What to know when mowing a turfed lawn
What to consdier when you are mowing your lawn
- Set your mower cut height at least two inches from the ground. If you cut too close to the ground, you would expose the roots. The roots could dry out and this can mean trouble for your lawn. Always ensure that the root system of your grass is well protected.
- Avoid the temptation to mow too often. Also compacting the grass too much can actually crush them. It also becomes harder for them to penetrate the soil in that case.
- The texture and the integrity of the grass are extremely important when you are mowing the grass. Great care is taken on the golf greens to ensure that the grass remains healthy. The slash and the burn version of cutting the grass can be extremely damaging to the lawns and the golf greens in particular.
- Never ever mow the grass when it's dry and hot. Mowing during the drought season can bring doom to your lawn. The lawn needs all the moisture that it can retain during the hot dry spells and the leaves provide the moisture content to the roots as well.
- Each lawn has its own strengths and weaknesses. You will come to know about it by simply observing your lawn. Let the lawn grow to a decent height before mowing the lawn. When you now the problem areas of the lawn, you can deal with it better.
- You would find that all lawns have a particular length at which they look great and do well. This is the length that you should maintain for your lawn to look great and decent. Each lawn has patches that are usually run down and these are the patches to tackle which mowing the lawn.
- Aeration of the lawn is extremely important as it prevents impacting and allows the oxygen to circulate within the root system. Aeration should be done on a regular basis to ensure uniform soil quality and density.
- If you have high traffic on your lawns, you should consider laying a turf that is resistant to high traffic such as Bermuda, bents, ryegrass and Zoysia. Other grass is tough but they may become damaged if exposed to constant high traffic and disruptions.
- If you find gaps in your lawn, returf the area immediately as the problem can spread quite easily. Mow carefully on areas that are known to be problematic areas.
- Weeds should be mowed out or pulled out by hand. Dandelions by themselves aren't much of a problem as they prevent far nastier weeds from taking root. Plus dandelions indicate that your lawn has plenty of copper, which is a great for the lawn on the whole.
- Re-turf immediately when you remove the weeds, some of the most disastrous weeds are thistles and creeping rootstock variety.
- Always mow the lawn when it's growing and not when it's dormant as this will kill the root system. For the grass to grow, it needs plenty of nourishment such as fertiliser and mulch, just like any other plant.
- Should fertiliser and mulch be added to grass?
- Prior to the growing season, you would need to apply a general fertiliser and organic mulch (organic mulch should be added on a regular basis round the year). But avoid over fertilizing the grass as it can also burn the grass. Remember that the root system needs plenty of water to absorb the fertiliser.
- Super phosphate is a great fertiliser but too much application can ruin the natural soil system and the root system of the grass. Plants including grass can take in only a certain amount of the fertilisers beyond which the action is defeated and is actually harmful and wasteful for the plant.
- Mowing the grass is dependent on the character of the grass mix
- Generally most lawns have a mix of many individual grass types. Each of these individual grass types has their own optimal height. The turf is provided such a way that the optimal height of these individual types of grass is pretty much standardized. You would need to figure out the standard height of the turf before you actually mow the lawn.
- Know which type of grass is planted in your garden. Some grass mixes like the English lawn mix do very well in the wet temperate climate and mowing at wrong intervals can damage the soft grass while others can survive the hot and harsh climate but don't do well with excess moisture.
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