March e-Newsletter

Taking care of your mower before the mowing season begins will help avoid problems in the future.  Here's a checklist of items to do to prepare your mower (and other lawn equipment) for the season.

• Clean the mower, underside too
• Change the oil and filter
• Replace the air filter
• Sharpen the blade & tighten
• Replace the spark plug
• Check all belts and replace if worn
• Charge the battery and make sure the terminals are tightly connected
• Drain old gas and start with fresh high quality gasoline
• Lubricate all moving parts

Always check the oil and make sure the mowing blade is secure before each use.

Cleaning the air filter, sharpening the blade and lubricating should be done with every 10 hours of use.

It's time to think about pre-emergent weed control.  The only natural pre-emergent available is corn gluten meal.  Corn gluten is packaged under a number of brand names.  The corn gluten product I carry is called PreMerge.  A bonus to using corn gluten for weed control is that it also contains 10% nitrogen, so it will green up the lawn as well.  PreMerge is available in 6 pound or 20 pound bags.