Are Your Lawn and Garden Ready for the Chill?
(Continued from Page 2) By Susan Morgan, HGTV.com
Garden tools
Preparing your garden tools for the winter helps to promote their longevity and makes using them next season much easier. Mark these must-do to-dos off your winterizing checklist. Wash off dirt that has dried and hardened onto garden tools, such as shovels and hoes. Apply linseed oil to wooden handles to prevent desiccation and cracking.
Sharpen blades of tools, such as pruners (figure F), hedge trimmers and shovels. Drain garden hoses and take them inside for the winter. Otherwise, water left sitting inside hoses can freeze and expand, causing the hose lining to rupture and create leaks. Repair leaky hoses and replace old and damaged washers and fittings. Thoroughly rinse pesticide sprayers and fertilizer/grass seed spreaders. Allow to dry before storing.
Power equipment
Keep expensive lawn and garden power equipment running efficiently with these winter maintenance tips. Empty gasoline out of power equipment. To empty your lawn mower's gas tank, use it to mulch fall leaves on the lawn. Give four-cycle engines, such as lawn mowers and tillers, an oil change. Two-cycle engines, like string trimmers, use a gas-oil mixture in the gas tank. Although they don't require an oil change, the gas-oil mixture should be drained from the tank and properly disposed. Inspect spark plugs and replace worn-out ones. Check air filters and replace old, dirty ones.
Scrape or hose off grass and other grime that has collected on power equipment, especially lawn mowers (figure G). Remove blades and sharpen before putting them back on. More step-by-step instructions on mower maintenance>>
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