Lawn Care

Throwing fertilizer by hand is a gamble. You’ll get dark green stripes where your hand was heavy, pale patches where it was light, and the sinking feeling you’ve wasted half the bag. A good spreader is the difference between a patchy lawn and one that glows with uniform health — and it pays for itself by eliminating wasted product. Fertilizer spreaders come in three types: broadcast spreaders that fling granules in a wide arc, drop spreaders that release material in a precise strip directly beneath the hopper, and handheld models for small lawns. We tested 6 of the best in 2025 to help you decide. ...

Gas mowers roar. Electric mowers whirr. But a reel mower — a reel mower whispers. The soft “snikt-snikt-snikt” of spinning blades against a stationary bed knife is the sound of a Sunday morning that doesn’t wake the neighbors. Reel mowers cut grass by scissoring each blade between a spinning reel and a fixed bed knife — a fundamentally cleaner cut than the tearing action of a rotary mower. The result? Healthier grass that’s less susceptible to disease and brown tips. We tested 6 of the best reel mowers for lawns from 500 to 5,000 square feet. ...