Part of the soundtrack to a day in southern California is the drone of petrol-powered gardening equipment.
Noise is one of the main reasons that cities around the US, external are banning petrol landscaping tools or encouraging electric alternatives.
These alternatives have the additional benefits of reducing carbon emissions, vibrations and the exposure of landscapers to pollution.
In addition they can mean longer working hours, as they can be used at times when residents demand quiet.
Today, I’m taking part in training run by the American Green Zone Alliance (AGZA), an organisation supporting the transition towards electric landscaping equipment.
To my surprise, the electric backpack leaf blower I strap on is not much heavier than my normal rucksack. Using the blower to herd balls around the park feels fairly intuitive, though naturally I’m much clumsier and slower than the pro landscapers.
As for noise, there’s still a buzz, but the sound is higher-pitched and not quite so loud as the familiar petrol-powered machines.
The move to electric power is attracting new companies to the market for gardening kit.
US aerospace start-up Whisper Aero is one of those firms. Its main business is electric propulsion systems for aircraft.
But in 2022, after the Covid-19 pandemic made many people more sensitive to noise, and following a couple of years of research and development, the company realised that its aerospace-grade fans would work well in leaf blowers.
“Our technology is cleaner, quieter and more efficient than other air-moving technologies that exist today,” according to Andrew Terajewicz, Whisper Aero’s director of air management. “And the leaf blower is the perfect mix of this.”
The battery on Whisper Aero’s blower lasts up to 50 minutes at full power.
The company has had to scale up its manufacturing volume in its expansion to consumer technology.
Online pre-orders of Whisper Aero’s handheld leaf blower started this year. It’s priced at the high-end of electric leaf blowers, which are often more expensive than traditional petrol versions.
But for that you get a machine which is less likely to disturb the peace.
“It is so ultra quiet yet powerful, that the brain has a hard time understanding what’s happening,” says Dan Mabe, the former landscaper who founded AGZA.
Whisper Aero aims to further develop its products, including a backpack leaf blower that would be better suited to professional landscapers.
Even with innovation like that, petrol-powered machines are unlikely to disappear anytime soon, particularly for professional landscapers.
For a start, petrol machines are much more powerful, which makes for quicker work, so less time is spent lugging around heavy equipment.
Terajewicz says that heavy-duty petrol backpack blowers can reach a maximum blowing force of about 50 newtons.
The handheld Whisper Aero blower typically runs at about half that, though it can go higher.
Another big issue is runtime. Professional gardeners like to use their blowers at full throttle.
“For us, it’s a little bit hard to use electric,” explains Carlos Camarena, a supervisor for a California landscaping company.
Camarena’s company uses electric tools where they’re required to, in cities with ordinances banning petrol tools. But when they have a choice, they stick to petrol.
His company typically uses batteries that last for about 30 minutes. A crew has six batteries charging at any given time; each takes about 45 minutes to reach a full charge.
Then there’s the considerable upfront cost of going electric. One landscaper estimates that it would cost his business around $10,000 (£7,540) to transition all their equipment.
The subsidies and rebates offered by some local governments may not be enough to offset the cost of the switch.
The change would be even harder for landscapers who work as sole proprietors, with a single vehicle and limited space for charging and storing equipment.
Added to that is the weight of tools with multiple batteries, and the cost of accessories to hold them all.
Nevertheless the biggest makers of power tools are investing in electric.
Stihl, a power tool manufacturer headquartered in Germany, aims for battery-powered equipment to make up 35% of its sales by next year, and 80% by 2035.
It’s on track to meet the 2027 goal in Europe, though sales in the US have been slower.
To help reach its targets, the company opened its first plant solely manufacturing batteries and tools, in Romania in 2025.
“We like to say that we are dual-technology leaders,” says Paul Hicks, senior marketing and product manager at Stihl GB.
“So we are being very open with our customers if in some cases a petrol tool may be a better solution for them… But in the large majority of cases, battery-power tools pay off fairly swiftly because of the cost of fuel.”
In May, Stihl announced a new battery system that uses high-performance batteries.
These batteries use a relatively new, more efficient design for lithium battery cells, known as tabless cells.
Tabless cells have 60% more peak power than standard cells, according to Hicks. This means that the batteries charge faster, and landscapers can take fewer batteries out to sites.
The batteries are also relatively lightweight.
Mabe believes that overall, for gardeners embracing long-lasting electric equipment, “There’s big rewards if they can make it work.”
Back in southern California, landscaper Camarena sees the benefits of electric tools. “We don’t contaminate the air,” he says.
“When we use the gas blower, some people get mad. They are reading a book or something.”
