Five Simple Lawn Mowing Tips
06 June 2017
At face value, mowing the lawn might seem like a straightforward task. In fact, however, there are a multitude of ways that it can go wrong and leave your grass looking unsightly, being unhealthy and being unable to cope with changes in the weather.
If you want to avoid those pitfalls, therefore, it will serve you well to take heed of the following five simple and yet crucial lawn mowing tips.
Keep your Mower in Good Working Order
We all know that a bad workman blames his tools but if you’re going to do a job properly, it’s important to have the right equipment. Your mower, then, should be well tended to and most crucially its blade needs to be kept nice and sharp.
A blunt mower blade, after all, won’t cleanly cut the blades of grass that make up your lawn and will tear them instead. That’s an important distinction, as tears provide openings for pests and diseases, and torn blades of grass tend to die back and turn an unsightly brown or white in colour.
Always Cut to the Correct Length
It can be tempting for anyone with limited time or inclination for lawn mowing to scalp their grass as short as possible in order to limit the number of times it needs mowing. That is never a good idea, however, as cutting grass too short causes a number of different issues.
Those issues include causing damage to the grass’s crown, where new growth comes from, and limiting the surface area of the blades of grass to the point that photosynthesis is less efficient and the grass browns or dies. A good rule of thumb, therefore, is to aim to always cut away approximately 1/3 of the length of the grass.
Time your Mowing Correctly
When you choose to mow your lawn can be almost as important as how you do it. In early spring, for instance, mowing approximately once a fortnight is most efficient but later in the growing season you will need to switch this to a weekly routine to account for the more rapid growth.
You should also never mow your lawn when it is wet, as wet grass tends to clump and thus cannot be mown consistently or evenly. Furthermore, if possible it is good to avoid mowing when the day is at its hottest, in order to limit the heat stress on both the lawn and on yourself.
Don’t Neglect the Edges
Even if you mow the main body of your lawn exactly as you should, the aesthetic effect can still be ruined by overgrown or untidy edges.
At the beginning of each growing season, therefore, you should re-cut the edges of your lawn using a half moon tool. Then, after each time you mow the lawn, you can simply tidy up the edges with a trimmer or strimmer.
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