Best Lawn Mowing Practices for a Great-Looking Lawn

So, what is the secret to achieving a beautiful thick lawn?

Keeping a lawn healthy involves many facets. From fertilization programs, irrigation, to disease prevention and insect control.

Proper lawn care maintenance can do a lot to improve your grass’s quality.

Start with these lawn mowing practices:

• Proper lawn mowing practices are one of the most important practices in lawn care. 
• Proper mowing practices are perhaps the most effective methods of promoting healthy turf that you can easily control.

However, mowing practices are largely the same regardless of where you live. 

Lawn Mowing Blade Height

Using the correct lawn mowing height is essential when mowing Tall Fescue.

Mowing it too short can aggravate the lawn, cause it to burn out, and lead to an environment favorable to weeds. 

Cut it too tall, and the grass will become lanky and unsightly.

Mowing Frequency

For a successful lawn, you’ve got to get a routine going. Mowing once every 4 – 7 days is best for most lawns. Depending on the weather, you might be required to mow a little more during Spring.

1/3 Rule

Not only should you be on top of cutting your grass, but you also need to make sure not to cut too much. You should never remove more than 1/3 of the leaf blade at once. Removing more than this causes stress and can weaken the plant.

Sharp Blades

A sharp blade gives a clean cut. When mowing your lawn, always ensure your mower blades are sharp. This will give you a neat and clean cut that minimizes damage to the plant. A good rule of thumb is to sharpen your blades every 3 months if your lawn is under half an acre in size.

Mowing with dull blades rips the grass blades, causing them to be more susceptible to disease and insect feeding.

Mowing Pattern

All of us get stuck in a routine. However, this may not be the best idea when it comes to mowing your lawn. Changing your pattern every time you mow is optimal. Some mowing services may disagree, but as per our research, doing a few mowing patterns can benefit your lawn. 

Whether you use a push mower or riding mower, the wheels can leave tracks. 

If you mow the same way every time, you will wear tracks on the lawn.

A simple solution is to alternate directions. Go horizontally, vertically, or even through diagonal paths. Whether it be rows or spirals, each time you mow your lawn, try to mow in different patterns. Changing up the direction will help avoid tire rutting, as well as wear patterns appearing on your lawn.

Clippings

You might be wondering whether you should bag your grass or not. For grasses in most regions, bagging is ideal in the spring and fall.

This improves the appearance of your lawn and leaves it less thatched. It takes a little more time as bagging and clipping and disposal are extra tasks. However, it will yield a better result.

During the summer months, mulching or displacing the grass should be sufficient. 

Nevertheless, additional passes may be needed to distribute clippings evenly for a neat look. In the spring and fall, excessive mulching of clippings will be counter-productive. 

The resulting thatch build-up can choke out the healthy turf. And it can also prevent new seed germination in the fall.

Dry Conditions

When possible, do some lawn mowing when it’s dry. It is much easier to achieve a clean cut as the blades of the grass will be more upright, and less likely to clump up.

New Seedlings

After germination, newly seeded grass needs to establish for 4 to 6 weeks. New seedlings are tender and can be easily damaged by a mower, so give them time before you mow them.

One of the simplest ways to ensure your lawn looks beautiful is to optimize the way you mow it.

If you are using professional mowing services, like JazzMowing, you will want to observe and direct how they are mowing each week. 

Many mowing services do not always follow best practices when mowing. 

Also, you might want to ask how often they sharpen their blades. 

Perform these best practices for your mowing. 

Then you can focus on the more challenging aspects of creating and maintaining a beautiful lawn.

Jazz Mowing