 I'm Ron Smith, NDSU Extension Horticulturist. In our continuation of fall preparation, going into the winter, we want to talk about lawns today and the final treatment of the lawn for getting it ready for the winter and obviously for next spring. And one of the things we want to do is we want to lower the mowing height of our lawn mower over what we've been mowing all season long. Ideally, we should have been mowing at about three inches in height. At higher mowing height provides for better root system, more photosynthesitic leaf area there to carry on photosynthesis, build stronger root system, stronger crowns, rhizomes, et cetera, a healthier overall turf. Well, now at the end of October here, roughly from the middle of October to the end of October is a good time to do this final mowing. So we want to drop the mower a good inch or so, a couple of notches on the mower wheels, and then this time, normally we don't bag the clippings, but this time of the year we want to go ahead and bag it because by bagging the clippings, we're removing a food source from the pathogens that are going to be harbored in our soils. They're there all the time. All we're doing is giving them the right opportunity to go ahead and proliferate if we leave this much food source behind. That's pink snow mold and gray snow mold. So if we can go ahead and remove the grass clippings at the time of this mowing, we'll have fewer incidences of snow mold the following spring. So let's get started down here. We had the mower at this point right here, this nice high point, that's three inches. And we check that out on a paved surface like we're on right now. And we've lowered it down a couple of notches here to this point where we'll get a good pickup of the grass and what few leaves remain at this time of the year. And we'll recycle those grass clippings into the community recycling bins. We're ready to start on that and get going with our mowing. First of all, we're gonna prime the mower here. And then this is an electric start mower. So with a little bit of luck, it should start right up. Well, once you're done with the last mowing for the season, you'd want to pay attention to the mower that you've used and you hope you can use for many more years to come because they are very expensive these days. And a little bit of care will go a long way in maintaining this mower. First thing you want to do would be to drain the gas out, get the gas out as much as you can by running the mower out of gas. That's one way. Another way would be to go ahead and actually physically drain the lines yourself. That is not as effective. And then the third way would be to go ahead and add a gas stabilizer to the gas that you want to keep in there. And it suggested that you get the gas tank filled up with the stabilizer in it and that'll keep the gas fresh and ready to go ahead and go for the next spring, giving you a quicker start and better performance of your engine. One of the last things you want to do would be to get the blade sharpened and the oil changed for next year. And so as you get rid of the mower or get done with your last mowing, take the blade off or you can take it down to a dealer. If you don't want to do the change of the oil yourself or take the blade off yourself, take it to a local dealer. They will then go ahead and remove the blade, change the oil for you, get the thing tuned up for next spring and you'll be able to start it up without any trouble the following spring and have your mower in good shape for that growing season. Although it seems ridiculous to be talking about snow removal in late October, it's a good idea to get your snowblower and prep prepared for the oncoming winter months. We don't use a snowblower as often. At least I hope we don't use a snowblower as often as we do our lawn mower. So the snowblower is gonna have to have some particular attention paid to it. If it sits all summer and it sits through say most of the winter with very little activity, the gas is gonna have a tendency to get old and stale and that's where a gas or a fuel stabilizer would come in handy. So I recommend using that in your operations and then certainly once the season have the oil change because during the summer and winter months when it's sitting there it has a tendency to have some condensation accumulate in the engine and that condensation can dilute the oil and create problems shortening the longevity of these wonderful machines. So have them checked up, have them serviced, stabilizer in the gas line and have the oil changed and be ready for the oncoming winter months that we can all pretty much count on.