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Mowing your lawn is essential for more than just keeping the garden looking immaculate.
If you want to promote proper growth and ensure your grass remains healthy, it pays to take the time and learn to mow the right way.
It might seem easy on the surface…
Grab the mower and then finish things up with a string trimmer for a neat look.
While it’s hardly rocket science, there are some quick and easy ways to maximize your efforts in the garden so read on for some actionable tips on mowing your lawn the right way.
Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail
It’s well worth taking a few moments to plot your best course of action when blitzing the garden.
You’ve got 2 main options:
- Trim the edges first so the clippings will be nicely mulched when you mow
- Mow first so you can reduce the amount of time you’ll need to spend edging
Whichever method seems best for you, stick with it. Don’t mix and match approaches. This will waste time and dilute the effect.
Safety First
Once you’ve decided on your plan of attack, you should pay close attention to mowing safely.
Wear long pants and tuck your top in. Avoid open-toed footwear. Also make sure you sidestep any overly loose clothing and remove your jewelry.
Give the garden a once-over and make sure there are no rogue tools or random objects in your cutting path.
As long as you’re confident operating your mower, you’re ready to roll.
Keep The Mower Setting as High as Possible
The height setting on your mower should be regulated in line with the type of grass in your garden.
Within these limits, though, keep it at the upper end of the suggested height range.
When you mow, attack only the upper third of the grass. While this might lead to more frequent mowing, it’s a worthwhile long-term strategy.
If you disregard this advice and scalp the lawn, the root system of your grass weakens. Also, since the grass then needs to place its energy into regrowing blades, the root situation worsens further. The added insult of cutting your grass too close is that it will become much more prone to weeds.
Avoid Mowing Wet Grass
The optimum time to mow your lawn is on a dry evening.
In the morning, dew on the lawn makes it too wet to be effectively mowed even if it hasn’t been raining. Try to mow in the middle of the day and the temperature is likely to strain your grass and the mower.
Wet clippings not only cause a blockage in your mower, if you fail to remove them they can end up bringing about spotting on your lawn or even smother the healthy, growing grass.
More Haste, Less Speed
The truth of this old maxim becomes apparent if you try to shave off a few minutes by rushing through with the mower.
Take your time. Look at mowing as a therapeutic activity rather than a tiresome chore. Focus on the end result and this will be less than impressive if you view mowing your lawn like a race.
Tall grass in particular needs a more sustained assault.
If you’re looking to leave plenty of unmulched clippings behind you and a shoddy finish, rush away. If, on the hand, you want a spotless lawn ideal for relaxing on with your BBQ, take your time and it will repay the effort.
Look Into The Distance While Mowing
A schoolboy error when mowing is to focus your full attention on the ground directly beneath you.
Instead, look 10 or 15 feet ahead of you as you cut the grass. This will help you maintain a straighter line and it’s also a great safety mechanism if any foreign objects escaped your initial sweep and are still hiding in the grass.
Don’t Obsess Over a Mowing Schedule
There are many variables that dictate when it’s best to mow your lawn.
The type of grass, the season, growing conditions and growth pattern are all instrumental.
Your driving concern should be to mow your lawn when it needs mowing not to break out the mower because it’s Sunday.
In the spring, for example, you’ll want to mow much more frequently than after the end of the growing season.
As a rough benchmark, twice a week in spring works well. In the summer or after the growing season, this can be dialed back to weekly or even bi-weekly.
Be flexible and your grass will thank you.
Leave Clippings on The Lawn
If you bag your grass clippings, you’ll certainly limit the amount of rogue debris that gets dragged back inside your house.
On the flipside, you’ll be depriving your lawn of some precious nutrients.
If you leave the clippings on the lawn, they’ll break down extremely swiftly. This is an added incentive to mow regularly so there won’t be too many clippings each time anyway.
Our advice is to save yourself some effort and give your lawn a shot of beneficial nutrients in by allowing the clippings to settle rather than removing them.
Make Sure The Lawnmower Blade is Sharp
A cleanly cut lawn demands a finely honed blade.
If you want to kiss goodbye to raggedy edges and torn up grass, make certain the blades on your mower are sharp and ready for action.
You don’t need to go overboard here but check and sharpen your blade on an annual basis and it will make your life easier while enhancing the end result.
A Final Word
All you need to mow your lawn properly is a decent mower and string trimmer along with a bit of patience.
Invest the time in mowing carefully with a light touch and you’ll have an enviable lawn for all the garden parties you want.
We hope some of these pointers come in handy.
Drop us a line with any questions you might have and come back soon!
