Mowing tips and tricks – Part 1

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Melissa - Lawn Care Support Blogs, North Queensland Lawns

Mowing the lawn might seem easy enough for most people but there are some tips and tricks that can help to ensure you have a healthy, green, thriving lawn. When you mow correctly you’ll have a drought-tolerant and lawn thick enough to crowd out weeds. When you mow wrongly your lawn will struggle to survive.

The overall key thing to remember with mowing is to time it so that, regardless of the season or growing phase, you are never removing more than a third of the leaf surface with each lawn mowing you do.

Onto the Harden Park Lawns mowing tips and tricks:

Scalping – avoid cutting your lawn too short or scalping it. When a lawn is scalped it becomes extremely vulnerable to weeds and disease. Turf which is scalped is often weak and sparse with exposed soil and that is the main contributor to weed seed being able to take root. Lawns that are consistently cut too short will also have a poorly developed root system with makes the grass more susceptible to high temperature and drought induced damage.

Sharp mower blades – to get the best results when you mow you need to keep the mower blade nice and sharp. Dull blades will tear the grass leaving a jagged and uneven edge, while sharp blades cut cleanly. Tears from dull blades allow pests and diseases to enter the blades and the blades can also develop a brown/whitish tint as the tips of the grass blades die. Sharpen your lawnmower blades at least a few times during the growing phases – or have them professionally sharpened. Avoid mowing over rocks, thick branches and tree roots to stop the blade from dulling prematurely or being damaged. You could always buy an extra mower blade to keep on hand – this way you will always have a sharp blade to use.

Height adjustments – you will need to adjust the mower height depending on the season. Adjust the height higher during summer to allow the grass to grow longer to shade the soil and slow water evaporation. During wet season you can lower the mower height to help prevent any mould from forming on the grass.

Mowing shaded areas – use a higher mowing height when mowing a lawn (or sections of lawn) that are heavily shaded. Longer grass blades have a bigger surface area for the process of photosynthesis and this is the secret to growing a healthy lawn in shaded areas.

Learn the rest of our mowing tips and tricks in parts 2 and 3 or contact the team at Harden Park Lawns directly.