Mowing Your Lawn the Right Way

There is a right way and a wrong way to do anything. That even applies to mowing your lawn. Regular mowing can provide many benefits to your lawn when done right. It makes the turf grow more vigorously, it creates a thicker turf, and it makes your lawn look well-groomed and manicured.

For mowing to be done right, it starts with the blades. It is important to keep your mower blades sharp. Dull mower blades tear the grass rather than making a nice clean cut. When the grass is torn it becomes easier for your lawn to develop a disease or fungus. Not to mention, it just doesn’t look as good.

You never want to remove more than one third of the grass at one single cutting. By following this one simple rule, you will keep your grass healthy and looking great after every single mowing. Keeping the lawn at the higher end of the recommended height range will promote a stronger root system. I recommend cutting Bermuda grass at a height of 3 inches, and for Zoysia lawns, I prefer a height of 2 inches.

Speaking of mowing often, I believe the more often you mow, the better your lawn will look. I like to mow at least once a week. The more often you mow, the more vigorous the grass is going to grow. Also, when you mow, you pay more attention to what is going on in your lawn. It makes you keep a cleaner and neater lawn simply because you are on it more often.

There are three simple steps I like to follow when mowing: 1. Police the lawn for trash and debris. This is important because nothing is worse for mower blades than tree limbs, rocks or other hard materials that often find their way into our lawns. It also looks terrible when a stray napkin or paper towel gets mown and blown into a thousand pieces 2. Change directions. Don’t mow your lawn in the exact same direction every time. Changing the direction you mow will reduce compaction and help prevent wear injury. 3. Mulch those clippings. There is free fertilizer in your grass clippings. As long as you are mowing often, those grass clippings will not be a problem. Most mowers today are deigned to mulch the clippings which contain much needed water and nitrogen for your lawn. Return them to the soil and you will see a big difference in how your grass looks.

For more information about mowing, please visit https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W161-I.pdf

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