The perfectly mown lawn ennobles every gardener. Of course, the velvet green carpet is not given to you as a gift. There are a few golden rules to follow when mowing the lawn. We have put together the 5 best tips and 5 mistakes for you.
What are the best tips and most common mistakes when mowing the lawn?
The best 5 tips for mowing the lawn are: 1. Mow regularly, 2. Set the correct cutting height, 3. Do not mow when it is wet, 4. Use sharp blades and high speed, 5. Remove clippings. Avoid these mistakes: 1. Cutting too early, 2. Mowing too short, 3. Mowing in full sun, 4. Entering an unmown area, 5. Cutting too early.
Tip 1: Mow the lawn regularly
Periodic lawn mowing creates the basis for a wonderful, dense grass area. The more regularly you mow, the better the stalks get used to the ideal cutting line. This results in a robust stigma density with a beneficial effect on photosynthesis capacity. Such a lawn can easily cope with stressful situations of any kind. The type of lawn, seed mixture and location determine how often mowing should ideally be done. The following information serves as a guideline:
- Cut high-quality ornamental lawn every 7 days on average
- Fast growing cheap mixes during the summer 2 times a week
- Very slow growing shade lawn every 10-12 days
Tip 2: Set the perfect cutting height
Hand in hand with the question of 'how often is mowing' goes the issue of the optimal cutting height. The 'one-third rule' has proven useful as an aid to thought. Afterwards, a maximum of a third of the grass height should be mowed. The type of lawn and the prevailing weather dictate which height should be considered the ideal value. The following table serves as a guide for the most common lawn types:
| The right cutting height according to the season | ornamental lawn | Sports and play turf | Shaded lawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| first cut of the year | 80mm | 80mm | 100mm |
| normal weather | 35-45mm | 30-40 mm | 70-80 mm |
| drought | 50-60 mm | 45-50mm | 100-150 mm |
| when permanently wet | 40-50 mm | 35-45mm | 85-95mm |
| last cut of the year | 35-45mm | 30-40 mm | 90mm |
| absolute minimum height | 20-25 mm | 30-35mm | 60-70 mm |
If you follow the 'one third rule' when mowing the lawn, it will be mowed to an ideal height of 40 mm as soon as the stalks have reached 60 mm in growth.
Tip
To determine the actual cutting height of your lawnmower, you do not have to measure the individual blades of grass. This is much easier: simply place the mower on a flat surface and use the tape measure or ruler to determine the distance between the blades and the ground.
Tip 3: Never cut in wet weather
When it rains, the lawn mower should remain in the tool shed. If a lawn is mowed when it is wet, a clean cut will not be achieved. In addition, the clippings clump together and the lawn mower is put under undue strain. On top of that, the wheels of a heavy motor lawn mower sink into the wet ground and damage the grass roots.
Tip 4: Always mow with sharp blades and high speed
German hobby gardeners still favor the motor-driven rotary mower for mowing lawns. In order for the rotating knives to conjure up a harmonious cut, they should be as sharp as possible. If the cutting surfaces appear to be very frayed, the knives should be taken to a specialist workshop (€15.00 on Amazon) for re-sharpening. The winter break should also be used regularly to sharpen the cutting system.
The speed of the lawnmower engine also has a decisive influence on the cutting pattern. If the blade bar rotates at a speed of 3,000 revolutions per minute, you will get a lawn that looks like it has been peeled straight from the egg.
Tip 5: Don’t leave clippings lying around
If you don't use a collecting basket when mowing the lawn, the clippings will then be spread widely over the entire area. While mulching is one of the fundamental care tasks in the kitchen and ornamental garden, this circumstance has a counterproductive effect on the lawn. Under the grass clippings, fungal spores and other pathogens find ideal living conditions to spread explosively from here.
It is therefore mandatory to sweep up the remains with a rake and dispose of them after each cutting. However, this premise does not apply if you cut the lawn with a mulching mower. This shreds the clippings into tiny pieces that act as natural fertilizer.
Mistake 1: Cutting the lawn too early
As winter comes to an end, the lawn is reminiscent of an outgrown haircut. Understandably, ambitious hobby gardeners can hardly wait to cut the lawn for the first time. Anyone who starts too early will be doing their green business card a disservice. You can recognize the ideal time for the first lawn cutting of the season by these characteristics:
- The stalks have reached a height of 80 to 100 millimeters
- No longer longer periods of frost are expected
- The nighttime temperatures no longer fall below 5 degrees
If you want to know exactly, add up all temperatures above 0 degrees Celsius from January. If the total comes to 180, it's time to mow the lawn for the first time and then scarify it.
Mistake 2: Mowing the lawn too short
Every year during the holiday season, the image of yellow lawns is rampant in German hobby gardens. The cause is a cut that is too short after returning from vacation. If the lawn has been allowed to grow unhindered for a few weeks, the vegetation point will shift upwards. If you mow to the minimum height in one pass, the lawn will go into shock. How to handle it correctly:
- First cut the lawn at the highest cutting level of the mower
- In a second stage, shorten the blades of grass according to the 'one-third rule'
- After a week we mow to the ideal cutting height
Mistake 3: Mowing the lawn under the blazing sun
When warm summer temperatures and blazing sunlight come together, the time of day for mowing the lawn needs to be chosen carefully. If the lawn is mowed at lunchtime, the blades will burn at the cuts within minutes. The result is a brown-yellow lawn that has difficulty recovering.
Ideally, you cut the lawn in the cooler morning or evening hours. In order not to get into trouble with the neighbors, the legally required rest times must of course be taken into account.
Error 4: Entering unmown area
Have you actually followed all of the 5 best tips and yet after mowing the lawn you still get an uneven cut? In this case, a common mistake has crept in that goes unnoticed in the rush of lawn care. If the blades of grass are trampled down shortly before cutting, they will not straighten up in time. The lawnmower blades do not capture these areas, which results in a wavy surface.
Error 5: Lawn mowing stopped ahead of time
As the gardening year comes to an end, one of the most common mistakes surrounding lawn mowing comes to light. Knowing that the lawn should last long enough into the cold season, it stops mowing far too early. How to do it right:
- As long as the weather permits, we mow at the tried and tested frequency
- The growth of the grass continues until the first frost
- After the first night of frost, the lawnmower is used for the last time
Ideally, you have our small table at hand so that you can read the optimal cutting height for the winter. By the way, there is nothing wrong with using a lawn mower to remove the remaining leaves as the year progresses. As long as the blades of grass are not mowed again at the same time, you are using this excellent work aid as a replacement for the leaf vacuum.
Tips & Tricks
Do you know the difference between a rotary mower and a reel mower? The rotary mower most commonly used in Germany cuts off the tips of the grass with rotating blades. The reel mower, on the other hand, gently cuts the stalks with a rotating cylinder, like scissors. By the way, the home of the reel mower is England, the motherland of the perfect lawn.