Lawn & garden trivia

From Briggs & Stratton come these interesting facts you may not know about mower maintenance, lawnmowers and turfgrass.

• Out of 102 million total households in the United States, 66 million own lawnmowers.
• Of the 66 million mower-owning households in the United States, approximately 40 million don’t perform any maintenance on their machines.
• Regular mower maintenance can:

- Reduce emissions up to 50 percent
- Reduce fuel consumption up to 30 percent
- Restore horsepower up to 7.5 percent
- Extend equipment life
• There are more than 30 million mowable acres of lawn in the United States, an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania.
• The average person mows his/her lawn 30 times a season, which equals about three feet of turfgrass.
• Adults spend an average of 3.8 hours per week during the spring and summer working on the lawn and garden.
• A well-maintained lawn and landscape can add up to 15 percent to the value of a house.
• Eight healthy front lawns have the cooling effect of 70 tons of air conditioning—enough to cool 16 homes.
• Enough oxygen is released by 2,500 square feet of well-maintained turfgrass to meet the needs of a family of four—every day.