![]() ![]() ![]() Regular direction changes will help keep grass blades upright, making your lawn look neat and even. Cutting grass blades in the same direction can increase their tendency to grow in one direction. Compacted soil repels water and reduces root growth, which you don’t want. Shifting the location of your mower means you won’t compact the same strips of lawn, so you reduce soil compaction. You’ll reduce repeated wear on the same grass from mower wheels, too. Running your mower over the same place repeatedly will encourage ruts and reinforce irregular slopes in your soil’s surface. Changing the direction of your mower is good for your grass for several reasons: If so, you might want to head in a new direction. You may have a habit of mowing your lawn the same way each time. You’ll start your spring lawn care with a fine-tuned machine instead of visiting a repair shop or spending a sunny afternoon yelling at your tools. It also saves you time (no need to do a double-pass when mowing) and money (because your mower will last longer).Īnd don’t forget to clean your mower before winter storage. Regular mower blade sharpening is part of general tool maintenance that includes cleaning and oiling to keep your mower running efficiently. If you see a white or brown cast to your lawn surface, it may be grass blade damage from a dull mower blade.This results in larger, irregular areas of grass blade damage, and missed spots you have to re-mow. Cutting your lawn with a dull mower tears, shreds, or pulls grass blades instead of neatly cutting them.Just like in the kitchen, a sharp blade does a better job and saves time. If you mulch grass clippings over your lawn, they won’t be evenly distributed, and heavy clumps of wet grass can encourage fungus growth beneath them.Ī dry lawn (and a sharp mower blade) ensures the evenest cut and an even distribution of mulched clippings.It’s also more likely that your mower will tear grass blades instead of neatly clipping them, resulting in more visible damage to the ends of grass blade.This means you won’t get an even, overall trim, and areas of taller grass will spring up once the grass dries. Wet grass blades are heavier and will bend or fold flat in front of your mower.Open areas in lawns are ideal for weeds to establish themselves, and seeding to fill in empty areas means you’ll have to stay off your grass (right when you want to lounge on it) until it grows in.ĭon’t mow if your lawn is wet from dew, rain, or irrigation. Over mowing, or cutting grass too short, causes turf to dry out faster and can make bald spots where too much of the grass has been sheared off. Excessive mulch clippings left on a lawn can block sunlight from reaching the grass beneath it, creating yellow areas that tempt people into using too much fertilizer to compensate. While we normally recommend leaving grass clippings on the lawn to provide nutrients to the turf as they decompose, you shouldn’t do that if mowing has left large clumps or a thick layer. ![]() Over mowing to compensate for a shaggy lawn means too-short grass and excessive clippings. Mowing so that you only need to take off a third or less of the height of your grass is a good rule to follow, as it keeps your grass blades at a healthy height and makes mowing easier. This is not to suggest that you don’t mow regularly while your lawn grows in the warm months. Keeping your mower set higher reduces the chance of over-mowing, or “scalping” areas of grass.Longer grass blades reduce water evaporation, so your irrigation water goes further.Taller grasses have more surface area for photosynthesizing, meaning healthier, stronger blades.Taller grass can smother weeds more easily, by shading them or out-competing them.Leaving your lawn grass to grow a little taller also has several benefits: But the frequency should really be based on how quickly the grass is growing – and that varies with the weather (for example, high heat and dry weather slow growth down), conditions (rain means a delay in mowing), turf type, overall health of the lawn, and more. Most people mow their lawn every weekend (after all, that’s when you have “free” time, right?). Lawn Mowing Mistakes to Avoid Mowing Too Often To help you turn your lawn into the green carpet of your dreams, we share the mowing practices to avoid, explain how these mowing mistakes harm your turf grass, and describe what to do instead. And if your lawn has never reached the level of emerald perfection you’d like, a few technique changes may get you over the top. Are you making any of the common mowing mistakes that can harm your lawn?Įven if you’ve been mowing lawns for years, you may still have room for improvement.
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