Spring is peak yard-care season. Here’s a checklist to help you set priorities and allocate time for the little and big things that help you get the most out of spring and summer’s warm-weather months.

• Spring Cleaning

  What needs to be tossed to the curb might not be limited to items in your house and basement. Check your garage, shed, patio, yard, porch, driveway and garden.

• Rain Gutter and Downspout Cleaning

  In late spring/early summer, check your rain gutter, and clean the downspout. This also helps with mosquito control.

• Irrigation System Setup

  If your automatic sprinkler service company doesn’t call you in a timely manner, call them before your lawn starts to suffer.

• Lawn Mowing

  See our resource on your lawn mower’s first start of the season to make sure your mower gets the tuneup it needs!

• Trimming

  Along with your first mow of the season, you’ll need to prepare your string trimmer.

  • Check/replace string
  • Check/clean/replace air filter
  • Check/clean/replace spark plug
  • Check oil (4-cycle units)

Add fresh fuel. Instead of ethanol-laden gas station gasoline, consider using a premixed fuel engineered for your trimmer. TruFuel is ethanol-free, high-octane fuel made with advanced stabilizers that keep the fuel fresh for two years after opening and for more than 5 years unopened. You’ll notice the difference in performance and equipment longevity.

Many of the landscaping tasks you completed in the spring set the tone for summer. However, a few things still need to be tackled between regular mowing and weed trimming. Here’s a checklist to get you through the summer:

• Hurricane Preparedness

  From June through the end of November is hurricane season for the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, so the time is now to plan and prepare for a hurricane. If a portable gas-powered generator is part of your hurricane plan, keep TruFuel 4-Cycle fuel on-hand. It’s ethanol-free fuel that stays fresh for two years opened and at least five years unopened, making it the perfect fuel for limited-use emergency generators. Four-cycle engines were never meant to process ethanol. Because taking your generator to the repair shop for a new carburetor or gas line is not an option in the wake of a hurricane, play it safe by using TruFuel.

• Insects

  • Eventually mosquitoes will appear and remain into the fall season. To reduce their numbers, inspect your yard for standing-water breeding grounds for these disease-bearing insects.
  • Don’t let summer rain collect in tires, corrugated downspout drains, corrugated pipes or wheelbarrows.
  • Hose-out bird baths weekly, and drain mud puddles or other pools that form in your yard after rainfall due to poor drainage.

• Irrigation

  • Find that sweet spot that conserves water and gives your lawn enough extra hydration beyond what Mother Nature is providing.

• Monitor Your Mowing

  When you mow, be on the lookout for signs of lawn mower maintenance needs.

  • If your blades have made contact with protruding tree roots and tree stumps or had some close encounters with rocks and stones, then inspect the work of the blades. Is the grass being cut cleanly like scissors or ragged, as if they were torn? If the latter, sharpen or replace the blades. Tearing grass makes it more susceptible to disease and diminishes the look of your lawn.
  • If the engine doesn’t act right, it could be any number of things, including a clogged carburetor. Lawn mower engines were never meant to process ethanol. Consider using ethanol-free fuel with advanced stabilizers engineered for lawn mower engines like TruFuel 4-Cycle.
  • Check/replace air filter regularly.
  • Check/clean under deck regularly with putty knife.
  • Getting harder to push? Remove the wheels, and lubricate them. Summer humidity and moisture from dewy grass can cause corrosion and rusting.

• String Trimming

  Are you labeling your 2-cycle fuel/oil mix? Good, because it can go bad in as little as 30 days. Not if you use TruFuel. Our 50:1 and 40:1 ready-to-use fuel lasts up to 2 years once opened, plus it will help your string trimmer perform better and last longer.

For many, September through November means cooler weather, and homeowners need to make changes in their landscaping due to the lower temperatures.

• Lawn & Garden

  • Reseeding: Not happy with the thickness of your lawn? It’s time for a trip to the seed and feed store.
  • Mulch the garden.
  • Certain spring bulb flowers need to be planted in the fall to be ready by spring.
  • Remove any leftover yard decorations.
  • Removing autumn leaves reduces the chances of your lawn contracting some diseases like snow mold, and allows the sun to shine fully on your grass when it needs it most.
  • One more mow. Before northern lawns disappear under coats of snow, there’s the ritual of the last mow of the year. This usually occurs after the last leaves have fallen from your trees, often coinciding with Thanksgiving. The target height for the final mow of the season is 2 inches.
  • If you live in the South, fall is the perfect time to plant trees. The saplings will like the cooler, wetter weather in the winter, and will enter the hot summer months in great shape.

• Getting Out Your Leaf Blower

  • Hopefully you put away your leaf blower last winter with the gas tank empty. If you didn’t, remove the old separated gas/oil mixture, and put in fresh fuel.
  • We recommend fueling your leaf blower with ethanol-free fuel like TruFuel, which is specifically made and premixed with an exact ratio of gasoline and oil.
  • Check the spark plug and air filter. Replace, if needed, before starting up.
  • Check the starter rope for off-season fraying, and the gas tank for splits or leaks. Also, check to see if the tubes are firmly connected.

• Gutters

  • Leaves done falling? Clean out the gutters/eaves as yearly home maintenance.