Spring Lawn Maintenance: Mowing

Nothing says spring like the smell of a freshly mowed lawn. Mowing your yard on a regular basis also can help your grass stay healthy and beautiful by reducing leaf diseases and promoting strong root growth. In this last episode of our five-part series on Spring Lawn Maintenance, you’ll learn how to mow to keep your grass healthy.

Preparation

Flexible hose and in-ground sprinkler systems can be installed with timers that will turn on and off the water flow as desired.

The type of mower you use will depend a lot on your yard size and terrain as well as your budget.

Reel mowers are older-style, push-type mowers that don’t require a gas engine for power. A set of four curved blades cut the grass against the cutter bar as the wheels rotate.
Gas- or electric-powered walk-behind mowers have a single horizontal spinning blade under the mower deck. The operator controls power and blade engagement from the handle.
Riding mowers are available with one, two or three horizontal spinning blades. Zero turn radius riding mowers for larger lawns are more maneuverable.
For more information on mowers and how to select the appropriate mower for your yard, ask a Lowe’s associate or visit Lowes.com/OutdoorPower and click on the Mower Selector.

Before mowing, make sure that the mower’s blade is sharp.

A dull blade can tear or bruise leaf tips, causing greater water loss in the plant and dry spots in your yard. If you need to sharpen your blade, you can use a sharpener and balancer, or call a professional for help. It may be easier to replace a dull and worn blade with a new one following the mower manufacturer’s instructions, or by watching the Maintaining the Blade videos at Lowes.com/Videos

Mowing The Lawn

TIP: The best time of the day to mow a lawn is in the cool of morning or evening. This avoids creating additional heat stress on your yard—and yourself. Make sure the grass isn’t wet, or you risk fungus growth or clumped grass trimmings.

et the mower deck to remove only the top 1/3 of the leaf and cut regularly to maintain the ideal height for your grass type. Most experts suggest that lawn grass should be maintained at about 2-1/2" in length, depending on the grass type. You can cut the grass shorter if desired, but it can have adverse effects on the health of the grass. Refer to the grass seed package or a Lowe’s associate for specific recommendations based on grass type.

TIP: New grass should not be mowed the first time until it is at least 4" high. Then only trim 1/2-1" at each cutting until it is at optimum height.

02 When cutting, keep the mower’s wheels about two inches inside the last cut line to overlap paths and not miss any spots.

03 Change the cutting pattern every time you mow to encourage uniform grass growth. Mow horizontal one time and diagonal the next. Change the path of the mower wheels so the same grass isn’t always getting compressed.

04 To dispose of grass clippings:

Select a mulching mower or install a mulching blade on your existing mower. Typically, 3-in-1 blade mulching mowers cut up the grass into very small pieces that fall back into the lawn adding organic material to the soil.
Select a bagging mower or install a collection bag on your existing mower and empty it often. Overfilling the bag can cause clumps to fall on freshly mowed rows.
Compost grass clippings to create rich soil for flowerbeds and gardens. Learn more by watching the composting video with printable instructions at Lowes.com/Videos.

Mowing your yard with quality equipment and common-sense rules will help create a green space that welcomes you outside all season long. You can find more helpful lawn and landscaping videos with printable instructions at Lowes.com/Videos

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