complete turf and landscape blog

Not so fast!  Even though the leaves are down and the grass isn’t growing, there is still work to be done.  Go to the garage and start the engines on all of your equipment and run them until they are out of fuel.   Weed eaters, blowers and mowers.  Letting your equipment sit all winter with old gas in the tank is the cause of more early spring heartache than anything else, guaranteed.

Mowers will not start properly, if at all, and if they do they will perform much less efficiently.  Blowers and weed eaters usually run on a gas/oil mix.  If the combination sits in the tank all winter long the oil settles into you carburetor where it gums up and solidifies, in turn shutting down the air/gas mix going into your motor.  The end result is you pulling the rip cord 780 times to start it, until it breaks, and then taking it to the shop that works on your model.  Pain, swearwords, heartache and time are all an end result.

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 While you are doing all this, give your snow blower a test run.  If there is any gas left from last year get it out of there and put in a tank of fresh gas. If you left gas in the tank last winter it will be easier to start now than in December.  Plus if it doesn’t start, you can take it out for repair now and it will be ready for the first substantial snowfall.

 If it still will not start you have very few options.  Bledsoe’s on Wornall only repairs Stihl products and Toro only works on Toro products.  The only good option I recommend for small engine repair is Raytown Seed and Feed, in downtown Raytown

Now that you have successfully mulched your leaves into your turf it is time for the last fertilizer application of the year.  Applying winterizer now will provide nutrients for your turf throughout the winter.  Even though grass does not grow vertically, it does continue horizontal growth during the winter.  This consumes energy which is provided by CO2 and nutrients in the soil.

If you have weeds in your grass it is not to late to use a fertilizer with weed killer.  The weeds are transporting nutrients down to the roots to feed themselves throughout the winter, so the herbicide you apply will go straight to the roots and kill the offending weeds.

What else can you do now?  How about spraying any dandelions you see?  This will provide substantial control over next spring’s crop.   Another great idea is putting down a layer of mulch in your beds.  This will provide a nice, clean look for your home during the holidays as well as providing a layer of insulation for all the shrubs, trees and perennials in your beds.