But it doesn't have to be that way. At least not when it comes to lawn care. For a lush lawn your neighbors will envy, these shortcuts will help give you the results you want with the time savings you need:

Prepare your mower. Sharpen your lawn mower blades and service the engine before the onset of spring. With a lawn mower that's in tip-top shape, you usually mow less often, use less fuel, and mow with less effort.

Leave grass clippings on the lawn. Homeowners usually spend more time collecting grass clippings than mowing! However, clippings actually recycle and return nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium back into the soil. A lawn with clippings needs one-third less fertilizer per year.

Remove debris from the lawn. Be sure to rake debris such as tree leaves, sticks and dead grass from the lawn to help make the first mowing of the season quicker and easier. Debris does not add any nutrients to a lawn.

Mow less. Mow only when the grass height reaches three inches, and never remove more than one-third of the leaf surface. Slightly longer grass ensures both shade and cool temperatures for the soil-making it more difficult for weeds to grow.

Prevent weeds. Stop this season's weed woes by preventing them before they break the soil surface with Team* and Gallery* preemergence herbicides.

Both set up a "weed prevention zone" around weed seedlings. As weed seeds germinate, this zone disrupts root and stem development, so weeds die before they emerge.

Team is effective on grassy weeds such as crabgrass and goosegrass while Gallery stops broadleaf weeds such as dandelion and clover.

Both products should be put down before the germination of target weeds-usually when the soil temperature is between 52 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Team and Gallery can be found in a variety of brand-name weed prevention products available at local garden and hardware stores. Look for the logos on the front or back of the bag. (NAPSI)