This Underrated Tool Could Completely Change the Way You Care for Your Lawn – Garden Experts Swear by It
Experts say this one tool with many uses will keep a lawn good-looking and healthy
You need the right kit for any aspect of gardening. When it comes to lawns, those who worship these green carpets in their yard can have sheds full of tools and equipment. Others may not be so well stocked, but quality can be better than quantity.
The truth is that you don’t need lots of tools for a beautiful lawn. This is especially true if you can get one piece of equipment that you can use again and again for different lawn care tasks. That is why experts all agree that any homeowner who wants to upgrade their lawn needs to consider a lawn spreader as an essential piece of kit.
Why You Should Have a Lawn Spreader
The takeaway headline is that a lawn spreader provides consistency and saves you time. To some, lawn care can be confusing and time-consuming, but it needn’t be the case. A lawn spreader offers efficiency, makes tasks easier, and there are types suitable for any-sized lawn or budget.
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1. You Use It for Lots of Tasks
Versatility is a huge reason to invest in a lawn spreader. The range of potential uses includes fertilizing a lawn, applying seed (to overseed or start a new lawn from scratch), weeding a lawn, top dressing, or adding other amendments (such as lime or iron) to your grass.
It is quite an exhaustive list of spring, summer, or fall lawn care tasks – plus you can use it in winter to spread de-icer or grit onto driveways.
Sean Dwyer, Senior Product Manager for Wheeled Products at Husqvarna, says there are lots of key requirements for a lawn to be green, thick, and healthy over the course of a season – which is where having a lawn spreader comes in handy.
‘There are spreader-tailored products that meet all these steps,’ he adds. ‘A spreader is an important tool for those who want to have a great-looking lawn. It can be used to apply everything from fertilizer, lime, or pest control products.’
Think how much use you will get out of the kit. If you look at a list of ideal spring lawn care tasks, for example, it can overseed and fix bare patches in the grass, apply a weed-and-feed product, and top dress the lawn.
Sean Dwyer is a seasoned leader in the outdoor power equipment industry, bringing 45 years of experience to his role as Senior Product Manager for Commercial and Residential Wheeled Products at Husqvarna Group North America. He oversees the North American wheeled portfolio as well as supports Export markets for wheeled products manufactured in North America.
2. It Gives Reliable, Consistent Applications
‘The biggest advantage of a spreader is that it can give a more reliable application of the product,’ claims Sean Dwyer. ‘This is particularly important when using things like fertilizer to get a consistent-looking lawn.’
Any fertilizer must be applied at the right rate to have the best results. Under-fertilize, and you won’t get the benefit from the nutrients. Over-fertilize a lawn, and you risk burning the grass.
To avoid fertilizing mistakes, all products have recommended rates, and you calibrate the lawn spreader to apply them correctly. To make it easier, quite often, if you use products and spreaders made by the same company, they’ll list the recommended lawn spreader settings on the back of the bag of feed, seed, or weed products.
Using a lawn spreader is always more reliable than spreading products by hand, which can save you money but comes with many potential risks.
‘Whether you are applying fertilizer, seed, or weed control, even coverage is everything,’ says Chelsea Morris, a Lawn Love pro who owns High-Class Grass in Virginia Beach.
‘Doing it by hand almost always leads to uneven growth, missed areas, or over-application.’
‘I would absolutely recommend homeowners have a spreader, especially if they are serious about improving their lawn,’ adds Chelsea.
3. It Saves Time and Money
Lawn spreaders don’t have to be expensive; you can get budget-friendly versions that will become essential gardening tools year after year. After the initial investment, a spreader can last you for many seasons, regularly coming out of the shed throughout the year to boost the lawn.
Over time, repeated use offers significant savings compared to some alternative routes to getting a beautiful lawn. ‘Proper application of fertilizers, granular herbicides, and pest control is expensive to have done professionally,’ says Sean. ‘A spreader is a key item in making the process simpler and less time-consuming.’
The cost-saving continues with each usage. As you apply your fertilizers, grass, weed products, or moss killer at the recommended rates, you are not wasting money using more than you need to or spending extra money fixing issues that arise from over-usage.
Plus, time is money, and using a lawn spreader means you complete tasks quicker than you would do by hand.
This is crucial at peak periods of the gardening season, when there is lots of planting, watering, pruning, or feeding to be done elsewhere. You have time to look after flower beds and container gardens, without the lawn taking up all of your time.
The Different Types of Lawn Spreaders
There are three types of lawn spreaders homeowners can choose from: broadcast, drop, and handheld spreaders.
First is a broadcast spreader, such as this mini broadcast spreader at Amazon. It has wheels and a handle to push around the garden, and it spreads using an in-built spinning disc turned by the propelling motion. There are mini broadcast spreaders for smaller or medium-sized lawns, and larger versions for bigger lawns.
You can also get types of lawn spreaders that precisely drop product the width of the tool for more precise applications. Like this drop spreader at Amazon.
A handheld spreader also has a spinning disc, but this type is smaller and human-powered, with a handle to turn the whirler. These types of lawn spreaders (such as this hand-powered spreader at Amazon) are more suited to smaller yards.
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This hand-powered lawn spreader has five different settings, holds up to 1,500 sq ft of product, and is ideal for smaller areas.
This spreader holds up to 15,000 sq. ft. of lawn care product. It has a guard to prevent the product from being dispersed off the lawn, and a fold-down handle to aid storage.
This spreader holds 60 lbs of products and offers a wide broadcast coverage of up to eight feet to cover larger lawns in fewer passes.
Most households with a lawn will have a lawnmower. However, it can get confusing if you want to buy a new lawnmower, as new models often come with lots of features – it can be hard not to be perplexed by the jargon.
Our guide to buying a lawnmower cuts through the confusion, revealing the five key aspects to look for when choosing the best lawnmower for your yard.
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