What makes regular mowing the foundation of good lawn care
If you've ever walked out the back, looked at the grass and wondered where you'd even start, you're in good company. The answer is a bit boring and it's mowing. Regular mowing is the job that makes every other lawn job easier, and getting it right does more for the grass than most of the products you can buy.
It keeps the lawn looking like a lawn
Every time you mow you're giving the grass a haircut, and trimmed grass keeps the whole lawn growing at one height, which is most of what makes it read as green rather than patchy. Those tall scraggly blades that stick up above everything else are gone in one pass.
You'll have noticed grass seems to bounce back a few days after a mow, and that's because trimming pushes it into lateral growth instead of upward growth. It fills in the thin bits over time and thickens up on its own, which is a much cheaper fix than reseeding.
It's a bit like training
Your lawn is an athlete in training, and when you mow you're putting it through a workout. Each cut pushes the grass to keep its growth even. Skip the mowing and it goes tall and leggy, which makes it weak and much more prone to disease, and a weak lawn is the one that browns off first in a hot week.
The more regularly you mow, the more the grass adapts to being pruned and the stronger it gets. It's a small job with a return well out of proportion to the effort.
It sorts out the weeds
Weeds love tall, unkempt grass, because they can sit in there unnoticed and go to seed. Regular mowing takes the heads off most weeds before they get a chance to flower, so you're stopping the next generation rather than fighting this one.
Shorter grass also lets sun and air get down to the soil, which helps it dry out properly after rain and keeps fungus from settling in. Long wet grass at the base is where most lawn disease starts.
How often, and the one third rule
There's no strict schedule, but there is one rule worth following, and it's the one third rule. Never take off more than a third of the blade height in a single mow. Take off more than that and you shock the grass, and you'll get patchy brown bits for a fortnight afterwards.
In the warm months that usually means weekly. When it cools off the grass slows right down and you can drop back to every couple of weeks. Watch the growth and let the lawn tell you, rather than the calendar.
And it's decent thinking time
The other thing nobody mentions is that mowing gets you outside for half an hour with nothing to do but push. The hum, the lines forming behind you, the smell of cut grass. It's one of the few chores that leaves you in a better mood than it found you.
Shop related products
- Neutrog Blade Runner Lawn Fertiliser 15kg. Organic based, feeds the grass without the surge and crash.
- Neutrog Sudden Impact for Lawns 10kg. The smaller bag, for a normal suburban lawn.
- Brunnings Turbo Patch Repairer 800g. For the bare bits mowing on its own won't fix.
- Brunnings Tough Lawn Seed 1kg. Quick to germinate, good for thickening up an existing lawn.
Did you know we also stock Katana 18V cordless mowers and line trimmers, Bynorm trimmer line, fertiliser spreaders and lawn rakes in the shop. Not all of it is on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The rest of the lawn range sits in the garden centre, and if you're not sure which feed suits your grass, bring us a photo and we'll have a look.
More from the garden
- When to mow your lawn in hot summer weather
- What organic products can I use to fertilise my lawn
- Topdressing, the quickest way to bring a tired lawn back
I'm self taught at all of this, same as most things. Ask me in the shop, I'm usually there.
Cheers,
Candeece
