Reddit mentions of Smith's 50603 Lawn Mower Blade Shop Essentials Sharpener, Orange

That's what I used, it was a little rough trying to control my drill while I was running it over the blade. I feel like it did pretty good, but then I did a second pass with one of these to get it razor sharp: Smith's 50603 Mower Blade Sharpener https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VTO5N2G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Jj6-Ab31GKD3A

Hello fellow cheesehead!

I agree with the others here that a sprinkler is not where you should start. I made a conscious effort last year to monitor rainfall totals and used a sprinkler whenever there was less than 1" of rain per week. It helped keep my lawn a bit greener than the neighbors who didn't water, but not a huge difference.

If you're just getting started, I would recommend some other purchases first:

1. Collapsible Gardening Bag - cheap and doesn't take up much space when collapsed. I use mine all the time for weeding or collecting fallen sticks/rock/etc before mowing.
   
   
2. Broadcast Spreader - if you're going to be throwing down fert, pre-emergent granules, or seed and have a lawn of any size, I think a broadcast spreader is a worthwhile investment. If you have a bigger lawn, you might opt for a larger one, but this model works fine for my average-sized lawn.
   
   
3. Stand-up Weeder - this was for my wife whose knees aren't great, but I've used it a few times and it works fairly well.
   
   
4. Mower Blade Sharpener - Some people like taking their mower blades to get professionally sharpened, but this hand tool is pretty inexpensive and gets my blade pretty sharp. You'd be surprised how much of a difference a sharp mower blade can make.
   
   Other than that, my only other piece of advice is to not neglect pre-emergent and grub preventer. Pre-emergent has saved me a ton of weeding and the one year I didn't use grub preventer I lost a sizable patch of lawn near my mailbox to grubs, which now I need to seed this spring.
   
   Good luck with the lawn this year!