Mowing might look like it is a simple task to do not unless you have tried it yourself. When you cut your grass, it is either you lead your lawn to success or failure. Proper mowing techniques are essential for grooming and maintaining your lawn’s health. You will be able to groom healthy turfs and remove any unnecessary weeds that dominate your yard. On the contrary, improper mowing can make your lawn struggle to survive. Consider time mowings so you’ll not unintentionally remove more than one-third of the total leaf surface with each cutting that you perform.
Avoid Scalping Your Lawn
Scalping means that you are cutting your grass too short. Scalped lawns are more prone to diseases and weed invasions. Therefore, the scalped turf that you made can be weak and sparse, making the soil exposed. Once the ground is exposed, it allows the weed seed to take root, paving the weeds to multiply. Since the earth is also exposed, it lets the sunlight reach the weed seedlings and even boosts growth. When grass is consistently cut too short, it will develop a flawed system and, for quite some time, makes your lawn vulnerable to severe damage from intense climate.
Sharpen Your Blades
Dull cutting mowing blades will make it harder for you to finish your mowing on time. Keep your mower blades sharp to achieve the best results every time you mow. Simplicity mowers have sharp edges that can cut your grass cleanly. Dull blade mowers can only tear your grass, leave it uneven and jagged. You can quickly notice a lawn that has been cut with a flat blade. Whitish or brown hues can be seen as the tips of the grass blades die back.
You can sharpen your blades at least a few times during the mowing season. As much as possible, do not mow over thick branches or stones to avoid causing damage to your blade. If possible, purchase an extra mowing blade always to have sharp edges ready in between mowing.
Adjust Your Mowing Height
Throughout the growing season, it is necessary to change your mower height. Let’s say shifting your cutting deck higher during summer and allowing the grass to grow longer. Taller grass can help prevent weed growth and slows down the water evaporation from the soil, making it maintain its moisture. They can also add shade and develop deeper roots making your lawn withstand drought better. When winter covers your grass with snow during the late autumn season, lower your cutting deck to avoid snow molds forming on your grass.
Mowing with a Dry Grass
Mowing when the grass is dry is an ideal technique. If you cut your lawn while it is still wet, the tendency is you will not get the best results. You are also making your mow blades dull, letting you create uneven cuts. Wet grass can fill and clog your mower deck. Watch out for the clumps of grass and remove them from the lawn after you finish your mowing to prevent killing your healthy grass. Soggy soil also increases the risk of creating wheel ruts and tearing grass. If possible, mow the lam while it is damp and treat the underside of your mower. You can use an oil or silicone spray to prevent grass from sticking to your mower. See to it that your mower blade is sharp enough to avoid ripping the grass from the soil.
Avoid Mowing When it is Too Hot
Every time you prune a plant, it causes stress. It happens just the same with the grass. Mowing itself creates pressure on the grass plants, primarily when you perform mowing during the heat of the day. The individual grass plants can lose water and cannot recover quickly. If you trim during the calmer time of the day, grass can lose less water when cut and can recover faster.
Perform Grasscycling
What do we mean by grasscycling? Grasscycling is when you let your grass clipping lie on the lawn after you cut them. It will save you time by not bagging these grass clippings anymore. Plus, you can even save money. These grass clippings can make up 25% of your fertilizer needs. Using a specialized mulching mower is not necessary. Instead, you might consider replacing your current blade mower with a mulching blade that can cut grass into smaller pieces. Simplicity mowers can do an excellent job for you and have grass cuttings that are nicely done. Your grasscycling can also no longer be too messy and only have a minimal fuss. When you want to avoid being strewn with your grass clippings while mowing, utilizing an adopter kid can be very handy. It supplies a plug that fills a hole where these clippings would usually exit.
Avoid Mowing in the Same Direction
Mowing in the same pattern can increase the chance of compacting the soil and eventually creating cuts. These compacted soil and ruts can only make your grass less healthy and make weeds thrive in your compacted soil. You may try some of these Mowing Patterns that can be great for your lawn:
- Edge the Yard: You need to begin by mowing your lawn in two passes around the outside edges. If you happen to have a yard surrounded by other buildings or a fence, you can perform three passes. Doing this will allow you to have enough room to turn the mower and ensure that your yarn edge is even.
- Striping Your Lawn: This pattern is what you see on those golf courses and baseball fields. It involves performing your mowing across your yard with just one pass followed by a 180-degree turn to be able to take the next pass in the opposite direction and lastly by slightly overlapping your first pass. Keep on doing these passes in alternating directions until your lawn is entirely mowed.
- Circling Your Yard: This mowing pattern is one of the easiest patterns to perform. After you mow the edges, continue doing your passes around the edge in rings that get smaller every time you pave your way to the center of your lawn. In this pattern, you don’t have to worry about maintaining your mown in a straight path. It is time-efficient, convenient, and will not yield the same effect as that of striping.
- Alternating Your Patterns: It is advisable to alternate the direction of your mowing each week. Doing this can avoid growing your grass in one direction, which will only make your lawn less attractive and make your mowing more difficult each time you do it. Changing your pattern can also prevent having wheel marks coming from your lawnmower, mainly when you use the riding mower type.
- Use Zamboni Patterns: If you happen to use a riding mower, a 180-degree turn can entirely be challenging to perform in striping. To solve this, perform a mowing pattern similar to a Zamboni used in smoothing ice at hockey rinks. To achieve this pattern, take your passes around the edge of your yard. Then, take a pass leading in the middle and move outside the boundaries by passing in the opposite direction. Next is to go back to the center and take another pass right next to the first one, which is on the opposite side of the second pass. Continue making this pattern until your entire lawn is entirely mowed. This pattern gives out slightly overlapping passes that can leave your yard with half dark green and half light green patterns. You can perform this week to week by starting your first pass perpendicular to where you start the week before.
Never Mow a Slope When a Grass is Wet
Mowing a slope when the grass is wet can create slippery footing that can cause severe injuries to anyone who passes it. To maintain safety, mow a slope by pushing the mower across the slope and not in an up and down direction. If you have short slopes, it is better to use a string trimmer to cut your grass. However, if you have steeper slopes, replace your grass with a low-maintenance ground cover to prevent accidents.
Wrapping it Up
Mowing is one of the keys to making your lawn healthy. Each cut that you make encourages the grass to grow more and create a splendid look. It can also block the weeds that invade your yard and make your grass hard to wear off. Merely cutting your grass already takes a lot of time, so make sure that you are doing it properly to make your mowing worthwhile. Consider the essential factors such as the mowing frequency, cutting heights, mower maintenance, and the like to keep your lawn in its best appearance. Simplicity mowers are designed with excellent durability and can last long, making your mowing experience clean and effortless.
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Proper mowing technique allows you to groom and maintain the health of your lawn. Use these guidelines to keep your lawn at its best appearance.
