Greenworks Corded Electric Lawn Mower Reviews – Best Models of 2021. Go green lawn mower

Imperial County Air Pollution Control District

Welcome to the 8th annual Imperial County Air Pollution Control District Lawn Equipment Exchange Program. Help spare the air of ground ozone pollution by trading in your old gas powered lawn and garden equipment and receive a brand new, state of the art battery-powered electric model from EGO 56V Power Plus tools.

You must purchase your new equipment HERE ON OUR SITE or via PHONE (1-818-400-2971). Available packages will appear on this page for ordering on March 13 and can be purchased until 3PM on May 5 (while supplies last!). Phone orders must be made between 8 AM and 5 PM Monday – Sunday starting March 13 and until 3PM on May 5th.

All participants must be residents of Imperial County. Participants must exchange a working gas tool for an electric one. Only one piece of each type/model of equipment will be eligible for exchange per family. ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO RETURNS OR REFUNDS. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE OLD GAS EQUIPMENT TO TRADE IN BEFORE PURCHASING THE NEW ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT.

NEW THIS YEAR!

Drop-off old equipment and pick up new equipment ON THE SAME DAY! Please bring your old gas equipment on Saturday, May 6, 2023. Equipment must be received between 8:00 AM to 12 PM. You will then receive the equipment you previously ordered.

Where to bring your gas equipment:

The SA Recycling Center located at 460 E. Holton Road, El Centro, CA 92243. MAP

Easy Steps to Get Your New Equipment:

#1 – Purchase your new equipment on this website, or by phone (1-818-400-2971 between 8AM and 5PM Monday – Sunday), between March 13 and May 5, 2023 and keep the receipt.

#2 – Bring your old gas equipment to SA Recycling Center between 8AM – 12PM on May 6, 2023 and present the receipt.

#3 – Receive your new electric equipment on the same day!

#4 – Register your new equipment with EGO promptly and enjoy!

Hedge trimmers and chain saws are not included in this year’s program.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

This year’s equipment includes:

21″ Lawnmower Kit(5.0Ah Battery, 550W Charger)125.00MORE INFO

21″ Self Propelled Lawnmower Kit(7.5Ah Battery, 550W Charger)300.00MORE INFO

530CFM Blower Kit(2.5Ah Battery, 210W Charger)75.00MORE INFO

15″ Foldable Shaft String Trimmer Kit( 2.5Ah Battery, 210W Charger)75.00MORE INFO

Greenworks Corded Electric Lawn Mower Reviews – Best Models of 2021

Affiliate Disclaimer: My content may contain links to products I use and love. As an Amazon Associate and participant in various other affiliate programs, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you from qualifying purchases. I only recommend products I personally vetted!

Many people are looking to not only grow a green lawn this year, but also looking to go green in their yard. In other words, looking to ditch using gasoline powered lawn equipment. Enter the world of green technology for lawn care. Greenworks has been one of the leaders in corded and battery powered lawn mowers for a few years already. In this review I’ll go over 2 of the more popular Greenworks Corded Lawn Mowers to give you an overview of what you can expect with using this type of mower.

Greenworks 25012 12 Amp 18-Inch Corded Electric Lawn Mower Review

Affiliate links and images pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on: 2023-05-25

The Greenworks 25012 12 Amp Corded 18-Inch Lawn Mower is stylish and powerful, with a zero-carbon footprint, producing no emissions. The 18-inch electric-powered lawn mower will efficiently trim your yard without putting out a Cloud of emission that keeps your family from enjoying the outdoors while mowing. No more hauling your gas can to the station and back- the GreenWorks offers a no-gas, no-oil, and no-maintenance function.

Mow greener with the Greenworks Electric Mower. Its durable steel cutting deck handles tough, unruly growth of more than just grass. With rear bagging and mulching capabilities, you’ll appreciate the reduced cleanup time behind the mower. This electric-powered mower has 7-inch front wheels and 8-inch rear wheels leaving an 18-inch path. A seven-position lever lets you adjust the height of your lawn.

Fold up and store with a simple cam-lock, so you never have to work around the mower in your garage. The mower comes standard with a mulch plug and offers a 4-year manufacturer’s warranty.

GREENWORKS 25012 FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS

QUICK ASSEMBLY

The Greenworks Electric Mower is quick and easy to assemble and is ready to take on your multi-terrain lawn. This model offers features that allow it to keep up with the big boys, offering great maneuverability and small storage.

QUIET FUNCTION

Compared to the roar of a gas-powered mower, the Greenworks Electric Mower practically hums its way across your yard, allowing your family to enjoy being outdoors while you’re mowing. No more wearing earplugs while mowing your lawn.

STRUGGLE-FREE

This light weight mower can handle some of the toughest jobs you can throw at it and will not struggle through high or thick lawns. You’ll get a lot of bang for your buck with the GreenWorks Electric Mower.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS OF THE GREENWORKS 25012 CORDED ELECTRIC LAWN MOWER

The reviews for the Greenworks 25012 12 Amp Corded 18-Inch Lawn Mower at Amazon.com have been very positive and it currently has a review rating of 4.5 stars.

THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS

The majority of the customer feedback for the Greenworks 25012 12 Amp Corded 18-Inch Lawn Mower has been very positive. There have also been a few complaints made by the reviewers and we will discuss some of them now for the benefit of our readers.

One of the most common complaints of this Greenworks Mower has been with regard to getting replacement parts, which many reviewers state is not easy. Customers express having to wait 21 days for parts to arrive in the mail, and then, arriving with no installation instructions or help for them to put the part in. Customer service did not seem to be very helpful for answering questions or for installing parts.

Another problem that buyers had with this Mower was the distance they had to drive to a repair center. Many buyers state that their repair center was 100 miles away and that to have their mower repaired or serviced required them to bring the mower to a service station that cost them a lot of gas- which they thought ironic since this mower is intended to be green.

Finally, some buyers were not happy to find they could not locate a collection bag to purchase for the mower. Some stated that they could not even get hold of customer service, even after calling many times.

THE POSITIVE REVIEWS

Despite the negative Комментарии и мнения владельцев about the Greenworks 25012 12 Amp Corded 18-Inch Lawn Mower that we have just discussed the majority of the customer feedback has been very positive and 73% of the reviewers have given the product a 5-star rating.

What has impressed customers more than anything else about the GreenWorks 25012 12 Amp Corded 18-Inch Lawn Mower is the ease with which it mows, turning small town lots into a quick and easy job and larger yards into a simple afternoon task. Customers loved that its lightweight frame and oversized tires made it manoeuvrable over a lot of different terrains. A lot of buyers expressed that this was the best electric-powered mower they had even owned.

Buyers of this mower really loved its electric feature, especially those who had not owned an electric mower prior to this one. They appreciated being able to plug in the mower and not having to run to the gas station before every mowing job. The majority of buyers were in agreement that owning a mower that did not have to be serviced continuously, with spark plugs and oil changes was refreshing.

And of course, there is the green factor, which buyers absolutely loved. Many buyers actually purchased the mower for no reason other than it does not use gasoline, only to find that the GreenWorks does not compromise any power or function. Dads who mowed their lawns with the GreenWorks said that they really liked being able to mow while their family was out enjoying the yard at the same time- something they could never do with their gas-powered mower.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Would we recommend the Greenworks 25012 12 Amp Corded 18-Inch Lawn Mower to our readers?

Absolutely yes, and here is why:

The feedback for the Greenworks 25012 12 Amp Corded 18-Inch Lawn Mower was higher than we expected to see, and when we began reading stories from owners of this mower we could see why. With only a few exceptions, buyers overwhelmingly loved the product- for the price as well as for its function. Story after story from consumers told of the reasons why they were satisfied with their purchase. When we see a product that meets a need to this degree, we feel almost obligated to tell our readers about it.

Costco Greenworks Self Propelled Lawn Mower. Unboxing. Demo. Review

The Greenworks 25022 3-in-1 Electric Lawn Mower Review

Affiliate links and images pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on: 2023-05-24

Do you like the idea of a well-manicured lawn that will be the envy of all your neighbors? Does the tall grass in your front yard bother you? Why pay for a service when you can get your money’s worth in this product? Here’s what the fuss over the Greenworks 25022 is all about:

Firstly, the Greenworks 25022 comes in a box, well packaged and easy to use the minute you receive it. All you have to do is unpack the box, unfold the handle, and voila! Ready to use. It has a 12 Amp engine – which is sufficient to get the job done, a 20” Steel cutting deck that permits you to mulch, use side discharge, or just bag. Now the advantage of the 20” instead of the 18” is that you are able to make fewer passes, so you end up saving your time! A grass collection bag and mulch plug are included in the 25022 package.

THE GREENWORKS 25022 FEATURES:

Being an electric lawn mower, it means it is Eco-friendly. The Greenworks 25022 has a ZERO carbon footprint, which means you’ll be doing your bit towards saving the environment. Each year, American households use around 800 million gallons of gas. Another good point is that it is quiet as compared to gas mowers.

What probably sets the 25022 apart from other mowers is its rear wheel size. They are bigger, so there is an easy maneuverability. The front wheels of the Greenworks 25022 are 7” in diameter and the rear are 10”. This means even harder-to-access areas of your lawn can be given a good manicure, without breaking your back to reach them.

For the people who get annoyed with too many buttons to press, the Greenworks 25022 is very easy to use. Just press the control handle down and the start button and it’s ready to chomp the grass away. Another great feature of the 25022 is that the body is made of metal as compared to other lawn mowers that are constructed from plastic. Therefore, you have durability on your side too. This metal body removes the bulkiness that exists in other plastic models, making it easy to manoeuvre around your lawn.

If you haven’t been trimming the grass on your lawn, there are various height settings to tackle that problem. The Greenworks 25022 has 7 different height adjustments ranging from 1.5” to 3.75 inches. You have unkempt grass growing? No problem, the Greenworks 25022 can handle mostly everything. But you will have to remember to change your settings accordingly. You wouldn’t want a bald patch on your lawn!

Of course, with everything looking so nice and rosy, I should warn you that you will need to buy a cord to actually use this product. The Greenworks 25022 comes with a cord that is only 10 to 12 inches in length. Depending upon the size of your yard, you will have to decide upon the length of the cord you will need to purchase for the 25022. For example, if you have a yard of small to medium size, let’s say around 40 feet, you could choose to buy a 16 gauge extension cord. Even a 14 gauge cord would work, but you should check that your selection is outdoor rated.

• Metal body instead of plastic – so lighter and more manoeuvrability.
• Large rear wheels for easy handling and movement.
• Quieter than a gas powered mower, and Eco-Friendly.
• Different height adjustments for various grass lengths.
• Easy to handle with the Start button unlock Control handle.
• Has a 4 year warranty which is double of most industry’s standards.
• 20 inches of cutting deck.
• Easy to fold for occupying minimal storage space

FAQS ABOUT THE GREENWORKS 25022:

What type of extension cord is recommended for the 25022?

UL approved extension cord, 16 gauge for a 50 foot extension cord, 14 gauge for 100 feet.

Does this mower require a 3 or 2 conductor extension cord?

Even though the mower is double insulated and does not require the ground, the only extension cords of sufficient gauge that are available are 3 core, and we would always advise to use these

How would you factor the cost of the 25022 Electric mower?

If you run this mower for an hour, it will, more or less cost you 25 cents.

FINAL VERDICT:

Overall, the Greenworks 25022 model promises to deliver its money’s worth. A little more expensive than a gas-powered mower, this proves to be an excellent choice for the small-medium lawn category. The warranty proves that the company has faith in its product, and with great discounts available online – you are guaranteed to get a steal deal anytime you decide to purchase the Greenworks 25022.

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Best Push Lawn Mowers for the Money – 2022 Edition

Rob started his passion for lawn care before he was 10 years old when we would regularly help his grandfather tend to his yard in Jupiter, FL which got him involved with learning all about St. Augustine and Floratam grasses.

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Greenworks Lawn Mowers Are Great For Clean, Green Gardening

If you want to go green with your gardening, you need to take a look at Greenworks lawn mowers. The Greenworks Tools Company makes eco-friendly mowers and other gardening tools. Every product they manufacture is powered by electricity, not gas. Keeping gardening green and clean is important for a lot of people (maybe you?), and if you can get some gardening job like cutting the grass done in a way that is better for the planet, for you and for your kids, why not go that way?

Our Top Greenworks Lawn Mower Choices

Unfortunately, it is believed that about 90% of homeowners use a gas-powered model. [1]

They argue that electric corded and cordless mowers don’t have near the power of gas lawnmowers. This is sometimes the case. You can spend a lot of money on a traditional mower that has some serious horsepower. Just remember that the more power your gas-powered mower puts out, the more money you are going to spend on fuel to run it.

Along with that high-power engine comes high-power sound. You and your neighbors can expect a lot of deafening noise from a powerful mower that runs on gas. As far as cost is concerned, a lawnmower that runs on gas will cost you between 3 and 3.50 per acre on your fuel bill.

Use an environmentally responsible electric Greenworks lawnmower instead and your cost is going to be somewhere between 0.20 and 1.00 per acre, depending on whether you get a cordless or corded model. (Those estimates were figured in 2019, and take into account average electricity and gas costs across the United States.)

Aside from spending more money (don’t forget you need to change the oil in gas-fueled mowers regularly as well), using a gas-powered lawn mower creates exhaust and pollution that simply doesn’t exist with a Greenworks electric lawnmower. Check out these disturbing stats from the EPA. [2] (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) …

FACT: About 54 million US residents cut their lawns each weekend, and they burn up 800 million gallons of gas when they do.

FACT: Speaking of gas, more than 17 million gallons of fuel (which is mostly gas) are spilled every year in the US just while refueling lawn equipment like lawn mowers. That is 54% more than every drop of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez in the Gulf of Alaska in 1989. That spill cost 7 billion to clean up, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that 250,000 birds, 2,800 sea otters and 300 harbor seals lost their lives because of it.

FACT: Lawnmowers and other garden equipment that run on gas put out extremely high levels of volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and other pollutants. This is enough to make up a full 5% of all the air pollution in the United States.

Simply put … gas-powered gardening is harmful to the environment. Mowers running on gas make it difficult for you to create a safe area for your kids to play and for you to host parties or just walk around in your yard.

EGO Electric Lawn Mower 1 Year Later.Was It Worth It?

Are Greenworks Lawnmowers Powerful Enough?

The number one knock on electric lawnmowers and other kinds of gardening tools is that they lack the power of their gas-guzzling counterparts. This is sometimes true. You may not get the same power out of the 40V to 80V cordless and 10 to 13 amp corded Greenworks lawn mowers as you will a gas-powered model with similar features.

Here’s why that probably won’t matter.

The Greenworks company works hard at making lawnmowers and other gardening tools that are friendly to both the environment and your book. The result is that their lawn maintenance products are high quality and very good at their jobs. Whether you decide on a Greenworks cordless mower or a corded model, they have been designed to get the maximum power out of their engines.

The company does not do this at the cost of quality. Purchase any Greenworks electric mower and you receive a 4 year warranty against any and all defects under normal use. What do other electric mower companies offer in the warranty department? The industry standard is 2 years. So you get double the average warranty for a similar machine, because Greenworks lawnmower parts are high-value and low-maintenance.

While we are talking about guarantees, the company also backs their lithium-ion batteries and chargers with a 2-year warranty, and sealed lead acid batteries are protected for 1 year. By the way, those standards are as good as or better than parts warranties offered by other electric lawnmower companies.

According to Greenworks, Up to 55% of U.S. Homes Only Need One Battery Charge to Get the Job Done

Extra batteries

GreenWorks 29472 G-MAX 40V Li-Ion The folks at Greenworks understand you don’t want to spend your time switching out batteries when you’re cutting your yard. That is why most of their machines, like the 40V 20-Inch Dual Port Battery Lawn Mower, have been engineered to use electricity very efficiently.

Take your fully charged battery out of your charger and place it into your mower and odds are you can cut your yard in one go. What happens if you have a bigger yard? What happens if you have been a little lazy (I am guilty of this too) and your grass has grown long and thick? The company sells batteries and chargers individually, and the mower just mentioned comes with a dual port charging unit.

This means you can charge two batteries at the same time.

If you have a large or difficult lawn to mow and your first battery doesn’t get the job done, simply swap it out for the fully charged second battery and you are back in business in a flash.

By the way, I can remember times when I had to stop what I was doing to refill the fuel tank on a gas-powered mower more than once. A lot of those machines have way more horsepower than the job requires, and this means they can quickly go through a tank of gas.

Greenworks lawn mowers sip electricity like they are not thirsty at all, and you don’t have to worry about getting gas on your hands, your clothes or your yard and lawnmower. If you can’t tell, I am a big fan of this company and its gardening products. I enjoy my time in my garden and my yard communing with Mother Nature, but I don’t want my love of the great outdoors to harm the environment. Greenworks electric lawn mowers are eco-friendly, and that allows me to keep my yard beautiful and my grass healthy and lush without nature paying the price.

How Are Greenworks Lawn Mowers Made?

It’s not like this company uses magic material and secret manufacturing processes that other electric mower manufacturers don’t have. A Greenworks lawnmower battery, charger, mower and all the smaller parts and pieces the company uses are similar to those offered by other companies.

What Greenworks does so well is they look at the complaints people have about electric and gas-powered mowers, and they work to answer those complaints. For instance, they stress user-friendly designs. The easier it is for you to operate, handle, store and maintain a Greenworks lawn mower, the more likely you are to buy one.

This means you get a product that is easier to use and lighter than similar mowers. It’s really nice and convenient to just push one button to get the motor going. The battery housing is conveniently located where it is easy to reach. Snapping a battery in and out is not difficult. Once you get your cordless or corded mower going, guess what? The machines are made to be lightweight but durable, which means they are easy to handle.

If you want to take grass cutting comfort to another level, why not purchase a powerful, wide-path product like the Greenworks V60V 21-inch Self-Propelled Brushless Lawnmower? The machine comes with 7 different cutting heights you can change with the simple switch of a single lever, the machine can be stored vertically in your garage to take up less space, it offers an extremely quiet operation, and the self-propelled speed control means you can be pulled around your yard at whatever pace you like.

I don’t know about you, but cutting the grass shouldn’t feel like lifting weights to me! These mowers don’t feel like that.

Where Do the Clippings Go?

Greenworks makes a line of eco-friendly mowers they call their Reel series. The Reel Lawn Mowers they offer come in 16, 18 and 20-inch models. If you remember the old person-powered push mowers of a bygone era, that’s what these mowers are. They have no motor of any kind (unless you count yourself, that is), and cut grass is expelled directly to the rear of the machine.

With these mowers you can decide to attach a bag that collects the clippings, or you can simply let the cut grass fall back onto your lawn as mulch.

With many of the corded or cordless electric Greenworks lawn mowers, you enjoy 3-in-1 discharge. That feature allows you to bag your clippings in the rear of the machine, mulch the cuttings back down into your yard, or discharge cut grass to the side. This versatility is sure to match your personal preference, wherever you decide you want your clippings to go.

Greenworks Lawn Mower Maneuverability Loves a Difficult Yard

You can get machines with wheels as big as 7 or 10 inches. There are different wheel configurations that allow you to place your front and back wheels in different positions and heights so that you can cut even the most difficult yard.

For instance, the G-MAX 40V 19-Inch Cordless Lawn Mower allows you to choose from 7 different cutting heights. This means one machine could cut your yard and several others, and you can easily handle the job if your grass has grown very tall or is relatively short. The wheels on this Greenworks electric lawn mower are 7 inches tall in the front. This is a lot taller than some similar mowers offered by other companies.

The rear wheels are 10 inches in height. If this sounds like that configuration is too high to keep your grass manageable, that is definitely not the case. Those higher wheels allow you to raise your cutting blades if you need to do so for whatever reason. You may have to cut really thick grass that hasn’t been mowed in a while. There may be weeds in that yard, and that could also make the job difficult.

In that situation you can change the height of the mower by moving a single lever, so you can raise the blade to its maximum height. Once you get the yard under control, then you can easily and quickly drop the blade as low as you would like. This quick-change feature of the large wheels coupled with a Smart physical design makes this mower and other Greenworks machines easy to maneuver.

This means no matter how many trees, bushes and other obstacles you have to move around, it is easy to do so.

Greenworks Lawn Mowers Have Smart Engines

These battery-powered or cord-powered mowers have been given what the company calls Smart Cut technology. This is a feature I really like. One of the biggest reasons to choose an electric mower over a gas-powered model is to take care of our planet. This is a practice that puts no exhaust, fumes or pollution into the air. When you cut your yard, you don’t have to worry about gas and oil liquid and fumes getting into the ground or the air you breathe.

Noise pollution is decreased considerably. When you get your hands on an electric corded or cordless mower that is extremely efficient with its fuel source, like the Greenworks models, you use as little electricity as you possibly need. All of these eco-friendly features make this company one I would recommend for your yard cutting duties if you care about the environment and want your family to be safer and healthier when gardening and landscaping.

One of the reasons these nature-loving mowers cost you less on your electric bill than many other products you could buy is because they know how much energy they need to do the job.

A Greenworks lawnmower will automatically increase or decrease the speed of its blade whenever more or less power is required. This is an outstanding feature. It means when you keep your yard trimmed and looking good, you are going to spend less time and money cutting your yard and paying for a battery charge.

But life happens. Sometimes we all let our gardening tasks and landscaping duties get a little out of control. No problem. If that is the case and your grass grows to epic heights, your mower will automatically increase blade speed so that you don’t have to struggle with the task of cutting your yard. In other words, your Greenworks lawn mower actually knows better than you how much power and blade speed is required to cut your lawn!

Final Thoughts on Greenworks Electric Lawn Mowers

Not happy with just reducing air pollution for your living area, the Greenworks products also limit the noise created by their powerful engines. You reduce your carbon footprint, save money, and you don’t have to buy and store any gas and oil.

These mowers are lightweight and maneuver easily. By the way, they don’t break the bank either. I was pleasantly surprised the first time I checked the price on Greenworks lawn mowers. I had read somewhere that going green with my lawn cutting would mean spending more money on a mower, and that is definitely not the case.

By the way, WiseBread figures that operating a gas-powered push mower vs a cordless electric push mower for 10 years is 50% more expensive [3] (gas 725 vs cordless electric 506)! Get a corded Greenworks mower and your 10 year operating cost drops to around 359.

Thanks for taking the time to visit with me. I really believe we can have fun in our gardens and yards while also thinking more about how our activities might be hurting the environment. It is my heartfelt feeling that Greenworks lawn mowers are a Smart and eco-friendly way to cut your yard, and you save some money vs the eco-unfriendly, gas-powered alternative.

Lawn Care

Let’s face it: not all of us can have yards covered in glorious native perennials. Most of us have plain old turf-grass lawns to maintain. But before you dust off the lawn mower and get to work, you should know that what you do in your yard has an impact on our water quality. How long you cut your grass, how often you cut it, how much water and fertilizer you use, and what you do with the grass clippings all impact the amount of pollution that ends up in our waterbodies.

Follow these simple tips to keep your yard green without impacting the water quality of our rivers, lakes and streams.

Download the “Green Lawns, Clean Water” Brochure (PDF) Descargue la Version en Español (PDF)

Mow High

Shorter is not better when it comes to lawn care. In fact, cutting your grass at a height of three inches or higher will produce a denser, healthier root system. This will make your grass more resistant to weeds, drought and erosion. Longer grass also helps trap potential pollutants that would otherwise blow into stormdrains.

Remember: Grass is like any other plant; it needs sunlight to grow. The longer its leaves, the more sunlight it can capture. Take a ruler or tape measure and check how high your mower is set from the ground. If it’s less than three inches, adjust it accordingly.

Cut One-Third (or Less) at a Time

We all know that feeling of coming home to a lawn that looks like a jungle and realizing it’s been more than a week since we last mowed. Time to make up for lost time and cut it extra short, right?

Wrong. Cutting off more than a third of the grass blade at one time stresses your turfgrass. It also leaves your yard littered with clumps of grass clippings that are too big to blend back into the lawn. In addition to smothering the live grass underneath them, these clippings end up in the streets and stormdrains, sending phosphorus, nitrogen and other excess nutrients to the nearest available waterbody.

Don’t cut off more than one-third of the height of your grass when you mow. Instead, consider cutting more frequently, especially during spring — when grass grows more quickly than it does in the summer.

Keep Your Mower Blades Sharp

If the tips of your grass have a yellowish or whitish appearance after you mow, your lawn mower blade might be dull. A dull blade can damage the grass and cause your mower to run less efficiently. Most hardware stores offer blade-sharpening services for a small fee.

Leave the Clippings on Your Lawn

Grass clippings provide vital nutrients to your lawn; in fact, grass clippings provide the equivalent of one round of fertilizer every single time you cut your grass. The same goes for mulched leaves (although if the leaves cover more than 50 percent of your lawn, you may want to bag them up or compost them instead).

importantly, when you blow grass clippings into the street, they get washed into stormdrains and carried out into your local waterways. It’s essentially like dumping fertilizer directly into the Mississippi River. Leave your grass clippings on your lawn, and sweep them out of the streets so they don’t end up in stormdrains.

Water Wisely

If you choose to water your lawn to help keep it green, water it in the early morning so that the grass retains the moisture better. Lawns generally require about one inch of water per week, so use a rain gauge to determine how much (if any) extra watering you really need. Also, avoid sprinkling on hard surfaces so that you aren’t needlessly wasting water and washing pollution into nearby stormdrains.

If a lush, green lawn is not of critical importance to you, then try not to water more than necessary. If your lawn starts turning yellow or brown in the mid-summer heat, don’t panic. It might look like it’s dying, but it’s only going dormant. It will green up again in the fall, or after the first good rain.

Fertilize Smart

If you choose to use fertilizer, do it in the fall when it will be most effective. Only use zero-phosphorus fertilizers, and apply the amount directed by the manufacturer. Also, avoid combination weed-and-feed products, which might not be effective for your specific conditions. Instead, consider having the University of Minnesota run a test on the soils in your yard. It’s inexpensive, and you’ll get great information on the right kind of fertilizer combination for your yard.

Sweep up any excess fertilizer that falls on hard surfaces. Finally, as an alternative to fertilizer, consider aerating your lawn in the fall; it will strengthen your lawn naturally.

Watch Our How-To Videos

If you really want to get in depth on preventing pollution at home, the MWMO’s YouTube channel features a series of videos on best practices for lawn care, covering everything from lawn care basics to weed control. Check out the playlist below: