Home Care Tips

Summer is almost here so there's more work to be done around the house and in the garden. Here's a few more quick reminders on keeping your outdoors looking its best.

Lawn care

Getting your sprinkler system in shape. Spring rains may have gotten the lawn through April, so if you haven't already done so, it's time to turn on the sprinkler system and check that everything is in working order.

Tune up the mower. Be sure to change the oil in your lawn mower and get rid of any old gas left in the tank from last year. Gas left in the tank for more than 90 days can clog the carburetor and make the mower hard to start. You'll also want to check your blades and get them sharpened. Research shows that lawn mowers with sharp blades use 20 percent less fuel on average than mowers with chipped or dull blades.

Vegetable and Flower Gardens

Add compost to your beds. Now is the time to add nutrient rich compost to your flower and vegetable gardens.

Plant your annuals and veggies. Be sure to wait until the last chance for frost has past though.

Prune any flowering shrubs. You'll want to work on pruning soon after flowering.

Best of luck to you and all your growing plants this spring!

Michael L Larson

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