Cooler weather is no reason to let lawn care hibernate for the season.

A few easy steps taken now can help prevent damage and delays come spring.

To ensure a healthy lawn next spring, experts offer a few recommendations.

Among those recommendations are planning your landscaping, vegetable and flower gardens.

Follow these tips:

• Evaluate what your yard included last year.

• Review your gardening diary to see what flowers and veggies performed exceptionally well.

• Test the soil.

• Develop a new plan that includes plant varieties, a garden layout and planting and fertilizing schedules.

Also take time to organize and repair, including these pointers:

• Review all pesticide labels and fuel cans and set them high on a shelf where children can’t reach them.

• Make sure fertilizer is in a dry place to prevent any moisture damage.

• Wash and dry all metal tools, then spray them with a good household oil to prevent rust.

Lastly, take some time and ensure your mowing equipment will be ready to use this spring.

• Clean mowing equipment and inspect it carefully for cracks or loose hardware.

• Store your mower properly.

• Tighten all nuts and bolts.

• Check belts, filters and safety shields.

• Change the oil.

• Sharpen the blade.

• Add a fuel stabilizer to help protect against clogs in the carburetor from old fuel. After adding the stabilizer, run the engine for five minutes.

• If you prefer to stay inside where it’s warm, call a local service technician. The technician will come to your home and perform the proper maintenance on your outdoor power equipment to ensure it is ready for spring.