- Always mow your lawn with sharp blades.
The first task many home owners perform is a maintenance check on the mower. Checking for sharp blades should be included in the maintenance check. Mowing a lawn with dull blades can be detrimental to the overall result you will achieve throughout the year. Using dull blades will tear the individual grass blades leaving rough edges. These rough edges on the grass blades will break down the defenses of your lawn leaving the St. Augustine grass prone to disease.
- Mow at the recommended height
Every deck on every mower can be adjusted in height. The recommended mowing height for St. Augustine grass is 3 to 3 1/2" in height. Mowing a lawn at the correct height is crucial to building a strong and healthy lawn. During the hot summer months we experience here in Texas, the correct height serves as a protection against the blazing heat. During the winter, it receives protection from the cold and a healthy lawn always has a better chance of surviving freezing weather.
- Don't bag those clippings
If you mow your lawn on a regular and consistent basis you should leave those clippings on your lawn. The grass clippings act as an organic fertilizer, restoring important nutrients back to the soil. Leaving the grass clippings on your lawn helps to promote and sustain healthy soil. It is best to use mulching blades specifically for this reason.
- Alternate your mowing pattern
Mowing your lawn in one direction and pattern can leave you in a rut. If you mow in the same tracks every time, your lawn mower will create ruts in your lawn. These ruts will also break down the defenses of your lawn therefore leaving it more prone to disease. When mowing a lawn, alternate your back and forth pattern. For example: Usually in the summer months we are mowing our lawn once a week. The first week you would mow in a back and forth pattern, north to south and south to north. The second week you would alternate your back and forth pattern by mowing east to west and west to east. This will prevent the mower from rutting up your lawn and at the same time be supporting a healthy lawn.
Here we have briefly highlighted 4 lawn mowing tips that help build strong & healthy lawns. If proper care is taken when mowing, the less you will spend annually on fixing problems that arise due to neglect. For more information about our company, check out our website at Lawn Builders.
