As you look at your own lawn, with the weeds and brown spots, you wonder where you went wrong. After all, you were out there mowing as much as your neighbors were last year.

Well, time to let you in on a little secret. Not only did those neighbors you envy so much spend time mowing their lawn, they also dethatched their lawn, aerated it, used a rototiller to turn up the dead patches and reseeded, and they also carefully re-edged along the sidewalks before winter set in.

Sound like an expensive proposition? It would have been had they hired a lawn service, or bought all the tools they needed, but they did the entire project themselves with rented tools.

According to the American Rental Association (ARA), more and more people are turning to rented equipment and tools for their home improvement projects. Not only does renting offer significant cost savings, it is convenient as well. When you rent tools, you don’t have to worry about equipment maintenance or storage. You will also be able to take advantage of expert advice from a rental professional. These trained professionals will be able to guide you in the right direction and give you tips on how to operate the equipment in the safest and most effective way. They can also help you select the correct tools for your project.

For example, if you visit your local rental business and say your lawn is looking sparse and brown, they’ll tell you that thatch — the layer of interwoven grass, leaves and stems that blocks water and nutrients from reaching the roots — is the likely culprit.

To pull out the old thatch, you’ll be urged to rent a dethatcher, also called a power rake, which will remove the tangle of grass clippings, leaves and stems that have collected in your grass.

The next step will be to rent an aerator, which is a gas-powered machine that actually pokes holes in the earth and removes cores of dirt as it goes. The holes allow nutrients, air and moisture to penetrate your lawn’s root system. Once that’s done, you’ll need to get out there and tackle the weeds.

If you have any patches that are all weeds and no grass, you can use a rototiller to turn up the ground and then reseed. You’ll also want to rent an edger once or twice during the season to give your lawn that well cared for look.

With a little effort and some cost-effective rental tools, your lawn may just become the pride of the neighborhood.

For more ideas on using rental equipment for improving your lawn, and to find the rental store nearest you, please visit www.RentalHQ.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Here are some cutting-edge innovative products homeowners are using to boost curb appeal:

Caulk that Lasts as Long as Your Home

If you count the areas of your home where you use some kind of caulk or sealant, you’ll run out of fingers and toes long before you finish your tally. From crumbling stoops, cracked foundations, stone walls and patios to chimneys, windows and doors, caulk is used in some of the most important spots inside and outside of your home. Until now, however, keeping your caulk in shape meant scraping and redoing the whole deal every few years.

Enter the next generation of caulk products. Incredibly strong products like Red Devil’s King Kaulk (www.reddevil.com) function as adhesive, caulk and sealant all in one. With a lifetime durability guarantee, the product can be painted, resists mildew and provides a watertight seal without the smell or mess of silicone.

Windows Without A View….Of You and Your Family

Whether you’re improving to sell or enhancing your lifestyle, privacy has become a bigger issue thanks to smaller lot sizes and larger homes. Acrylic block windows are enjoying renewed popularity as a privacy solution. U S Block Windows (www.usblockwindows.com) says their acrylic block windows can be cut to any size to fit any window opening without damaging your home’s exterior. The windows are a design enhancement that allow natural light in and keep prying eyes out. With Energy Star options, they are easy to install as replacements or shutters in vinyl or aluminum frames with all the beauty of glass block.

A Garden Hose Solution that Won’t Leave You Cranked Up

What’s the point in investing time and money into your landscaping if an untidy clump of garden hose is going to detract from the scenery? Homeowners are solving the perennial problem of what to do with the garden hose by turning to products like the No Crank Hose Reel (www.no-crank.com). Unlike traditional reels, this product relies on water-power (no batteries, electricity or springs required), not elbow grease, to automatically wind up to 150 feet of garden hose onto a spool — hands free at a flip of a lever. What’s more, some NO-CRANK models also self-clean the hose, so the next time you use it you’re not handling last week’s dirt.

To Mow or Not to Mow?

Mowing the lawn has always been the quintessential badge of the do it yourselfer. Even the least handy among us are capable of mowing the lawn. Now, however, you don’t have to choose between doing it yourself or paying someone else. There’s a third option.

Robomow (www.friendlyrobtics.com) succeeds with the same philosophy that has made robot vacuum cleaners such a hit with homeowners: Why do it yourself when you can have a robot do it for you automatically? Robomow uses a proprietary technology to mow the grass perfectly every time while the homeowner relaxes. Getting started is as simple as laying some wire and pegs (included with the Robomow) around the outer edges of the lawn. The device recognizes the wire and makes sure it always stays inside the designated area. Grass is cut in a cross-hatch pattern and clippings are automatically mulched. The mower is also programmable so you can even leave it out in the yard, and preset it to mow on a specific day and time.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Maintenance This Fall Will Make a Difference Next Spring

(ARA) – Many homeowners enthusiastically care for their lawns and gardens during the spring and summer months but tend to neglect them during the fall. After all, there’s no need to spend time maintaining the yard with winter on its way, right? Wrong.

In fact, fall is the ideal time to repair the harsh summer damage and prepare for the cold, damp days that lie ahead. The care given before its winter dormancy can significantly impact the way a lawn and garden will look during the next growing season.

According to Popular Mechanics, one of the most common mistakes people make while preparing their lawns for winter is allowing tree leaves and other debris to smother the grass and block the sun, which is essential to lawn growth. A heavy layer of leaves often becomes matted and can lead to winter or early spring diseases.

With homeowners today leading hectic, stressful lives, few people have the free time or patience to deal with the daunting task of raking. Or they simply have more trees than a lawn mower can handle for leaf control. A blower is a helpful addition to any homeowner’s lawn care arsenal, especially during times of fall restoration, and can be used for cleaning out flower beds and underneath hedges, as well as the general lawn. To maximize fall cleanup results using a leaf blower, experts suggest that homeowners:

Choose a model that offers easy starts — One of the most common consumer complaints regarding outdoor handheld power equipment is rough or non-existent starts. So look for models with an advanced starting system like the Craftsman 4-Cycle Blower/Vac with an Incredi-Pull Starting System with MAX FIRE Ignition or the Troy-Bilt Backpack Blower with a compression release system. With the adaptation of 4-cycle technology blower/vacs start easier than their 2-cycle counterparts.

Check local noise and emissions ordinances — Because most standard, 2-cycle leaf blowers typically create significant noise and emissions, some communities have banned blowers or limited sound and emission levels. With 4-cycle engines, however, users can cut emissions in half and drastically reduce noise — typically down to 75 to 79 decibels as opposed to a 2-cycle engine’s 95 or higher decibel level (comparable to a motorcycle).

Protect plants and mulch with a variable-speed blower — The true performance feature to look for in a blower is the cubic feet per minute (cfm) — the measure of how much air is applied and the most important factor in moving leaves or yard debris.

Look for vibration-dampening features — Users of 2-cycle equipment may be familiar with the uncomfortable vibration experienced when using a typical leaf blower. But with 4-cycle engines, vibration is suppressed for increased control and comfort.

Save time by performing two jobs with one tool — For those interested in turning fallen leaves into mulch, experts recommend a blower/vac with a mulching ratio of at least 3:1. With a one-bushel vacuum bag capacity, the Craftsman automatically mulches debris at a 10:1 reduction ratio.

Those who breathe a sigh of relief from the myth that lawn care can subside in the fall should consider how restoring it now will save work in the spring. And homeowners will find that making an investment in 4-cycle equipment to tackle seasonal chores will not only be rewarding next spring, but also while performing tasks in the coming months.

For more information on the benefits of 4-cycle handheld equipment for fall cleanup, please visit www.mtdproducts.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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The survey shows that when it comes to spending hard-earned money, buying new clothes or going to the movies are less important to Americans than having a beautiful lawn. With lawn care so high on the list of priorities for cash-spending consumers, is it any wonder that lawn care technology continues to evolve? Outdoor power equipment increasingly focuses on reducing the time and effort one invests in lawn care.

For hand-held tools, the cutting edge is “4-cycle” engines. Operating much like a car engine, 4-cycle products are rapidly replacing the old 2-cycle engines once common in handheld power tools. The main advantages of 4-cycle products such as string trimmers, blowers/vacs and even garden cultivators are:

* They are easier to start. A spring in the 4-cycle starting system reduces the amount of effort required to pull the starting cord.

* They are more fuel efficient and produce better engine performance than traditional 2-cycle products.

* Where 2-cycle engines ran on a mixture of oil and gasoline, 4-cycle products run on gas.Users can rely on one can of gas for all their power equipment needs. Spills are reduced and the odor of burnt oil is eliminated.

* The average 4-cycle engine produces half the emissions of a standard 2-cycle, making them more environmentally friendly. And with a cool running engine, fuel efficiency is approximately 25 percent better.

* Old power tools belted out 95 decibels of noise (comparable to the engine of a motorcycle). The new 4-cycle engines create less noise – typically 75 to 95 decibels – and at a lower frequency that is more comfortable to the ear. They also generate less vibration for increased control and comfort.

* Despite the vast increased efficiencies and benefits of a 4-cycle product, the price point is only slightly higher than a 2-cycle product – typically 25 percent.

For example, Troy-Bilt 4-cycle string trimmers boast Spring Assist starting technology to dramatically reduce the starting effort, an extended reach shaft for easy trimming under shrubs or low branches and a system that allows replacement of the line without removing the spool.

Homeowners who want to reduce effort by multi-tasking are turning to products like Craftsman’s blower/vacs that automatically mulch debris at a 10:1 reduction ratio. Some 4-cycle equipment is even compatible with easy attachment systems, allowing users to interchange a variety of attachments for added versatility and time savings. For example, a 4-cycle string trimmer can be transformed into a blower/vac, edger or cultivator within seconds, making it a complete lawn and garden system.

Americans continue to take pride in the appearance of their lawns and gardens, so if outdoor chores are going to be performed, they might as well be enjoyable.

For more information on premium 4-cycle outdoor handheld power equipment, log on to www.mtdproducts.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Shears

Though they have a relatively simple appearance, good shears actually have a number of criteria that all have to work together. Number one is the ability to cut. But that’s a function of more than just sharp edges, important as those are.

Think of scissors. No matter how sharp the edges, if the two blades don’t come together, cutting is impossible. That important geometric quality is even more important in certain shears. Some shears are really just strong scissors, designed to be used outdoors. But others are curved. Bringing those curved edges together with just the right angle and force requires careful design.

The only way to be sure that design goal has been expertly achieved is to test them. Fortunately, with computer aided design and contemporary materials, shears that work well are available in dozens of designs.

That leads to the next most important criteria, one that runs a close second place. The shears you use must fit your particular hands correctly. That individual choice is vital, since even the sharpest shears are useless if you can’t operate them effectively.

In handle shears, the sort used to trim bushes or branches, they must be of the right weight for you, and have grips that feel comfortable and are non-slip. For pruning shears, the fit needed is even more precise. The style that has curved blades for trimming small herbs, flowers and the like often have circular blades in the handle section. A great combination for a wide variety of tasks.

Shovels

Shovels are another essential tool for gardening and lawn work. They too come in a surprisingly large array of shapes, styles and materials.

With the development of sturdy, hard, plastic composites many parts are now made of non-metallic compounds. That’s helpful for making them lighter weight, but no commercially available plastic produced yet has the sharpness or tensile strength to use in the blade portion.

So, look for a metal alloy that won’t rust and will keep a sharp edge against digging in rocky soil. It should have the right weight and shape for the jobs you anticipate. That blade should be attached well to an unbreakable handle. Strong carbon steel screws, correctly placed in hard wood are essential for keeping the blade attached.

Most shovels die an early death because of a broken handle. The shovel portion will often outlive the other parts. To stave off that fate, the handle should be not merely of hard wood, but somewhat flexible. A good shovel handle will stand up to hundreds of foot-pounds of torque.

Metal handles are heavier, so wood and plastic are more popular choices. Wood is great, but it’s important to get a type that will stand up to the pressure put on it for years. A proper coating will help prevent the wood from getting old, breaking prematurely. Plastic handles have also come a long way. They make for a lightweight shovel, but still very few are suitable for the heavy duty jobs.

You’ll almost certainly want at least three different kinds of shovel. The most common are the rounded, triangular spade and the square scoop. The first are easy to insert deep into the ground, but the latter type can shovel more earth in a single scoop. But the type not everyone thinks of is equally useful for specialized applications.

A long handled, narrow blade telescoping shovel is like a trowel with a handle. Your back will thank you if you supplement the first two with one of these. They’re ideal for removing weeds without stooping, digging small holes and getting into those smaller areas that a regular shovel won’t.

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A lawnmower is the most basic. It’s odd to think of a living organism as needing to be sliced to stay healthy, but as a professional gardener acquaintance once said ‘Grass likes to be cut’. To accomplish that, a good lawnmower is a necessity. Though among the more expensive items in the tool set, if maintained well it will last forever.

Keep the blade sharp, the spark plug clean and (if it has one) the air filter changed. Change the oil as you would on a car, every season.

Keeping the lawn neat is almost always a matter that can’t be completely carried out just by mowing, though. A trimmer or edger is needed. The two basic types are the old-fashioned two blade model with a long handle. Running the blade alongside patio bricks, steps and other edges keeps the lawn trim and looking good.

The other type is a powered whirling device that shoots a plastic string out a few inches. The string whacks off grass or other plants wherever you aim it. They’re lightweight, inexpensive and can last for years, though the coil of plastic string needs to be replaced every couple of months. At a cost of only a few dollars, it saves a lot of effort.

A spreader or two is vital for evenly laying out fertilizer, weed killer and other compounds that help keep the lawn weed free, healthy and looking great. One sort is like a small lawnmower with no blade, just a tub with small holes and a roller that dispense material. Easy to use and long-lasting, they’re adjustable for a variety of applications.

The second type of spreader is a hand-held unit, usually plastic with a rotary handle. They’re perfect for specialized applications of seed for patching small lawn areas, distributing dry fertilizer beads and so forth.

A rake is handy for more than just piling up leaves in the late fall. Though it’s important to use for that. Leaves left on the ground can cause grass to overheat or get too little water. In areas that get winter snow, at the end of the season the grass will be compressed into thatch.

Blades will overlay one another, preventing air from reaching the soil efficiently. De-thatching can be done with a power tool, but a simple hand rake is also effective.

A long fork or narrow blade, long-handled shovel spade is great for spot removal of weeds. The larger square or rounded shovel will also be needed though for post hole-digging, transferring soil and plants and a dozen other tasks around the yard.

Stock up on the basics, keep them in good shape and all your lawn care jobs will be easier. Well, easier than cutting with a scythe, that’s for sure.

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But which kind?

Traditional edgers are dual blade affairs with a long wooden handle. Despite the aging design, they still do the job and do it well. They require no gasoline, are lightweight and there’s no cord to get in the way. If the blades are kept clean and sharp, they can edge a 20 ft x 40 ft patio or 30 feet of sidewalk in a few minutes.

But they do require a lot of muscular effort.  For those who still enjoy working outside, but may be getting along in years, they may not be practical. It’s no fun to keep a yard looking trim when the result is an aching back and sore wrists.

A step up is an electric trimmer. Inexpensive and easy to use, they remove shaggy grass by slicing it off with a rapidly whirling plastic string. The cartridge holding the string is easy to replace, lasts for several weeks to months and costs only a few dollars to replenish.

They have another advantage over manual trimmers: they can easily be worked at different angles and in areas that manual edgers can’t work. If you have a lawn that abuts against an outbuilding, such as a shed, it can be very difficult to use a pole trimmer to remove the grass. An electric works great.

Ditto, if you have grass that winds around large rocks or a lawn that is bordered by scallop-shaped bricks, using a manual pole edger is out of the question. But the string style edger works perfectly in these circumstances. It does no damage to the bricks and removes grass easily.

A step up in some eyes, a difficulty in others, yet another style of power edger uses a small gasoline-powered motor. They’re a bit noisy, but the largest drawback may be the weight. They’re much heavier than electric trimmers. On the other hand, they have no cord to get in the way.

Since there’s no cord, they also have no restrictions on where you can take them. If you have a large yard, or want to trim in certain areas where there’s no outlet nearby, using an electric trimmer can be near impossible. Using a couple of hundred feet of extension cord makes the job unpleasant, and the cord itself is heavy at that length. In those circumstances, a gasoline powered trimmer can work wonders.

Gasoline-powered edgers also typically have much more power. So if you have thick brush, weeds or other debris that you want whacked down to size, this type can do the job. They do cost a bit more, but they last for years and the investment is worthwhile for the effort they save.

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Bypass shears have blades that are designed to bypass each other, applying a shearing force as the cutting edges move past one another. They come in a dozen varieties, each with its own ideal use.

The largest type are grass or hedge shears. Very long-handled, they provide a long cutting surface to cut the maximum amount of material in one clamping.

Long blade shears are most like heavy duty scissors, about 8 inches total, often having rubberized grips around the straight handles for easy grabbing. Perfect for snipping flowers or fruit.

Pruning shears, by contrast, typically have two moon-shaped blades, one with a convex crescent, the other concave. The enlarged-oval handles and the blade design allow the user to apply a large force, needed for cutting the woody stems of herbs and small fruit tree branches. A variation has a set of circular, saw-toothed, metal blades that are great for grabbing or cutting larger branches.

Either long blade or pruning shears are often complemented by a handy spring and latch mechanism. The spring separates the blades when the user eases pressure on the handles, saving him or her the effort of opening the blades when wearing gloves. The latch is there to keep them clamped shut, and the blades together, when stored away. That added safety feature has a side-benefit: it makes them easy to hang on a hook.

Garden scissors are sometimes confused with shears, but they have very large open handles and shorter straight blades. They’re used not for pruning, but for cutting twine, opening packages, cutting weed cloth, etc. An ordinary pair of house scissors could do the job in a pinch, but garden scissors are typically stronger and more durable. The blades are very tough and sharpen up well.

Though we often look on these tools as ‘merely’ useful, which they are, our ancestors regarded them as highly prized possessions. Often referred to today as ‘ordinary garden tools’, two hundred years ago they would have been worth a great deal.

But one thing is still true today that was true then. A good pair of shears, properly maintained, can last for 20 years or more. Tempered, forged steel, an adjustable screw to tighten loose blades and high quality plastic or rubberized grips that last are all essential. Look for quality, spend a little more and you’ll be rewarded with a generation’s worth of value.

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A broadcast spreader itself comes in two different varieties, push-cart and hand-held.

The smaller, hand-held style has a large cup-like container that usually holds up to a few cups of dry grass seed or fertilizer beads. You fill the container, then turn a small crank that causes the material to shoot out holes in the bottom. They’re useful for spot seeding lawn patches or feeding specific plants.

The larger, push-cart style has a tub with a similar dispenser arrangement, but the whole assembly sits on an axle and wheels attached to a pole with handlebars. You squeeze a lever attached to the handle, thus opening the mechanism at the bottom. As you move forward the wheels turn a rotor that flings seed, fertilizer or weed killer in a broad arc.

Using a push-cart broadcast spreader it’s possible to cover a large area in a short time. For applications of combination dry weed killer/fertilizer it can’t be beat. But, it does have one drawback. Since the broadcast area is circular and the material shoots quite a distance, it’s difficult to cover a rectangular area near the edges very precisely. You may be spreading material onto the sidewalk or garden where you don’t want it.

The solution is a drop spreader. Drop spreaders have a similar tub and handle design, but the base of the tub has an entirely different mechanism. Instead of throwing material in a semi-circular arc, a roller lifts as you squeeze the handle and a series of holes is exposed. As the spreader moves forward, material simply drops through the holes, hence the name.

A drop spreader is inexpensive, sturdy and puts material right where you want it in just the needed proportions. A dial on the handle allows the user to select the size of the opening, controlling the amount of material dropped out. You pass along an area just as you would with a lawnmower, back and forth or in a rectangular spiral.

A spreader costing less than $20 can easily last for years, if kept properly maintained. All you need to do is wash out the basin after use, to remove residual chemicals. They can spread seed, but are more often used to spread dry weed killer beads or powder or seasonal lawn care mixtures.

Either of the tub or push-cart spreaders will hold a cubic foot of material – far more than one would use in a typical application, unless your yard is enormous. A layer of material only a few inches deep in a drop spreader, for example, will cover a section of yard 20 feet by 60 feet with beads of grub killer.

Maintenance is simple: simply hose out, let dry and spread a few drops of oil on the axle once in a while.

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