Here are a few things you can do now to make your yard activities
go much easier this year and a few things to help you around the house if you
are a DIY (do it yourselfer).
Get your mower ready for another season. There are only so
many small engine shops and mechanics, so get your mower in early to beat the
rush. New blade, air filter, spark plug, and be sure your pull start rope is in
good shape. Ask them to set the height of cut for you, so you are mowing at the
right height. Finding a source of ethanol free gas should help with all your
small engines.
Put out preemergent control products now and control weeds
before they ever come up in the lawn or beds. Pushing a spreader now will save
you a lot of work later. Imagine not battling the small seeded annual weeds –
no crabgrass, yeah!
Measure your lawn and bed areas. After seeing Shelton’s (Big
Bang Theory) commercial, maybe there is an ap for this. Just like buying
medicine for my dog, the veterinarian needs to know how much he weighs to give
him the correct amount. The different fertilizers and control products all have
rates associated with them (5 pounds per thousand square feet, 3 pounds per
thousand square feet, etc), so you have to know how big your yard is so you
know how much product to purchase.
Measure your bed areas and turf areas in small defined
spaces. Side yard by Smith’s, front yard to the right of sidewalk, front yard
to left of sidewalk, back yard, side yard by Jones’s, bed along front of house,
big bed by Jones’s...
Once you have these measurements you have a big key to
having a better landscape. I’m “old school “, so after measuring my yard, I immediately
made 5 copies of the paper I was recording the information on so I wouldn’t
lose it. I have one posted in the garage, 3 taped to and under magnets on file cabinets
in my home office and one in a file. After writing this I realize, I could be a
little “new school” and scan the information into a file in my computer (if I
could figure out how to work the scanner…).
With the rain we have had this winter, fleas are going
crazy. Prefurred One and Prefurred Plus are two products that contain Fipronil
and will provide long term control of fleas on dogs and cats. I know at Possum’s
we are selling way more flea products this time of year than usual. Alpine Flea
Insecticide with Growth Regulator and Precor 2000 with growth regulator are two
popular aerosol products that are very effective especially if you put them out
before the problem and the growth regulator keeps them in check.
