools for clearing debris will have to use quieter battery-powered blowers.
But that quiet comes with trade-offs.
What will the leaf blower law mean for our customers?
Dyson walks us through the changes to expect from the Montgomery County leaf blower ban:
First, Why the Ban?
Municipalities like Montgomery County that enact leaf blower laws say they pose too many environmental hazards, from spewing dangerous emissions into the air to creating harmful noise pollution to disrupting the habitats of critical pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths.
A new report on the impacts of gas-powered lawn and garden equipment in Massachusetts estimated that the devices generated more than 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide in 2020 — an amount equivalent to the pollution from 135,0000 cars.
Battery technology is much cleaner than fossil fuels, too. While most battery components can be recycled and reused, once gas is burned, it just pollutes the air.
But… Less Noise Means Less Power
“Electric blowers are not as noisy — the problem is they’re also not as powerful,” Dyson says.
“It takes us longer to do the work,” he says. “And not just us. This is industry wide, as more leaf blower laws will be going into place.”
Electric blowers become more powerful every year, but that power comes at a cost. The more powerful a blower, the less battery life each battery has to power the blower.
It takes a blower on full power to move a large leaf pile. A blower on full power only lasts roughly 15 to 20 minutes before a new battery is needed.
While crews using powerful gas blowers go back to their trucks about every two hours to refill the machines’ gas tanks, battery- powered blowers need new batteries every 15 to 20 minutes, which means more pauses for switching batteries.
“We’ll be moving slower with electric blowers,” Dyson says.
Leaf blowing season will be a big challenge, he says, as the electric blowers just aren’t as powerful.
“It will take us longer to clean up the debris.”
Another Challenge: Charging So Many Batteries
The gas blower ban means a lot more batteries needed to power all the electric blowers.
“A big challenge is how to keep those batteries charged,” Dyson says.
Hundreds of batteries will need to be charged at Level Green facilities overnight each day.
Level Green will be upgrading the electrical capabilities at their facilities to accommodate the extra needs, Dyson says.
It’s an expansive and expensive endeavor, requiring installation of new electric lines, meters, and charging stations, as well as investment in more of the expensive electric blowers and batteries.
What Customers Will Notice
How does the Montgomery County leaf blower ban affect Level Green customers?
You’ll notice a few things:
Quiet!
No more deafening noise from those loud gas blowers.
Longer-Working Crews
Crews will be on your property longer to ensure the same high-quality work you expect. You might notice more crew members than before tackling large leaf-removal jobs.
Parking Changes
You might notice Level green trucks parked in different spots on your property than before, as we adjust our job mapping for the best possible efficiency. Crews want to access new batteries as quickly as possible.
“We will have to walk back to our truck to get a new battery frequently,” Dyson says. “It’s a big adjustment.”
More Mulching Leaves
When leaf season brings more and heavier debris, you will notice crews mulching leaves with mowers as opposed to blowing them and loading them on trucks for composting, Dyson says.
Mulching leaves in this way is good for lawns. Mowers break the leaves down into nutritious bits beneficial to your turf. They’ll begin decomposing, acting as a natural fertilizer.
Crews Might Arrive Earlier Than Before
“At a retirement home or an apartment complex or any residential building, you can’t run a gas blower at 7:30 am due to the noise,” Dyson says. “With electric blowers, you can. That’s definitely a plus.”
Increased Cost of Service
When crews use electric blowers, it takes longer to achieve the quality work customers expect. That means our clients will see the cost of their landscape maintenance increase in the short term. We hope improvements in battery technology over time will help increase efficiency and level out costs.
Doing the Right Thing
“This is new, and anything new takes some getting used to,” Dyson says. “It’s going to take some time to adjust, for the industry as a whole. Everybody has the same issues.
“Once our customers realize what’s going on, I think they’ll be understanding,” he says. “We’ll still be maintaining high quality. It’s just going to take us longer as we figure out this new tool.”
It’s a multi-layered challenge, Dyson says.
“We need to comply with the leaf blower ban, be efficient and provide the best value for our customers,” he says.
“It will take us longer to do our job, but it’s better for the environment,” Dyson says. “It’s not just the law. For the environment, it’s the right thing to do.”
Trust Your Commercial Landscaping to Level Green
Here at Level Green Landscaping, we strive for the best possible balance between environmental legislation and our customers’ desire for the best- looking properties possible.
We’ll continue to keep you updated on evolving legislation like the Montgomery County leaf blower ban that affects how we care for your landscaping.
If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers. Our landscape maintenance services in DC, Maryland, and Virginia focus on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities and institutions.
Contact us at 202-544-0968. You can also request a free consultation online to meet with us one-on-one.
We’d love to hear from you.
