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Sometimes it’s the smallest things that can prevent a mower from running sweetly. However, sweating the small stuff when it comes to mower maintenance can save you hundreds of pounds. Whether or not your mower fuel cap is screwed on properly is one of these important but small considerations to make.&nbsp;A loose fuel cap can cause air to get into your mower, and gas to escape, and when air gets in and gas escapes, your mower can run less efficiently or stall.&nbsp;<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">So before you start worrying when your mower isn’t working, check to see if your fuel cap is on tightly enough. There’s no need to run out and get a new mower. <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;" data-mce-style="font-family: inherit; font-size: calc(16px * var(--body-fontSize, 1)); font-style: var(--body-fontStyle, normal); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">And that’s today’s Gardens and Mowers Minute. Come back to our blog tomorrow to read another garden or garden machinery related post that takes a minute or less to read.

Caps On

We gave you the full five Gardens and Mowers Minutes this week. Here they all are:1. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/the-rime-of-the-ancient-gardener" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/the-rime-of-the-ancient-gardener">The Rime of the Ancient Gardener</a>2. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/stabiliser-is-essential" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/stabiliser-is-essential">Stabiliser is Essential</a>3. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/not-on-the-cutting-edge" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/not-on-the-cutting-edge">Not On the Cutting Edge</a>4. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/a-friendly-foe" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/a-friendly-foe" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">A Friendly Foe﻿</a>5. &nbsp; &nbsp; <a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/say-it-with-daffodils" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/say-it-with-daffodils">Say It With Daffodils</a> The sweet showers of April are fast approaching, but the weather should also be warming up nicely. For your weekend task you may want to make some bird food to attract more wildlife into your garden. The RSPB have some excellent resources for making your own bird food.Next week on Thursday you can look forward to the first in what will be an ongoing series of Gardens and Mowers Minutes about groundbreaking gardeners. Have a lovely weekend.If you want to read last week's posts you can find them all <a data-mce-href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/shall-we-read-the-minutes" href="https://gardensandmowersbyclive.durablesites.com/blog/shall-we-read-the-minutes">here</a>.

This Week

In myth, daffodils can be associated with sad events. A lonely daffodil with a yellow centre, surrounded by white petals springs up in the place Narcissus, the youth besotted with his reflection dies, and Persephone picks daffodils before her unwilling descent to the underworld. In reality, daffodils are poisonous and can cause unpleasant symptoms if consumed.It is perhaps quite strange then that the daffodil has become a symbol of that celebration of maternal and filial love, Mother’s Day. The typical explanation for the connection between daffodils and Mother’s Day is that servants and apprentices customarily released from their duties on Mothering Sunday would gather flowers for their mothers on the way home. There is no way of knowing if anyone picked daffodils, but there would have been, as there still are, wild daffodils aplenty on hillsides all over the country.The longevity of the daffodil too makes it a suitable symbol. Daffodil bulbs can survive and produce flowers for years on end. What better symbol of a mother’s constancy is there than a flower that can show its beauty for many years without fail?

Say It With Daffodils

They ravage our vegetables, and feast on our flowers, it is difficult to think of slugs as friends. But, surprisingly, not all slugs are foes. Only a few varieties of slug, like the grey field slug that plagues the agriculture industry, are invasive pests.As worms do, friendly slugs break organic matter down into something that can add nutrients to your soil. One man’s slug is also another creature’s supper; some animals can use slugs as a source of food. A wildlife friendly garden can reduce the slug population and support the ecosystem.Rather than rushing for the saltshaker, copper barrier, or slug pellets that aren’t environmentally friendly try some more slug friendly methods of repelling them. Rosemary and sage, coffee grounds, and damp cardboard repel slugs. You can even lure them into a specific spot in your garden with some scraps of leafy veg or tasty fruit bound for the compost heap, then pick them up and move them on from where they’ve congregated. That’s all for now. Hopefully we’ve left you with a more positive view of slugs.

A Friendly Foe

Mowing over thatch, stones, or against hard kerbs, and general wear and tear, can lead to the erosion of your mower blade. Blunt blades damage your grass by tearing at it which in turn makes it look unevenly cut or even cause the grass to start browning.Another thing a blunt mower blade can do is put undue stress on your mower’s engine. A mower with an overtaxed engine will break down more frequently and will be less efficient because it will consume more fuel.It is quite hard to believe that something as simple as a blunt blade can have so much influence on the health of your mower and your grass, but it does. Stellar lawns are always achievable with a properly sharpened blade, or a new blade if necessary. &nbsp;It would be great if you would pop along tomorrow to read our minute about those mollusc menaces, slugs.&nbsp;

Not On the Cutting Edge

Top view green lawn grass with a lawnmower

We haven’t managed to locate the Holy Grail or the fountain of youth, but we can tell you about a little secret that will make the gardening season run smoothly. Usually, when you’re servicing a mower before the beginning of the gardening season if you want to have any hope of it running properly you must drain the stale fuel.There is, however, a way to avoid having to get rid of this stale fuel that can clog your mower up and bring it to a grinding halt. Fuel stabiliser. Using fuel stabiliser extends the lifespan of your fuel and keeps it from congealing for 2-3 years, and protects the heart of your machine, the engine. You will likely change your fuel within that timeframe, but using fuel stabiliser means, that barring any other issues, you can put your mower in the shed over the winter and start using it without problems when the season begins again.Look at our page about mower and machinery repairs if you need some help with your mower. See you next time.

Gardens and Mowers by Clive

The Gardens and Mowers Minute

Caps On

This Week

Say It With Daffodils

A Friendly Foe

Not On the Cutting Edge

Stabiliser is Essential