The lawn mowing season has just begun, but remember, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. You’ve still got many months ahead of you where you’ll have to cut the lawn, and there are going to be days when it feels more like a grind than a fun gig. We here at Mower Source compiled some tips you can use to pace yourself both in the short- and long-term.
Cut Often Instead of All at Once
You know how with any chore in life, if you chip away at it little by little, it’ll be a lot easier to manage than if you let it slide and try and complete it all in one go a month later? Cutting your lawn is exactly the same, especially once we get into the dog days of summer. The grass will start shooting up in the sun — instead of sticking to a once-a-week or once-every-other-week schedule, pay attention to what your grass says and mow it in smaller batches as well as…
Be Strategic About When to Mow
There are okay times to cut the grass, and then there are times when you’ll feel like you can attack every lawn on the block. If you start in the morning a few hours after the sun’s come up and the morning dew has evaporated, then you’ll avoid mowing when the day’s gotten really hot and humid. And while it may seem logical to extend that thinking to the evening, don’t. Freshly cut grass needs the day to “heal” because nighttime is when it’s most vulnerable to fungals and other disease-causing agents.
Sharpen Those Blades Over and Over
If you only had one secret ace up your sleeve for making cutting the lawn several notches easier, it’d be to keep your blades razor sharp. The finer the edge, the faster and more easily they’ll be able to slice the tops of grass blades and avoid a painful struggle. If you’ve ever shaved with a dull razor, you know just how brutal the effects can be…and how beautifully simple it is with a brand new razor. You’ll want to have them sharpened a minimum of twice during the summer, but more if you’re cutting more. And get them replaced if the blades are scruffed, dinged or otherwise warped beyond repair.
Have the Right Machine at Your Fingertips
Last but not least, having the right kind of lawn mower will make all the difference in how easy or hard the job is. Last week we took a look at the kinds of lawn mowers you can get for hilly jobs, but distilling the concept even more generally is just as important. You wouldn’t want to use a simple walk behind mower for a two-acre property, as it would be just way too much work.
Conversely, you’d also probably want to avoid a tractor or zero turn mower if your property is on the smaller size, like if you have a really narrow backyard. In that case, the flexibility of a walk behind mower will make life so much easier than the burden of operating and maintaining the bigger machine (not to mention the cost of taking care of and replacing all the parts for it).
