Spring Lawn Mower Maintenance

Spring is a great time for some lawn mower maintenance. Follow these 5 steps and you will be ready to mow!

Change the oil. This is one of the most important steps. Also, check the oil periodically during the season to make sure it’s at the correct level.

Check the air filter. The air filter typically doesn’t need to be replaced every year. If it is slightly dirty you can clean it, but if it is very dirty or damaged, it is a good idea to replace it.

Check the spark plug. If you are having trouble starting your mower, this can be a common cause. If the plug is very dirty or dark on the end, then it may be time to replace it.

Sharpen your blade. You can sharpen the blade on your own with a metal file or a bench grinder, or you can have a pro do it. Either way, a sharp blade is vital to having clean-cut grass. This practice should be done a couple of times during the season. It may be a good idea to buy a spare blade to use while your other one is being sharpened.

Setting the mower height. For the best results, set the height at 3 inches during the cooler times of the year, and 3.5 inches during the summer months. A higher mowing height can aid you in keeping the weeds and crabgrass out of your lawn. This will also result in thicker grass and a lawn that will not dry out as quickly.

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Spring Lawn Mower Maintenance

Quackgrass vs. Crabgrass

Each spring, we receive questions regarding an ugly, wide-bladed grass growing in lawns. Customers are mistakenly identifying this grass as crabgrass. It is a easy mistake to make because they look so similar, but this ugly grass is actually quackgrass, not crabgrass.

Quackgrass in the spring

Quackgrass is a perennial grass that is one of the first grasses to come out of dormancy each spring. Many homeowners confuse this thick-bladed “junk grass” with crabgrass.

Quackgrass has a huge root system so pulling it out is not a long term solution. Because quackgrass is a variety of grass, there aren’t chemical products available that know the difference between quack- grass and the other good varieties of grass in the lawn. Round-Up is good at controlling quackgrass, but applying it will also kill desirable grass around it.

We have heard of customers who have applied Round-Up in an interesting way. They will put a rubber glove on their hand with a cotton glove over the rubber glove. Then dip the gloved hand into Round-Up, and coat the quackgrass blades with the liquid. The Round-Up kills quackgrass roots and all in about 10 days.

Crabgrass in the summer

Crabgrass is a summer annual. It is similar in appearance to quackgrass because it grows in clumps and faster than the grass around it. It germinates in mid-May and starts appearing in lawns in July. Our first lawn care application includes a crabgrass pre- venter which is our best defense against this un- sightly grass. The second best thing to help prevent crabgrass is a high mowing height. We see less crabgrass in lawns that are mowed between 3 and 3.5 inches than lawns mowed below 3 inches.

Moles vs Voles

Mole or Vole Damage?

Over the winter months, moles and voles continue to work in your lawn.  These two pests damage a lawn in different ways and identifying them is key in controlling them.

Click here for more information on identifying Voles vs Moles