| Having a nice lawn involves regular maintenance
including mowing. This page breaks down the basic principles of mowing including types of mowers,
mowing height, etc. |
| Mower types |
| Reel Mowers - Reel mowers are a mower that uses a reel spinning top to bottom or vertically,
they often have 5 to 7 blades that cut like scissors,
they can be bought as a walk behind or as a commercial riding model as
often seen on golf courses. This kind of mower has been around for along time but is mainly a detail
only mower and
requires allot of maintenance to keep the blades sharp and aligned. |
 |
| Rotary mower - This is the most common type of mower it uses a 1 or more blade
that spin on a spindle horizontally under the mower, these mower are more versatile in how high they can cut
and how fast, this kind of mower also comes as a push/walk behind or riding models |
 |
| Mowing Heights |
How high to cut grass - How high you cut your grass depends on the type of grass you have,
the number one principle in cutting height is the rule of one third. You should never cut off more than one third
the blade of grass, this is to prevent scalping the grass, scalping is cutting below the node on the main stem and when
you cut you only want to cut the blade of the grass, when you cut below the blade the grass takes more time to heal
and it can cause the root growth to slow down while healing. So if your grass is 3 inches than you don't want
to cut off more than 1 inch at a time.
- Cool season grasses - Mow between 2 to 4 inches depending on type.
- Warm season grasses - Mow between 1 to 2 inches depending on type.
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| Turfgrass that is mowed at the proper height will have a stronger and deeper root system. |
| Mowing Frequency |
| Mowing schedule - A mowing schedule is a important part of cutting your lawn, this is because
when you cut grass it is injured and takes time to heal as it heals it promotes growth so a regular schedule allows
the grass to recover and trains it to grow out instead of up resulting in a thicker lawn.
Typically the best schedule is once a week during the growing season, this gives the grass plenty of time to
recover but not grow to tall.
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| Mowing Tips |
- Cut off no more than 1/3 of the actual grass height each time you mow
- Change your mowing pattern each time you mow
- Don't mow wet grass whenever possible
- Keep your mower blades sharp
- Cut your grass at the proper height
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| Mower maintenance |
| Regular maintenance on your mower will keep it in tip top shape so it is ready to go when you need it
, here are some basic maintenance procedures. |
|---|
| Spring Maintenace - | - Change the oil
- Change spark plug(s)
- Change or clean the air filter
- Inspect mower and blades
- Replace any worn parts
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| Winter Maintenace - | - Run gas out by running engine dry
|
| Regular Maintenace - | - Clean the deck top and bottom
- Inspect mower
- Keep blades sharp
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