A critical process in lawn care is regular Mowing. Mow your lawn regularly throughout the growing season at least once a week, twice at the height. Regular mowing encourages a healthy and vibrant lawn.
What to avoid when mowing your lawn
Don’t cut your lawn with blunt blades. It doesn’t matter what type of mower you use but ensuring the blades are sharp is essential to the health and look of the lawn. Blunt and damaged blades can damage the grass leaves and open them up to disease.
Be careful not to cut your lawn too short as this can create the opportunity for weeds and moss to take a foothold and for sunlight to damage the base of the plant and surface roots. In general the height of the grass should be maintained at about 1 inch to 1.5 inches in height. The Royal Horticultural Society recommend for ordinary ornamental lawns 0.5 inches in summer and up to 1.5 inches in spring and autumn.
Don’t leave the grass to grow too long. If you have then adjust your mower to a higher setting than normal. After cutting reduce the setting and cut again. Depending on the height of the grass this may need to be done several times until the desired height is reached and probably best done over a couple of days.
Avoid scalping. This is achieved by ensuring the correct height of cut is set on your mower.
Avoid creating ruts. Don’t mow your lawn with wheeled mowers if the ground is soft. The wheels can sink and cause tracks/indentations in your lawn affecting the height and look of the finished cut. In general, vary your approach to the way you go about cutting your lawn thus avoiding creating ruts by not repeating the same path over and over.
Don’t’ cut your lawn when it is either wet or frosty.
Mow your lawn at an even steady pace. Pushing your mower through at a fast pace can damage the grass again allowing the opportunity for infection. Let the mower do its work.
Cutting newly laid turf
Newly laid lawn turf should be allowed to establish. As a rough guide the first cut should take place when the grass has reached a height of about 2 inches.