Mowing may seem like a simple chore, but mistakes made while mowing can be costly for your lawn. This guide from Bethel Farms outlines practices that may be costing you a lush green lawn.
Avoiding these mowing mistakes is important for a healthy lawn. Regular mowing encourages grass root growth and increases the turf’s resilience to heat, drought, and weeds. Contact Lawn Mowing Cape Girardeau for more information.
1. Mowing Wet Grass
In general, it’s best to avoid mowing wet grass. Light dew and early morning moisture may be acceptable, but this type of moist lawn should be mowed only after it dries. Even then, wet conditions should be avoided whenever possible as they put a lot of stress on your mower and may lead to longer-term damage.
Wet lawns provide ideal conditions for the growth of fungi and other lawn diseases that can cause discoloration, dead patches, and overall deterioration in your yard. These conditions also make it easier for fungal spores to spread, especially with a dull mower blade.
As a result, wet lawns are often more difficult to maintain than dry ones. A wet lawn can become slippery, increasing the risk of accidents and injuries for you and your family. It can also be hard to keep your footing on steep slopes, leading to dangerous conditions for you and your lawn mower.
Finally, wet grass leaves clumped clippings that can smother your lawn, blocking sunlight and causing mold and other issues. To avoid this, rake your wet lawn regularly and make sure that you’re always removing the most recent clippings from your property.
Wet grass can also clog your mower deck, creating a less-than-pleasant cutting experience and making it harder to get an even cut. To prevent this, be mindful of the amount of moisture in your lawn and if you’re using a bagger attachment, make sure that you’re frequently stopping to empty out the clippings.
Sometimes life gets in the way of our regular mowing routines, and it may be two weeks or more before you realize your lawn needs to be cut again. If you’re in a rush, try a simple test to determine whether the soil is ready for mowing. Reach down and touch the grass—it should bounce back if it’s dry, but if it feels spongy or stays clumped together, you should wait a little while longer. You can also do a wheel-rut test by walking through the grass: If your footprints stay in the soil, you should also consider waiting to mow.
2. Mowing Too Short
While a short lawn might look sexy and neat, it’s not good for your turf. In fact, mowing too short makes your grass weaker and more vulnerable to weeds and pests. Plus, it wastes energy and can make it harder for the grass to absorb moisture from the soil. The best practice is to keep your lawn at its recommended mowing height, which varies by grass type.
If you’re mowing your lawn too short, you’ll likely see brown spots or bare patches in the yard, especially in sun-exposed areas and on uneven terrain. These areas can also be a magnet for lawn-damaging insects like white grubs and chinch bugs, which feast on the roots of weakened grass.
Keeping your mower blade sharp is one of the most important lawn care tips to know to get a healthy, green lawn. When a mower blade is dull, the grass will be cut with jagged edges that are more susceptible to disease and drought. In addition, a dull mower blade will pull at the grass, which can cause damage and slow down mowing time.
The best way to ensure that your mower blade is always sharp is to change the blade when the season changes. It’s also a good idea to remove any debris like sticks, rocks, or roots from the lawn before mowing, as these can damage your mower and create an uneven cut.
Cutting your lawn too short can also lead to a shallow root system, which makes the grass less resilient against heat, cold, and other stressors. To avoid these problems, follow the “1/3 Rule”: Never cut more than one-third of the grass height in a single mowing. Then, adjust the mowing height according to the grass’s growth rate and season. Cool-season fescue, for example, should be kept at 4-6 inches, while warm-season grasses like bermudagrass and zoysiagrass can be trimmed to about 3-4 inches. This allows the grass to absorb more nutrients from the soil, which helps it resist weeds and pests. Mowing at the ideal height regularly can also reduce grass stress, which is a leading cause of brown or bare spots in the yard.
3. Mowing in the Wrong Direction
Mowers aren’t exactly the most complicated pieces of lawn equipment, but they can be easy to confuse and get sloppy with. If you’re not paying attention while you’re mowing, you could end up with uneven cuts that make your yard look patchy and choppy.
Even worse, if you’re pulling your mower instead of pushing it, you’re in danger of running over rocks, sticks, or other debris and damaging your machine. Running over these items puts your safety at risk and causes your mower to run erratically, which leads to poor cutting quality.
Another mowing mistake many people make is consistently using the same mowing pattern. This can lead to the grass growing in only one direction, which not only creates a choppy appearance but also inhibits proper soil airflow. Additionally, the repeated pressure of your mower’s wheels on the same area can compact the dirt and create unsightly tire marks in the yard.
Alternating your mowing patterns will help prevent these issues by ensuring the grass is always cut evenly and in different directions. Grass also needs sunlight to grow, so changing your mowing pattern ensures all parts of the lawn receive adequate light for a lush and healthy yard.
Practicing these simple lawn mowing tips can go a long way in keeping your Louisville home’s yard looking its best all season. If you’re still having trouble with your lawn or want to take the chore off your hands entirely, contact a local Lawn Love pro for help! Our professional lawn care pros will have your yard looking its best in no time. Get started with your free quote today!
4. Removing Clippings Too Often
Mowing is one of the simplest lawn care tasks, but it can be very easy to get it wrong. Whether it’s due to rush or being lazy, many homeowners end up making mowing mistakes that can set their lawn back months. Fortunately, these mistakes are easy to correct with a little extra effort.
Cutting grass too short, or scalping, can weaken the root system, causing thinning and bare patches. To avoid this, follow the “one-third rule” when mowing. Never cut more than one-third of the grass at a time, and keep your mower’s blade sharp to ensure a clean cut.
If you’re unsure of how to do this, consider using a mulching mower that chops grass clippings into fine pieces before redistributing them to the soil. This helps prevent clumping and is better for the lawn than bagging or raking them away, which can deprive the turf of valuable nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Grass clippings are also a great source of organic matter for the soil. This helps retain moisture, which is important in our climate. It’s also a great way to reduce thatch, and it returns nutrients to the soil, which is especially important for cool-season grasses.
Weed seeds can survive in the soil for years, even decades, so removing grass clippings does not necessarily reduce the number of weeds in your lawn. If you do choose to remove clippings, a good alternative is composting them or using them as mulch for garden beds and ornamental plants.
Another mistake is running your mower over rocks, sticks, and other debris. This can damage the mower, dull or bend its blades, and cause uneven cuts. If you encounter these hazards while mowing, it’s best to stop and pick up the debris before continuing.
Practicing these mowing tips can help your turf stay healthy and beautiful all season long. But if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of mowing yourself, Lawn Love’s local lawn care pros are happy to handle it for you! Contact us to learn more about how our services can improve your yard and make your neighbors green with envy.