Lawn Mowing: Everything You Need to Know

An attractive lawn sets the tone of the beauty of your home as it is the first thing people see when they look at your house. To keep the lawn grass perfect, you need to perfect your lawn mowing game! Trimming grass to even sizes may sound easy but there is definitely a lot more to it than you think. Let’s take a deeper dive into lawnmowers.

Types of Lawn Mowers

There are five basic variants of lawn mowers with thousands of models.

1.Push Reel Mower

This lightweight manual mower has rotary blades placed vertically against a fixed blade at the bottom. While it does require more manual labour and more time to get the job done, it is quite inexpensive and it is safe.

2.Rotary Lawn Mower

This mower uses one blade that spins in the horizontal axis quickly. Because the blade is at the deck, it avoids grass flying out all over the place. Rotary lawn mower operates through engine power- either electric or gas engine.

3. Riding Lawn Mower

It uses manual transmission or hydrostatic transmission for mowing. Instead of using a belt and pulley system, the hydrostatic system uses fluid. A riding lawn mower is important to mow a large area like a golf court or a football field.

4. Hover Mower

A hover mower has to cushion air to lift the mower and allow its blade to trim grasses. They don’t have wheels and operate through electric motors. Because of its mechanism, it is easy to move in any direction.

5. Robotic Mower

Robotic lawn mowers use a random mowing system within a contained boundary wire. The machines wander all around the lawn until it hits the border wire. They are rechargeable and auto-tasking.

When To Mow?

Mowing is not specific to time between mows. That is because a lot of factors play in this. The season you are mowing, how often you water your lawn, the amount you fertilize and a lot more.

As a rule of thumb you need to mow when the grass reaches above 4 inches height. Some experts recommend mowing at least once every 7-10 days.

Some others believe that too much mowing can cause discoloration in your lawn. So, they follow ⅓ cut principal for mowing. The principal says you should not cut more than ⅓ of the original height of the grass. Excess cutting can potentially threaten the survival of grass affecting the green colour.

Lawn Mower Maintenance

Some personal attention, maintenance and cleaning can extend your lawn mower’s life by years!.

Check Before Mow

It is important to check the oil and gas level before you start mowing. In most cases, it is important to change the oil after every 20 hours of operation. Also, take a look at the blades. Make sure it appears sharp and clean.

If you suspect the blade is going dull, it is better to get them replaced or repaired by a professional. Ignoring blade sharpness can tear at the grass in a way that can harm the grass..

After Mow

Try to clean the lawn mower after mowing. Before you clean it, empty its gas tank and disconnect spark plug wire. Now stand the machine up on its side. Use the garden hose and spray a full blast of water on its deck. You can use brush, soap and hot water to scrub off the rest of the dirt.

Store Mower in Winter

Before you store the mower in winter, drain all gas from the tank. The old gas in a tank can be gummy and it can disturb the unused engine in winter. So, use a can of fuel stabilizer and run the engine for a couple of minutes to distribute it all over the tank. Now, store the mower until the next spring.

Is it important to bag grass clippings?

Grass clippings can be beneficial for your lawn. These clippings are a good source of nutrients. Not only that but also you have to use less nitrogen fertilizer for your lawn. Also, they maintain moisture and shades your lawn on a hot sunny day.

You don’t need to bother removing clippings unless there is heavy grass clipping. If you use lawn mower regularly, then there is a significant reduction in grass clippings.

Can Clipping increase Thatch?

Thatch is a layer of undecomposed organic matter. Thatch can develop when decomposition slows and organic matter production increases.

Grass clippings are easily degradable and do not produce thatch. Instead, infrequent mowing and excessive nitrogen fertilizer can produce thatch.

Pick the lawn Mowers according to Lawn Size

Though all lawn mowers have the same function, they can be categorized for their use on lawn size.

1.Small Lawn(up to 100 square meters): Push lawn mower, Rotary lawn mower.

2.Medium Lawn (100 to 250 square meters): Rotary lawn mower, Robot mower, Hover mower.

3.Large lawn (above 250 square meters): Riding lawn mower.

Factors to Consider During Mowing your Lawn

Some of the key consideration of mowing lawn that you should know are-

1. Grass Box

A grass box collects all grass clippings so that you don’t have to collect them after mowing. Though some people prefer grass clipping on the lawn while others want everything clean after mowing.

Check the grass box size and volume. A small grass box means extra labor in emptying every time after it fills.

2. Self-propelled

Self-propelled use gas or electric engine lawn mowers. So, you just need to steer it in the right direction instead of pushing hard manually.

3. Cutting width

Cutting width means how wide the mower can cut a strip at a time. A large cutting width requires less time to mow an area. Depending on lawn size, you can also choose cutting width to save some time. Some expert recommends-

300mm cutting width- small lawn area.

300mm-400mm cutting width- medium lawn area.

More than 400mm cutting width- large lawn area.

4. Mulch Mower

Some mowers chop grass clippings and push them back to the lawn. This recycling helps to add nutrition to your lawn. Because of fine shredding, these clipping does not smother your lawn grass. Though it is expensive, it is good in the long run.

Things to consider before buying a Lawn Mower

1. Push type or self-propelled.
2. Consider the yard size.
3. Look for a washout port.
4. Electric or gas engine.
5. Uniform wheels.
6. Folding handles.
7. Cost and warranty.
8. Customer review.
9. Hour meter ( riding lawn mower).
10. High back seat and cup holder ( riding lawn mower).

Lawn mower is quite instrumental in maintaining your yard. A good yard is also a good playground for kids and pets and provide hours of outdoor enjoyment. You can also find your lawn mowing relaxing in the morning and perfect for an evening barbecue. So, knowing more about lawn mowers keeps things tidy for you and your family.