You may never have wondered how to mow your lawn before. After all, isn’t it as easy as just pushing the mower over the grass until it’s all the same height? That’s basically what I thought. Then my family purchased a new home with a very large yard, and I was facing two challenges: mow my lawn without killing myself from exhaustion and keep my lawn looking healthy and beautiful.
Let me share with you some tips about mowing the lawn that I learned from my experiences.
First, you need to know how high to cut your grass. If you’re like me, I didn’t even know what kind of grass was growing around my house, and I certainly didn’t realize different types of grass needed to be mowed at different heights. The appropriate height for your grass isn’t a secret. In fact, the Better Lawn & Turf Institute has a chart to guide you.
If you’re not sure – as I wasn’t – what type of grass you have in your yard, call out an expert and ask. Even if you have to pay for a professional lawn care once, you’ll have the knowledge about how to mow your lawn so you can do it yourself for all the years to come.
Second, you need to cut your grass at the appropriate times. On average, mowing the lawn is required about once a week. However, your grass and your environment can change that. Make sure you cut the grass before it becomes so high that it is hard to cut or will result in large deposits of clippings which can smother your grass.
On the other hand, don’t cut more often than necessary or lower than recommended. Higher grasses can stop weed growth by keeping away sunlight and cutting too often can damage your grass.
Third, choosing lawn mowing patterns that will make your lawn beautiful. Your yard is part of your home, so you want it to be just as beautiful as the rest of your décor. Just aimlessly running a mower over the grass won’t create a lawn you’ll be proud of. Instead, you need to follow specific lawn mowing patterns.
The two lawn mowing patterns I use most frequently are the basic and the checkerboard. When I begin mowing my lawn, I make sure to do the perimeter of my lawn first no matter which lawn mowing patters I’m using. With the basic pattern, I basically mow one a row through my lawn in one direction, then go in the other direction for the next row. With the checkerboard pattern, I do the same thing, then I go back over the yard repeating the process but from different directions – front to back instead of left to right usually.
Finally, if I know I’m not going to have the time to mow my lawn, I don’t hesitate to hire a professional to handle the job for me. The cost is usually very reasonable, and the job is great. You’ll have the nice looking lawn you want, plus you’ll have more time to do what needs to get done in your professional or personal life. It’s a win-win situation.