There’s nothing more satisfying than being able to maintain your own lawn all year round. And there’s nothing better than freshly cut grass. The problem is, most people don’t realize that to get that perfect looking lawn, you’ll have to know how to mow a lawn professionally.
Learn how to mow a lawn professionally. You can get that clean and beautiful expertly mowed lawn every time you clean up the garden, without the stress of actually having to pay a professional gardener.
How to Mow a Lawn Professionally
There’s a lot of benefits that come with mowing your lawn the right way. If you are looking to have lush, thick, and green grass all year long, you’ll need to learn what it takes to make this happen. This is an overall look at what you need to do to mow your lawn like a pro and get the results you are looking for.
Why You Should Take Mowing Seriously
If you don’t think that there’s a difference between what you and professional gardeners do to maintain a lawn, then you are mistaken. There’s a big difference between what a professional gardener can accomplish with specific techniques to help the grass grow and flourish.
This is exactly why you should learn to mow your lawn like a pro:
- To help your grass grow evenly: A good mowing technique is necessary for evenly cut grass. To accomplish that close to perfect grass bed you see at golf courses, you need to have grass that grows evenly.
- To help your grass grow faster: If you are able to cut the grass the right way, you will promote its growth. Even smaller yards and lawns can benefit from this focus. And the faster your grass grows, the better.
- To help your grass become thicker: Thick grass needs a lot of care and nutrients. By using the right blade and spreading the cut grass debris evenly back on the grass, you will be able to help your grass grow greener and thicker.
- To avoid bald patches: Bald patches on your grass floor is an absolute burden. It’s ugly and takes a lot of time to repair before it starts to look good again. Proper lawn mowing techniques will help you avoid getting bald patches on your grass, while reducing the need for fertilizers like Milorganite.
If you want to accomplish beautiful grass to accompany your beautiful landscape, you need to prioritize learning the techniques that will help you achieve this.
7 Tips To Mow Your Lawn Like a Pro
Get the best results out of your lawn mowing with these helpful tips. You can get the best results without having to spend the excessive expense of hiring a professional. And you might just be surprised at how much you’ll enjoy seeing your lawn improve with just a few simple techniques incorporated into your garden routine.
1. Invest in a Good Lawn Mower
To get a beautiful lawn, you have to invest in a beautiful lawn mower. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should have great reviews and a lot of user’s recommendations. A good lawnmower is designed to not only cut your grass but do so with the right care to help it thrive.
You should never feel tempted to buy a lawnmower simply because of the way it looks or how cheap it is. The important part is checking that there’s a lot of customer feedback regarding the product to guarantee that you are making a good decision with your purchase.
It helps if you know anyone who does gardening or landscaping. They will be able to help advise you on what lawn mowers to invest in.
On the low end, mowers will cost you several hundred dollars. Here are the top choices at budget prices:
If you have a larger lawn with hills, then you might want to find a riding mower to make it easier. If you have thicker grass, then there are mowers specifically designed for that.
2. Avoid Cutting Your Grass Too Short
This is something you should never do. Always avoid cutting your grass too short. The reasons for this are:
- Your grass will still need its long blades to absorb sunlight to be healthy: Cutting your grass too short will prevent it from absorbing the sunlight it needs to grow.
- Your grass needs its energy reserve: Cutting your grass too short means cutting your grass’ energy reserves. This can lead to bald patches and browning. This is why it is important that you invest in a good lawnmower as they are designed to cut your grass at a healthy length.
- Your grass needs to be 3 inches long: Grass should be around 3 inches long to encourage a deeper root system. The longer the grass is, the longer its roots will become, and the fewer chances weeds will grow through your grass surface.
Keep your grass at the right length to keep it as healthy as possible.
3. Don’t Mow In One Direction
If you always start at one point at your lawn and mow repeatedly in the same direction, you will encourage your grass to develop bald spots or unwanted visible patterns. It’s really important that you change your direction every other time you mow your lawn.
To make it easier on yourself, just try to do the complete opposite of what you did the last time you mowed your lawn. For as long as you are going a different direction every time, you will encourage healthy and upright growth of your grass blades.
4. Make Sure Your Blade is Always Sharp Before Using it
One of the unforgiving mistakes you can make when mowing your lawn is forgetting to check if your blade is sharp. A blunt blade can severely damage the look and growth pattern of your grass blades.
You want to have sharp blades to cut your grass evenly. A blunt blade will create an uneven cut all throughout your lawn. Once your grass starts to grow unevenly, it’ll be really challenging to bring it back to growing the right way. It will not look as healthy as you’d like it to be.
There are a few ways for you to check if your blades are blunt:
- If your grass looks like it has been cut unevenly.
- If you feel like you have to add extra weight to your mower to cut your grass
- If it just looks like it is not cutting your grass as well as it usually does
These are all clear signs that it is time to replace or balance your lawn mower blade, or sharpen it yourself with an angle grinder.
You don’t have to remove your blade to sharpen it. Read our guide on how sharp your mower blade should be.
A sharp blade does make it very dangerous though! Be mindful and take safety precautions, along with being careful while you use the blade. Its easy to nick your landscape edging or sprinkler components.
5. Don’t Mow Wet Grass
This is yet another big mistake that most homeowners make without even realizing how damaging it is to your lawn. Always avoid cutting wet grass. The reason for this is that the blades, when wet, are harder to cut through. They are more prone to blocking and clogging up the blade and mechanism part of the lawnmower.
This depreciates the cutting quality of the blade, and thus, results in grass that isn’t cut evenly or the right way. As much as possible, always try to cut your grass when it is dry, or, at the very least, only slightly wet.
You’ll have even more trouble if the grass is thick. By avoiding cutting wet grass, and using a blade designed for thick grass, you can maintain a healthy lawn.
6. Use a Mulching Blade
If there’s one secret that will definitely guarantee better-looking lawns, it is the use of mulching blades. You may not think the blade of your lawn mower can make a difference in the way it grows. But it really does.
Why you should use a mulching blade:
- It evenly spreads the freshly cut grass debris back on to the grass
- The grass cuttings gets recycled to become your grass’ source of nutrition.
- A well-nourished grass floor will help grass grow to be thick and long in the future.
If there is one tip that you should definitely take on when you next mow your lawn, it’s to use a mulching blade. Alternatively, you can also use an all-purpose (also known as a 3-in-1) blade that has the features of a mulching blade, as well as others.
You can run back over your lawn with the best lawn sweeper to pick up all of the large grass clippings when you’re done.
Never underestimate the potential your garden or lawn has. Follow these helpful tips, and you might just find yourself becoming an expert at providing what your grass needs to flourish and grow healthily, all throughout the year, through any season.
7. Mow Your Lawn Once Every Week
If you’re really looking to encourage your grass to grow thicker and healthier, you should definitely make time to cut it at least once a week. Grass can grow quickly if you have a scheduled time of cutting it. Just make sure you are cutting it if it has reached around 8 to 10 inches, nothing less.
Just remember that different types of grass will grow at different rates. Both its type and the weather and environment it is growing in, affect its growth rate. As much as possible, try to rely on the length of your grass to know when to cut it, rather than just the date.
These tips should immediately lead you towards a better lawn mowing practice. They will help promote the growth of healthier grass blades.
Conclusion
Learning how to mow a lawn professionally is not that difficult to do. In fact, you might just find that it is a lot easier than what you initially assumed it would be like. If you’re aiming to achieve thicker and greener grass, these tips to mow your grass the right way is one of the first steps that will help you do this.
The important part is knowing that you are definitely capable of encouraging the growth of healthy and beautiful grass. There is no unnecessary expense of hiring a professional gardener. Learn to practice these tips every time you cut your grass. You will definitely start seeing great results within just a few months.
