3 Tips For Mowing Your Lawn Like A Professional
During the spring, summer, and fall, your lawn mower is likely to get a lot of action. However, if you don’t know much about caring for your lawn aside from the fact that it needs to be mowed, you might be doing more harm than good as far as your grass is concerned.
To give you the best chance of having healthy, beautiful grass all through your yard, here are three tips for mowing your lawn like a professional.
Switch Up Your Mowing Route
If you’ve always mowed your lawn in the same direction time and time again, you might want to rethink this the next time you go out to mow your lawn.
According to George Miata, a contributor to Reader’s Digest, mowing your lawn in the same direction can result in your lawn looking like it has stripes rather than being one large area of beautiful grass. To avoid this, it’s best to mow your lawn in opposite directions every other time you do this chore. So if you mow your lawn north to south today, mow it east to west the next time you get your lawnmower out.
Don’t Mow In Direct Sunlight
While you don’t want to mow the grass of your lawn when it’s wet, either from rain, your sprinkler system, or dew in the morning, you also don’t want to mow your lawn when it’s in direct sunlight either. Ideally, you should wait until your lawn is in shade before mowing.
The reasoning behind this, according to Julie A. Martens, a contributor to the DIY Network, is because mowing your lawn puts a lot of stress on the grass. To reduce this stress and have your lawn bounce back to its healthiest form as quickly as possible, you should allow it to retain as much water as possible, which is best done when the grass is in the shade. Otherwise, your grass will lose more water and won’t recover as quickly.
Avoid Mowing Too Short
To allow for more time between mowing your grass, you might be considering cutting your lawn super short. However, this isn’t the best idea if you’re wanting to have healthy, beautiful grass.
Rather than cutting your grass incredibly short, Roger Cook, a contributor to This Old House, advises that you set the blade on your lawnmower to cut your grass between three and three-and-a half inches. This way, you won’t scalp your lawn, which can leave your grass feeling dry and brittle.
If you want your lawn to look like it’s being cared for by a professional, consider using the tips mentioned above to learn how to mow your lawn with more care and forethought.
