15 Menards Items Smart Homeowners Stock Up On For Spring And Summer

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As one of North America's premier big-box retailers, Menards is suitably stocked with just about everything you need to get your home improvement project started. In the fall, this might mean grabbing a few new windows to finally do away with those annoying drafts. In the winter, you might focus on updating your kitchen's cabinets and appliances, especially if it's your turn to host Christmas. But in the spring and summer, trips to Menards are taken with one area more commonly in mind than any other. We are, of course, talking about the garden.

As with any other retailer, the trick to getting the most out of your Menards shopping budget is to shop smart, not hard. In the guide below, we've found 15 items that, depending on your yard's needs, could well be smart to stock up on. Some, like Menards' expandable raised bed kits, are available in the spring sale, allowing you to get your new installation off to an easy and cost-effective start. Others, like DAP's Plastic Wood Rot Repair Kit, are essential for extending the lifetime of your deck and fencing. Whatever it is that you need to do in the spring and summer, if you want to benefit from Menards' promise to help you "Save Big Money," then the below buys could help you do it.

Maintaining a lush and well-manicured lawn involves more than just regular watering. Some lawns need fertilizing more regularly than others, and some need help managing invasions of annoying weeds and insects. Menards' Premium 4-Step Lawncare Program is meant to help you keep on top of all this, from spring until fall. The core program includes four products, each covering up to 5,000 square feet. Premium Crabgrass Preventer ($19.99) is the first in the line-up, made for application in early spring. Later in the spring, Weed & Feed ($19.99) slowly releases essential nutrients for up to two months while fighting weeds like dandelions, chickweed, knotweed, plantain, and thistles. Come early summer, Menards' Lawn Food serves as the third step, giving your grass a boost to carry it through the stress of the hotter months. Finally, in late summer, Fall Lawn Food ($15.99) helps prepare your lawn for winter dormancy while encouraging a lustrous bounce back the following spring.

You don't have to stock up on all of these at once. However, doing so could be a smart choice. The last thing you want is to reach early summer and find that your local store has run out! By keeping a bag of each "step" in the shed, you can ensure you're properly prepared. More than that, having products specially formulated to work together in your lawn's best interest can take away some of the guess work. 

Dovetailing with Menards' 4-Step Lawncare program, its Premium Insect Control can be used during the spring or summer — whenever insects start to surface in your grass. It's designed to get rid of some of the worst garden pests, including ants, ticks, and fleas. And in case you have kids or pets who like to play in the garden, the product is safe for both once it's been watered and allowed to dry.

The reason we feel this is a smart buy is three-fold. Firstly, if you're stocking up on Menards' aforementioned "Perfect Lawn" program, its Insect Control is formulated to complement the four core products in that range. Secondly, having a bag "ready to go" in the shed in time for spring and summer means that you're prepared should you suddenly spot insects in your lawn. If you don't, and your local store runs out of stock, then you'll be powerless to deal with the insects until a bag can be delivered. Finally, you might just find that it's on sale in the spring. It usually retails for $9.99 per bag, but it was dropped to $7.85 as part of the recent spring sale.

Like the brand's Insect Control, Menards' Grub Control complements the 4-Step "Perfect Lawn" Lawncare Program. It's formulated for use by gardeners who've noticed the signs of a lawn grub problem in their grass, and one bag can tackle areas of up to 5,226 square feet. It can be used on lawns, ground covers, flower beds, and around your ornamental trees and shrubs, and it's designed to be effective with just a single use.

If your lawn is prone to grub problems, then this is a smart buy at any point during the spring or summer. However, it's best applied early in the spring to prevent such problems from surfacing in the first place. Bags usually sell for $15.99, although it was featured in the recent springtime sale, so it's worth keeping an eye out for it next spring.

There are plenty of eco-friendly mulch options available to the climate-conscious gardener. Wood bark chippings are one of the most popular, especially for those hoping to shred and recycle the pruned and fallen branches around their garden. If you don't have such a supply on-hand, then you could, instead, pick up a few bags of Menards' Bagged Wood Mulch. It's available in either black or brown, allowing you to match your mulch color to your wider garden aesthetic. 

Each bag covers up to 2 cubic feet, and each usually costs $3.47, which is a fairly reasonable price as it is. In the recent spring sale, that price dropped to $2.47. In other words, not only is spring a good time to refresh and replace the mulch in your flower beds — if you shop at Menards, it could also be the most cost-effective time to stock up on some bark chips.

Spring is the perfect time to get back outside and finally build that raised bed you've been dreaming of. But starting a raised garden bed isn't always easy. There are countless raised garden bed designs to choose from, for starters, and that's before you dive into the different available materials. In other words, as spring or summer projects go, building a raised bed is among the most involved. Menards' Expandable Raised Bed Garden Kits are designed to simplify the whole process.

They're made as composite beds, meaning that, theoretically at least, they can be "infinitely" added onto. Each bed is built from powder-coated, commercial-grade steel, which Menards says has been pre-finished for long-lasting rust resistance. They can be assembled with just a screwdriver, and once built, each bed yields 7.5 cubic feet of growing space. They're usually $34.99; however, the recent spring sale reduced them to $25.83, making it possible to build a large raised bed system for significantly less.

The best way to protect your wooden deck against the weather is to seal it. To do that, you'll need to prepare your deck, ensuring you remove any and all rotten wood to ensure that you don't accidentally seal in the problem. Once that's done, you'll need a decent sealant. While there are lots on the market, Thompson's WaterSeal could be worth looking out for if you happen to be shopping at Menards. 

It's formulated to protect deck boards for 4 years, which is reassuring to those who prefer to keep their yard's maintenance requirements to a minimum. On fences and siding, that guarantee extends to 5 years. It's mold- and mildew-resistant, which should help to make post-winter cleaning easier, and it's durable against sunshine and rain. It requires only one coat, and per Thompson, it helps to enhance the natural grain of your wooden surfaces while surpassing industry standards for waterproofing.

The keys to successfully overseeding your lawn include timing it right, ensuring that other environmental conditions are met (like good drainage), and sourcing a reliable overseed mix. It's the latter that Schultz aims to help you with via its Sun & Shade Grass Seed. Per the name, it's tailored to suit gardens with sun and areas of partial shade. It's also 99.9% free of weed seeds, so it's unlikely to contaminate your lawn with undesirables.

It's currently in the spring sale — down from $35.99 to $24.99 for a 10-pound bag — making spring as good a time to grab a bag. Early spring is also the best time to actually use it. Summer temperatures above 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit are no good, so if you apply this seed too late, don't expect good results. That said, depending on the price, it could still be a smart buy during the summer, since the specs say it's also suitable for sowing in the fall.

If you're browsing the aisles of your local Menards in search of affordable patio light ideas, you'll likely come across a variety of solar lights. But few are quite so affordable as Patriot Lighting's Solar Integrated LED Frisco Black Landscape Light. At less than a dollar apiece, they're likely to sell out quickly. With that in mind, if you want to use them for lighting your patio without the hassle of hardwiring, it could pay to grab some sooner rather than later.

Each stake light is fitted with a solar panel that charges the integrated battery. Per the specification, each unit delivers up to 8 hours of nightly illumination. What's more, while they are indeed cheap, they come backed with a one-year manufacturer warranty. You don't need any extra equipment, and given the price, you could easily illuminate the entire perimeter of your patio without going over budget.

The best way to attract a variety of birds to visit your garden is to create a favorable habitat. But once that's done, there's no harm in keeping them interested by laying out a few extra goodies. Enchanted Garden's Wild Bird Food mix provides staple food sources to attract a range of stunning birds, including cardinals, jays, chickadees, grosbeaks, and more. And it comes in 40-pound bags, which ought to keep you suitably stocked for the spring and summer months.

Each bag costs approximately $18.99, but in the recent spring sale, they were marked down to just $15.69 per bag. That means that if you're managing a few feeders, the spring could be a cost-effective time to stock up on seeds to fill them with. It's certainly cheaper than if you bought the equivalent mix at Lowe's. There, the regular price for a 40-pound bag of wild bird food is $24.98, and even in the spring sale, it costs more than $19.

Spring isn't just a season of birdsong and budding growth. It's also the season when weeds can spring into action. If you use weedkillers, Compare-N-Save's Concentrate Weed & Grass Killer at Menards is a cost-effective way to stock up. A 32-ounce bottle costs $15.99, almost $10 less than a 35.2-ounce bottle from RoundUp. Yet, Compare-N-Save's cheaper bottle makes 10 gallons more than the RoundUp equivalent and covers an additional 2,500 square feet.

The two products differ slightly in chemical composition. Compare-N-Save's product relies solely on glyphosate, while RoundUp uses a blend of three chemicals, not including glyphosate. RoundUp promises visible results within hours, whereas Compare-N-Save's formula takes up to 24 hours. However, both work on most common weeds with a single application. For budget-minded gardeners looking to restock, Compare-N-Save's is likely the smartest choice.

When preparing your garden for the growing season ahead, it's important to avoid replenishing your raised beds with garden soil. It may seem like a cost-effective way to top them up. But in the long run, you could end up depriving your plants of the goodies they need to thrive. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to spend a fortune on new soil. Instead, look for deals in your local garden store, and if you live near a Menards, consider grabbing a few bags of Master Garden's Organic Premium Raised Bed Mix.

One bag costs $6.97 and covers up to 1.5 cubic feet. It's the cheapest dedicated raised-bed mix available at Menards, and it's cheaper per cubic foot than most dedicated raised-bed mixes currently available at Lowe's, Home Depot, or Walmart. It's also ready to use as it is, and includes various goodies, including composted cow manure, to feed your plants for up to three months.

The spring is a time for cleaning the outside of your home, and the summer is a time for sitting back and enjoying the fruits of your labor. The 30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner is formulated to give you a head start on your spring cleaning proceedings. Being a concentrate, it's also more cost-effective than equivalent "ready to use" cleaners. 

A 1-gallon bottle of concentrate makes two gallons of cleaner and costs $11.96. For the same cleaner in ready-to-go format, you'll pay $14.99 for half a gallon. In other words, if you're stocking up on cleaner for the spring and summer months, opting for the concentrate is a no-brainer. This particular bottle is formulated to tackle algae, mold, and mildew, and should help you to clean them from up to 600 square feet of surface. You can use it on your furniture, decks, siding, patios, and pathways, and you needn't worry about spillages, as it's safe around plants, lawns, and landscaping.

Nothing's quite as irritating during a summer cookout as a sudden, unsolicited invasion of mosquitoes. If this happens, then long-term, you'll want to keep mosquitoes out of your yard by finding, and removing, any sources of standing water. However, to be sure that any surprise visits don't spoil your evening's proceedings, it could be worth having a back-up in your storage box. PIC's Mosquito Repellent Coils & Burner set is designed to ward such unwanted guests away from your gathering.

It comes with a terracotta burner pot and four coils, each capable of burning for up to 7 hours. It's infused with allethrin, a common anti-mosquito chemical used in coils and other similar burning devices. The set costs $5.97, which seems like a small price to pay to keep mosquitoes away from your outdoor dinner table. Just know that it's most effective if used in a confined (but outdoor) space, as any breeze is likely to blow the smoke away and render the coils ineffective.

If you're growing fruiting plants, like peppers or tomatoes, or even heavy, showy flowers like dahlias, it's important to provide them with support. If you don't, then they could eventually snap under the weight of those fruits and flowers. Fortunately, it's easy to prevent this from happening, and all you really need are some stakes and a ball of twine. If you don't have any, and you're determined to enjoy a bumper crop this summer, then Master Garden's Garden Plant Twine is a cost-effective means of stocking up.

Each spool comes with 200 feet of twine. Depending on how much you're planning to grow, that's likely to be enough for the next couple of seasons. It's also made from flexible — and biodegradable — natural jute. You can pick a spool up for less than $3 at your local Menards, and if you need stakes to pair it with, you can buy a 5-pack of 3-foot wooden plant stakes for $5.49.

Winter weather rarely plays nice with the things that we keep outdoors. But it's especially rough on our wood. Decking, fence panels, and fence posts are all vulnerable to the privations of the weather. And once they start to soften, it doesn't take long for rot to start making itself at home. DAP's Plastic Wood Rot Repair Kit is designed to help you patch, reinforce, and fix your rotted wood easily. It's a useful kit to have on-hand from the start of spring, when you're going around your yard and assessing it for damage.

It's a set, comprising two distinct products. The first is a wood hardener, which reinforces soft wood fibers around the area from which you've excised the rotting wood. The second is an epoxy filler. The resulting finish is waterproof and mildew resistant, and both included products can be applied to damp wood. That means you can use it to repair signs of rot as soon as you find them — even if the wood has yet to dry out from the winter.