Many homeowners take great pride in the curb appeal of their home. From grand porches, beautiful trees, to the crowned jewel, which is a healthy green lawn. High-quality landscaping design not only makes a home look good, but also can raise your home’s value. If you want your landscaping to continue to look spectacular, you’ll need to continue to take care of your lawn. While watering your grass is important, it is equally important to maintain the height of your grass by mowing it.
However, there are things to remember when mowing your lawn.
1. Know What Your Lawn’s Proper Mowing Height Is
As any homeowner can attest, taking care of your lawn is not as easy as it looks. For most types of grasses, homeowners and property owners alike shouldn’t remove more than a third of the blade of the grass on any given occasion. If you cut your grass too low, you could create bald spots where the landscaping naturally rises. On the other hand, it’s essential to consider grass that is too long will create a good environment for weed and pest growth. This can lead to diseases that can greatly impact the health of your grass, leading to dying sections or balding that is hard to recover from.
If you mow your lawn to the proper height, you will have a lawn that is appealing to the eye and of a healthy length. After all, you want your grass to be strong and green, versus yellow and stressed. Our experts agree that during springtime, you should be mowing your lawn at least once a week and keeping the grass to approximately three-fourths of an inch long.
2. Your Mower’s Blades Need to Be Sharp
Mower’s blades dull over time and with use. When the blades on your mower become dull, they can rip and tear at your grass, leading to yellowing tips and turf dying. Our experts agree that for the best results, mower blades need to be sharpened every eight to ten cuttings in order to ensure that they are safe for use on your lawn. Your mower’s blades can be sharpened with a file or a grinder.
3. Keep the Right Frequency for Your Plant Growth
As the spring turns to summer and the summer cascades naturally into fall, it’s vital to realize that your plants and your grass grow at different rates. If your lawn height is kept to approximately three-fourths of an inch, your lawn will be better protected against nasty diseases that can impact your lawn’s health. You may need to mow your grass about twice a week during the spring and every other week during the winter.
4. Mix Up Your Growing Pattern
When you do the same thing, day in and day out, you naturally get bored of the pattern. Curiously enough, the same is true of your lawn. As a botanical entity, it grows, changes, and fluctuates. Because of this, not only does your lawn change, but your tools change depending on the patterns that you have set in place. Your grass blades will lean one way and it will create a permanent pattern in your grass because the sun is only able to fully penetrate one side of the grass blades.
Grass needs the sun to penetrate it at all angles. In order to make this happen, you will want to cut the grass at different angles, and maybe cut it on different days and at different times. This will allow your lawn to have thorough access to the sunshine, which is optimal for a healthy landscape.
5. Never Mow the Lawn When It Is Wet
Mowing your grass when it is wet is dangerous not only for your lawn but for your lawnmower, as well. Grass clippings get sticky when wet and can get caught up in your mower’s blades and in the mower’s catcher. This can lead to a damaged motor or the blades can get stuck and in the end, your mower will break down.
The soil in your landscape is the ultimate foundation for all of your plants and grass, which means that it should be protected at all costs. Mowing your lawn when it is wet can put the soil in danger as it violently rips the grass out of the ground, leading to disturbed and damaged soil. The soil can also become compacted and lead to thinning patches in your grass. In order to mitigate this process and ensure that it does not happen to your lawn, be sure to always pay attention to the weather. Allow your grass to dry completely before making any attempts to mow it.
Landscape By Design Can Help Your Design the Perfect Landscape
Whether you are looking for a landscape full of luscious green grass or stonework to add a bit of flair to your yard, we have the options for you! As DFWs’ leading landscape company, we have helped thousands of homeowners achieve the perfect curb appeal and ideal outdoor space that allows them to enjoy mother nature and relax. Contact our team today for more information on our services or to schedule an appointment with our design team!