Mowing Tips and Tricks
Are you tired of having to maintain your lawn every single week? Free up your weekends! At Atlas Cedar Landscaping we can do a weekly or biweekly mow for you to keep your lawn looking fresh and taken care of. Here we describe our best practices and if you would like to use these tips to take care of your lawn, feel free!
We will be going over time tested, easy to follow mowing advice. Keep your yard looking maintained starts with mowing as an out of control lawn will make your entire property look unkept.
A Sharp Blade is Your First Step
A sharp mower blade will cut grass just like one of those knives you see on infomercials that cut right through those pesky tomatoes. But just like a dull knife mangles your tomatoes, a dull mowing blade will tear and rip your grass up. A sharp mowing blade is absolutely ESSENTIAL to a great looking and healthy lawn. A torn grass blade will make your grass more susceptible to diseases in wet weather and water lass in hot weather. The reason why during the hot summer months we have in Southern Oregon and Northern California your grass turns hay colored fast is two fold. The grass doesn’t get watered enough AND the grass is torn from a dull mower blade as the torn surface area of the blade loses water much faster.
Changing your mowing pattern
Variety is important not only for you, but also for your lawn! Your lawn actually loves some variety in the way it’s cut and is one of our “best practices” at Atlas Cedar Landscaping.
Changing your mowing pattern will prevent soil compaction and prevent the grass blades from bending in a particular direction. This is called lawn grain.
Mowing in a different direction each week is a simple mowing practice that encourages less soil compaction and a healthier lawn.
Mow when it’s dry
Would you rather mow when it’s wet or dry? I’d bet you say dry as it is just an easier time. What’s nice is that your lawn absolutely agrees with you.
When you mow when it’s wet you will get clumps of grass, your grass will be cut unevenly, you will compact your soil, and create ruts in your lawn.
If you do mow when it’s wet try and do it later in the day as well as make sure you have sharpened your blade within the last month.
We Recommend to LEAVE your clippings
The age old question of to bag or not to bag.
We suggest not to bag…most of the time.
If you have a huge overgrown lawn you are going to want it bagged to remove unnecessary grass on your lawn. Usually you will want to leave your clippings though as it will give you a healthier lawn in the long haul, especially if you have a mulching mower.
Mulching mowers will return fine bits of grass decompose quickly, releasing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients back into the soil. This means fewer fertilizer treatments for your lawn
A few times when it is better to bag are: when there are many leaves on your lawn, when you haven’t fertilized and your lawn is full of weeds, and of course overgrown jungle lawns.
How tall?
Before you think about how tall your grass should be cut, remember the One-Third Rule of Mowing. This rule states that you should never remove more than one-third of the grass blade per mow. Taking off more than this puts undue stress on the grass. Simple, right?
Now let’s talk about height. Mowing at the proper height is very important. Every grass has a particular height at which it prefers to be cut. Recommended cutting heights are based on shoot density, internode length, and blade width.
Here are height recommendations for warm-season and cool-season grasses:
Grass NameGrass TypeBest Height
for LawnFine fescues*Cool Season2.5-3 inchesKentucky bluegrassCool Season2.5-3.5 inchesPerennial ryegrassCool Season1.5-2.5 inchesTall FescueCool Season3-4 inchesBahiaWarm Season3-4 inchesCommon bermudagrassWarm Season1-2 inchesCentipedeWarm Season1-2 inchesHybrid bermudaWarm Season1-1 ½ inchesSt. AugustineWarm Season2-3 inchesZoysiaWarm Season1-2 inches
*Since fine fescues are often planted in shady areas, you may be able to mow up to 1 inch higher. A taller leaf blade allows the grass to produce more food for itself.
Seasonal differences also apply. For example, the University of Georgia (see Lawn Calendars) recommends that you increase the cutting height ½ inch in hot weather.
Taller mowing heights help strengthen the grass during times of heat stress. Here are a few ways taller mowing heights benefit your lawn in the warmer months:
Taller blades shade the grass crowns
More leaf area, which means it can produce food for itself at a faster rate
Deeper roots, which strengthen the plant and help it reach water deeper in the soil
If your grass is tall enough, it shades the soil and prevents crabgrass seeds from sprouting
In areas with cold winters, cut the lawn at the lowest mower setting before you put the mower away for the winter. This will prevent the grass from folding over and trapping moisture — prime conditions for fungal growth. (Note: If the lawn is too tall, take down the height over several mowings: Remember, no more than ⅓ of the blade per mow.)
Remember, cutting at the right height leads to a healthy lawn. Cutting too high can encourage matting and disease. Cutting too low reduces the plant’s leaf area, which means it may not be able to make enough food. A lawn cut too low also can leave the grass unable to deal with common stresses like heat, foot traffic, and drought, not to mention greater weed pressure.
Finish with a flourish
No mowing session is complete without edging the lawn. To get a straight edge on the lawn takes practice, but here are a few tips to achieve a professional finish:
Flip the string trimmer upside down. Make sure the line is at a 90-degree angle to the ground.
Walk left to right if the line spins clockwise. Walk right to left if it spins counter-clockwise. This will prevent excess drag on the machine.
If you already have an established edge between a paved surface and the lawn, a string trimmer works fine. If you need to establish an edge, use an edger to cut through the tough grass.
Don’t forget to bring out the blower to blow the clippings back into the lawn when you’re done.
