5 Spring Lawn Care Tools to Make Your Life Easier

It’s time to break out the lawn care tools and get your yard in shape for the warm weather. However, there’s more to taking care of your lawn than simply cutting the grass. There are trees and shrubs to consider, and maybe even an ongoing project or two that requires removing a few bushes.

Having the right tools for the job can make all of this easier. Here are five lawn care tools to help you get your yard into shape and keep it that way all summer long.

1. Lawnmower

Number one on your list of necessary tools for your lawn is a lawnmower, and there’s a wide range of available choices. Push mowers work well for small jobs, but a riding mower is a good call if your lawn is very large or you have accessories to pull behind, such as a trailer, spreader or aerator.

Also, know that there are gas mowers as well as electric mowers, which run on rechargeable batteries. If you do go electric, be sure to check that you have enough power to do the job. Consider getting an extra battery pack so you can swap them out — unless you like the look of a half-mowed lawn.

No matter which mower and accessories you pick, good maintenance and proper storage is key.

2. Fertilizer Spreaders

Fertilizer needs to be applied yearly to ensure that your lawn grows thick and green, but tossing it randomly around by hand is not a good idea. If you miss a spot, the grass won’t grow to its fullest and lushest, but if there’s too much in any one spot, it can kill the grass completely. This is why you should invest in a fertilizer spreader.

There are small hand-crank models, models that you push along like a mower and even some that you can pull behind a tractor. The push style is a good medium that makes it easy to ensure proper coverage because you can see the wheel marks in the grass and know exactly how far you need to move over for the next pass.

3. Trimmers and Edgers

Keeping the edges of your lawn neat is much easier with a trimmer and an edger. These are actually two separate tools that work together to provide the finishing touch on your lawn. A trimmer gets into the spaces where your mower won’t quite fit — for example, along the foundation of your house or around lamps and fence posts. An edger creates a nice clean border between your lawn and walkways, flower beds, and driveways. While these tools may seem like luxuries, you and your neighbors will definitely appreciate the level of detail this pair can bring to your yard.

4. Blower/Lawn Vacuum/Mulcher

This tool does double duty: it can either act as a conventional blower to move dust and pesky leaves around, or as a vacuum to suck up leaves and grass clippings, mulching and storing them in an attached bag to be emptied in a place of your choosing. This tool is ideal for getting rid of leaves in the fall, and it makes cleaning up yard and bush trimmings easier during the warmer months.

It’s also much easier to blow wayward clippings off your walkways, driveways, patios and decks than it is to chase them around with a broom.

5. Chainsaw

A chainsaw might not be something you use every day, but it will come in handy more often than you think. You can use it to remove dead or dying tree limbs that pose a safety hazard, break down fallen branches after windstorms, trim back overgrown boughs, or cut through the stalks of larger bushes that need to be removed or reshaped.

A chainsaw is also great to have on hand through the winter. You may want one to process wood for burning or need one when storms take down trees that are too big to move in one piece.

Be sure to have these tools on-hand so you can spend less time doing yard work and more time simply enjoying your yard this year.

Check out all the lawn care products available on NAPA Online, or trust one of our 17,000 NAPA AutoCare locations for routine maintenance and repairs. For more information about how to care for your lawn, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your local NAPA AUTO PARTS store.

Photo courtesy Flickr.