Spring Into Action with Easy Lawn and Garden Updates

Spring cleaning is no longer a ritual for the home! Extend that tender love and care to your home’s exterior and create a healthy lawn and beautiful garden. In a recent study conducted by Ace Hardware, 45 percent of Americans said that they plan on planting a garden this year and 81 percent said that the key to having a good lawn is lush, green grass. However, many of these homeowners don’t know where to start when tackling such tasks. With these easy-to-follow tips from , you can have the greenest lawn and garden on the block!

“As outdoor temperatures get warmer, your preparations and work in outdoor living spaces should increase,” stated Karl Hanken, Nursery Manager at the new Marin Ace in San Rafael. “To keep your lawn and garden looking lush and healthy, remember to water wisely, mulch masterfully and mow methodically. The best thing about these projects is that anyone can do them, and once they are finished they make a big difference.” 

Karl offers these effective and simple tips that will increase the longevity, charm and sustainability of your lawn and garden.

• Choosing the Right Tools: Consider non-combustion lawn and garden tools, such as rechargeable lawn mowers, battery-operated weed whackers and good old-fashioned hand tools. These items will reduce pollution as you tidy up your outdoor space.
• Protecting Your Hands: When choosing gloves for your garden work, leather gloves will offer comfort and protection if you will be using tools such as rakes, shovels or a lawn mower. Standard canvas or cloth gloves are a great choice if keeping your hands clean is your priority.
• Starting from Scratch: When starting an annual lawn care program, begin with a turf builder that includes a crabgrass preventer. Apply it in the early spring, before consistent warm temperatures.
• Perfect Planting: Seeds for flowers, as well as fruits and vegetables, can be started in any type of container, such as trays, flats, pots, egg cartons or even paper cups. When planting small seeds in the garden, use a saltshaker to evenly distribute them.
• Soil Success: For long-term success, it’s better to feed the soil than the plant. Ideal soil offers a hospitable environment for plants in a blend of air, water and nutrients. Feed your soil every season and every time you plant using green turf lawn fertilizer, compost, manure or chopped leaves.
• Never Shrug Off Shrubs: Shrubs are versatile. Use them as ground covers on slopes, as living walls, as backdrops for flower borders and as screens to block street noise and dust.
• A Garden’s Worst Enemy: The best time to destroy weeds is when they are young and before they begin to flower. Herbicides can be effective, but take care when using them to avoid damaging the plants you want to keep. Your best bet? Don gloves and pull the weeds – root and all – using a little elbow grease.
• Early Morning Ritual: Watering during the early morning hours is more beneficial to your lawn than watering during the evening hours. This helps avoid fungus problems that can occur when water remains on the grass for an extended period of time.

“Yards and gardens offer a wonderful retreat from today’s frantic, fast-paced world,” explained Karl. “In these trying times, people greatly appreciate the simple pleasures of working with their hands to grow living things.”

For more information, visit Marin Ace, your neighborhood Ace Hardware store at the former Sizzler in Terra Linda, or go to www.acehardware.com to learn more about Ace products as well as DIY tips and project ideas from Lou Manfredini, Ace’s “Helpful Hardware Man.”

Marin Ace is located at 180 Merrydale Road, San Rafael CA 94903, and is open weekdays from 7a.m. to 7p.m., weekends 8a.m. to 6p.m. Call Karl or any of the helpful Marin Ace team at 415/479-9393.