By part of the house
Yardwork maintenance checklist
The grounds are never quite finished with you. Lawn, beds, hedges and the kit that tends them, each wanting doing at its own time of year.
Aerate the lawn
Every 12 monthsPacked soil shuts out water and air from the roots.
Deep-clean the grill
Every 6 monthsCaked grease flares up and blocked burners hide leaks.
Dethatch the lawn
Every 24 monthsThick thatch blocks water and air from the roots.
Drain & store the garden hoses
Every 12 monthsWater left in freezes and splits the hose and the pipe.
Edge the lawn & beds
Every 6 monthsGrass creeps the border and mulch spills the gap.
Mulch the beds
Every 12 monthsThin mulch lets weeds in and dries the soil out.
Overseed the lawn
Every 12 monthsSkip it and bare patches just hand the ground to weeds.
Put down crabgrass preventer
Every 12 monthsMiss the spring window and crabgrass owns the summer.
Service the lawnmower
Every 12 monthsOld oil and a fouled plug make it a pig to start.
Sharpen the mower blade
Every 6 monthsA dull blade tears the grass and leaves it ragged.
Store the patio furniture
Every 12 monthsLeft out, winter cracks frames and rots cushions.
Treat the fence
Every 36 monthsBare timber grays, warps, and rots years early.
Trim the hedges
Every 6 monthsLeft alone they go leggy and bare at the bottom.
Winterize the mower
Every 12 monthsStale fuel gums the carburetor over a cold winter.
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