The first rule of lawnmowing is, do not cut your lawn too short. Very short grass should be reserved for areas that are never walked on or for those showpiece areas like the 18th hole! The rule of thirds is the one gardeners talk about, this means only ever cutting off the top one third of the blades of grass at any one time.
Leaving your grass longer will have several benefits. Firstly, the root system of longer grass receives more nourishment from the grass plant and tends to be longer and healthier and this tends to keep out a lot of the weed growth that might otherwise occur.
Longer blades of grass produce more food for plant by the process of photosynthesis and longer grass often looks greener in dry periods than grass that has been cut short. If you leave your grass at about 3”, you will be able to keep lawn maintenance to an absolute minimum, generally a cut once a week early and late in the season and if it gets really dry mid-season, reduce this to about once a fortnight. Generally though, lawns are cut between 1” and 2”, depending on the type of grass and the sort of use your lawn gets. For children’s play areas, leave the grass longer. For lawns where you want to sit and enjoy the garden but which do not get hard usage, you can cut shorter. It is generally very easy to adjust the cutting blade height, refer to your owner’s manual for instructions.
If possible, mow your lawn when the grass is dry. Mowing a wet lawn causes no end of problems. Using an electric mower when it is wet is never a good idea and even a petrol lawnmower will not cope well with wet grass and tend to chop rather than cut. You cannot use clippings for mulch on a wet lawn as they just clump together and make a mess. Mulching lawn clippings will put back valuable nutrients into your lawn and will also help to cut down on moisture loss.
Try to mow when the temperature is cool, not in the heat of the middle of the day. Cutting grass when it is very hot, will speed up moisture loss from the cut tip and stress the grass plants more and may cause ‘browning’. Another reason not to cut your grass in the heat of the day is that it is hard work and you might prefer to be indoors with your feet up!
Following the tips above will help to ensure that your lawn is a source of pleasure to you all year round and that the chore of lawn care is kept to a minimum
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