Mowing Lawn If Lawn Mower Height Is Too High Or Too Low
The lawn mower blades should be set at the correct height. This can cause the lawn to become unmanageable and could even result in the death of parts of the lawn. If you dont fix it quickly enough, uneven grass layers can result in bald patches and even worsening of your lawn. Call a specialist if you notice that your lawn mower blades are set in the lowest possible position.
Can I Mow My Lawn After Fertilising It
After applying lawn feed you should leave the grass to absorb the nutrients for a while. Check the instructions of your lawn feed, but in most cases if you can still see the fertiliser pellets on the ground, you need to wait a bit longer before mowing the lawn. You should ideally mow your lawn two or three days before fertilising so that the soil can take in nutrients quickly.
Wait Until The Grass Is Dry
Lawn mowing in the early morning while it’s still cool outside seems like a good idea, but if there’s still dew on the ground, you can lose valuable time. More than likely, the wet grass will clump up in the discharge chute , requiring you to stop and remove the clog. Plus, your mower tires won’t get great traction either.
Instead, wait until later in the morning when the dew dries, or mow the lawn late in the day before the evening dew. Also, time your sprinklers to start up in the late evening or at night so there isn’t extra moisture on the grass when you mow. Here are some more watering tips for your lawn.
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How To Mow A Lawn Professionally
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A well maintained lawn improves the look of any house. A simple, cost effective way of keeping a lawn looking healthy is it to use a lawn mower. In addition to keeping your lawn well maintained, a lawn mower also requires maintenance in order to make it effective at mowing the lawn.
Grass Clippings: Mulch Them
The standard wisdom has changed in the past few decades about grass clippings. A few decades ago, lawn clippings were thought to contribute to thatching, so the common practice when mowing your lawn was to bag lawn clippings and discard them. It has since been discovered that mulching leaving clippings in the lawn is the better choice. Letting your mower chop the grass blades returns nitrogen to the soil and does not contribute to thatching. It does contribute to weed control and is a more organic way to maintain a healthy lawn.
Regular lawn mowers do an adequate job of mulch, but mulching mowers have a special blade that chops the grass blades into fine pieces, hastening their decomposition. Its fine to run your mulching blade over leaves to add them to the mulch mix. If the leaves are thick, though, rake them up for leaf removal into a compost pile.
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Tip #4 Change The Pattern Each Mow
Most people dont know this, or even think about it. Cutting the same pattern every week is an easy mistake that many homeowners will make. Especially while striving to make those perfectly straight stripes.
Unless you are push mowing, cutting the same way over and over again can lead to ruts in the yard from the lawn mower constantly driving the same path over and over. Think about it, if you cut your lawn every week, you are running the same path four times a month. This can quickly lead to compaction of the soil where the tires ride.
Changing your mowing each week will not only prevent ruts, it will also prevent your grass from laying in the direction you mow. This will lead to grass which stands straighter, is more evenly cut, and looks better all around.
There are 4 common patterns you can mow your lawn with:
One of the secrets the pros like to keep to themselves is this
The direction you cut will determine the shade of the stripe.
A line cut away from you will cause the grass to be darker, a line which was mowed toward your point of view will appear lighter.
That is why it is best practice to alternate your cuts towards and away from your starting point. Unfortunately, if you are using your standard riding mower and not a zero turn, alternating stripes is a challenge, but you will figure something out.
Mowing On Hilly Ground
If you need to mow an extremely uneven lawn you have a rather difficult job ahead. We recommend you work across the slope, from left to right, rather than up and down. This will reduce the amount of effort you need to put in and make it easier to mow in straight lines. Whats more, its a much safer way to mow on a hill, as there is less risk of your lawn mower running you over if you fall.
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Lawn Care Tips After You Mow
Should you leave the grass clippings on the lawn or bag them up after mowing? As long as the clippings are on the short side, its usually best to leave them in place. The grass pieces break down and provide nutrition and nitrogen to the lawn. If you do bag up your grass clippings, try to compost them or use them as mulch somewhere else.
How Short Should I Mow The Lawn
Grass should be maintained at a height of around 3 to 5 cm. Too long and your lawn will be untidy and susceptible to weeds too short, on the other hand, and the lawn will not be able to protect the soil from diseases, as well as being extremely prone to water stress and lawn scorch in high temperatures. Mow your lawn to a length of up to 5 cm in the summer when temperatures are rising, to keep the soil underneath cool. Various factors may cause your grass to grow back unevenly, so you should readjust the cutting height each time you mow the lawn.
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Tip #3 How Low Should You Mow
All too often I see homeowners scalp their lawns by cutting way too low. Worst of all, they do it time and time again. And, its TERRIBLE FOR THE LAWN!
Cutting the lawn too short is one of the worst mistakes homeowners can make. Unless your lawn is perfectly flat, with no dips, you should never cut below 3 inches in height.
Why 3 Inches? There are a few reasons.
First of all, when you cut a lawn any lower than three inches. Imperfections in your lawn are more noticeable. A small dip, or change in height of the soil in the lawn, can easily lead to the blades striking earth. This will result in killing the lawn in that spot, and all your hopes and dreams of a perfect green lawn along with it!
Two, the taller the grass, the more water a lawn retains. Of course, if you let the grass get too long, the water retention will make cutting the lawn more challenging. But, cutting the lawn too low can lead to a water deprived lawn. A lawn that is only 1 and a half inches tall, will hardly stand a chance against drought. Maintaining a lawn between 3 and 5 inches is ideal for water retention.
Three, the root of grass typically grows around 3x deeper than the typical grass height.
This means a lawn cut and maintained at:
- 1 inch, will have roots around 3 inches deep.
- 2 inches, will have roots around 6 inches deep.
- 3 inches, will have roots around 9 inches deep.
How To Mow Your Lawn Like A True Professional
by Sean Brendlinger | Oct 8, 2019 | How To, Lawn Mowers
After spending over two decades in the lawn and landscape industry, if theres one thing I know, its how to mow a lawn.
Though mowing grass seems like a simple task, 95% of homeowners get it wrong. Heck, even most professionals get it wrong.
This is the formula I trained every person I hired, and a big part of how I was able to grow my landscaping business before I sold it a few years back.
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Timing Is Crucial When Cutting The Lawn
If you cut your lawn at the right times, it will keep it neat without reducing its quality. In summer, it is not recommended to mow lawns. Cut your lawn at the early hours of the morning, around 6 AM. Or in the evening after 6 PM. This will prevent potential problems from occurring during mowing. A lawn mower that is too dry will produce dust when cutting grass. This can cause eye irritation. It is possible to leave slippery areas on lawn after mowing, which can make it difficult for people who want to play or walk on the lawn.
Mow Over Your Clippings
When choosing with direction and pattern to mow, you always want to be mowing over the clippings produced in your previous pass. Why? this causes the clippings to be cut up even finer, which means faster decomposition into fertilizer. However, its important to alternate cutting patterns so that one side of the lawn doesnt get more fertilized than the other.
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Not Cutting Often Enough
It will look worse if it isnt maintained regularly. Too little lawn care can lead to lawn plants growing taller than usual and becoming more vulnerable to diseases. This can cause longer grass to become more easily blown by the wind. It is important to sharpen your lawn mower blades immediately after it hasnt been used for over a month. Before you use your lawn mower again, make sure to clean it thoroughly.
Avoid Using Weed Killers Unless Necessary
It is best to avoid using weed killer altogether if you can. This will inevitably kill off some of your grass along with the weeds, so only use it when you have a major infestation that needs immediate attention! Use natural sprays instead, or try pulling out any stubborn roots by hand.
You can also try using weed blockers or putting down several layers of newspaper to get rid of them without having to use any chemicals! Keep in mind that harsh chemicals can hurt any plants or grass you have nearby, so try to avoid using them if possible.
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When Should I Avoid Mowing My Lawn
There are no specific rules about when you can and cannot mow your lawn, but you should think about whether you will be causing a noise nuisance. Robot lawn mowers are quieter than conventional models but may still be irritating to some people at certain times. You just need to be considerate would you want to be woken by a lawn mower at 7 a.m. on a Sunday or bank holiday?
Why You Shouldnt Bag Your Clippings
If you are looking for time-saving tips and tricks, experts recommend skipping the time it takes to bag and dispose of your lawn clippings. For the absolute most manicured look, there is no way to avoid bagging your clippings. Sports fields and golf courses always remove clippings so that they wont interfere with gameplay. But when youre maintaining your home turf, there are good reasons not to bag your clippings.
- Skipping the bagging saves you time. Taking extra time to bag your clippings is simply not the most efficient way to mow your lawn.
- Its really not that much of an eyesore. As long as you are mowing regularlyonce a week should be enoughthe clippings wont be thick enough to smother your grass or make unsightly piles. You should never cut off more than the top third of your grass, so if your clippings are piling up, you should probably be mowing more often.
- Its good for your lawn! All that grass you cut is full of precious nutrients that it absorbed from the soil as it grew. When you let the clipping naturally decay on your lawn, many of those nutrients are returned to the soil. Also, a thin layer of clippings can insulate and shade your soil, keeping in moisture and maintaining a steady temperature for your roots.
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What Is The Best Mowing Pattern
One of the most significant factors in how long it takes you to mow your lawn is the pattern you follow. Some methods are more efficient than others, and your mowing pattern can also affect how your lawn looks. While mowing a simple rectangle or circle is relatively simple, many residential lawns have odd shapes and obstacles that require a more nuanced mowing plan.
How To Cut Grass Properly
A well cared for, freshly mown lawn not only looks awesome, its also great to walk on and play on. Anyone can achieve it. The right length of grass is critical to its health and weed minimisation. Check out the guide below to determine the height of lawn that works best for you and is best for your lawn.
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Devise A Lawn Mowing Schedule
The frequency at which you should be mowing your lawn depends on your climate, the amount of sun and water your lawn receives, and the type of grass youre growing.
A general rule of thumb is never to mow more than a third of the total height of grass to avoid stressing your lawn unnecessarily. For example, if you prefer to cut your yard to one inch high, youd cut your grass when it reaches one and a half inches tall.
For some lawns, this will mean mowing weekly. For extremely prolific yards, this could be up to twice a week or more. Grass that doesnt receive the optimal amount of water or sunlight you might only need to mow every other week.
If you cut your lawn too frequently, it can show signs of stress, such as turning brown or becoming overrun with weeds. When you mow your grass too short, the grass becomes scalped and can result in a lawn that is too short to survive the hot summer sun as water is more able to evaporate.
How Often Should Grass Be Mowed
There is no set time for mowing the lawn, but most lawns will require mowing at least once a week during late spring and early summer. To keep your lawn healthy, dont remove more than one-third of the height at each mowing. Removing more can affect healthy root growth, which means the lawn will need more water during warm, dry months.
Cutting the lawn too close can also increase your lawns vulnerability to pests and weeds. As a general rule of thumb, a length of about 2 ½ inches , increasing to 3 inches during the summer, looks good and promotes deep, healthy roots.
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Get Your Mower Serviced Regularly
Get your mower serviced at the start of every growing season to ensure a clean, quality cut. Chipped or blunt blades will bruise the grass and can cause straw-coloured dieback at the tips. Watch our video guide to maintaining a petrol mower. Clean out your mower regularly to avoid a build-up of clippings.
How To Mow A New Lawn
If youve recently sown seeds for a new lawn, you are no doubt eager to see a lush green expanse of perfect grass. Youll need to be patient, though: while the grass is germinating, it needs watering and rest more than anything else. Wait until the new grass has reached a height of 8 to 10 cm before attempting the first cut this means the grass has the energy to bulk out a bit and ensures dense growth. For the first mowing of a new lawn, cut the grass to 5 to 6 cm a bit longer than a mature lawn. You should generally avoid cutting more than a third of the grasss length. Always ensure your lawn mower blades are sufficiently sharp, as blunt lawn mower blades can rip out the delicate young blades of grass.
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Mulch Your Garden Beds If Necessary
If you have plants in the garden bed around your house, be sure to mulch them so they can get enough water and nutrients from the soil. Grass will often take up these nutrients before the plants get them, so mulching can help ensure that everything is growing properly! This will also help keep weeds from growing and killing your plants, so you will want to be sure that the mulch is thick enough.
How To Properly Mow Your Lawn
How to Properly Mow Your Lawn
Mowing your lawn is something you have to do pretty frequently, so its important that it is done correctly.
We are going to give you a guide for cutting your grass no matter what kind of mower you have. Whether its a push mower, tractor, etc theres a correct way to mow your lawn.
Lets get started!
Pick the Right Time of Day
Mowing your lawn during the early evening hours is the best for both your mower and your grass.
If you choose to mow at the peak of day , this is when temperatures are highest, which will stress out both your lawn mower and your lawn. By waiting for the early evening, your lawn is typically dry , the sun isnt as hot and intense, and the grass has plenty of time to recover before it experiences intense heat again.
With or without rain, your lawn is typically going to be wet in the morning from dew or fog. If you do have rain the day you want to mow, make sure that you wait for the grass to dry before doing so. Cutting wet grass can result in an uneven trim, and wet grass clippings can clog up your mower and cause it to dump clumps of grass all over your lawn. If those clumps arent quickly raked up, they can smother the growing grass and create brown spots on your lawn.
Dont Mow on a Schedule
For example, your grass is most likely going to need to be mowed more often in the springtime when its actually growing, while it will need less attention in the fall.
Change Up Your Mowing Pattern
Dont Mow Your Lawn Too Short
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