Advice On Mowing Your Lawn And When You Should Scalp
Turf Grass is a unique plant and basically the only plant types that can be cut down regularly and still appear visually appealing.
The majority of homeowners who have lawns do not mow their lawns often enough. The correct mowing procedures play a key role on how the lawn will look.
In addition, mowing often enough also contributes to an easier way to control weeds as well as keeps unwanted pests such as chiggers, ticks and mice away.
When your grass is in growing season it often becomes necessary to mow the grass two times in a week. Below are some quick tips for mowing your grass well:
- •Ensure that the blades on your mower are sharp
- •Make sure your lawn mower is in good working condition and that there are no leaks
- •Don’t mow below 1/3 of the blade length of your grass
- •If you have not mowed your lawn in a while, mow the lawn in increments
- •You should be mowing your grass frequently enough in order to avoid having to collect the clippings
- •Avoid always mowing the lawn in just one direction
- •When it is really hot such as the middle of summer mow the lawn a bit higher
- •Adjust the height of your lawn mower accordingly if your lawn features both Bermuda and Fescue
Scalping a Bermuda lawn, only if you are preparing to over-seed using rye in autumn or when you want to green-up in the month of spring.
You should never scalp a Fescue lawn. However, you can mow the grass shorter if you are preparing to over-seed.
Make sure that the blades on your lawn mower are sharp well before the growing season and be sure to re-sharpen the blades up to 3 times in growing season. Sharper blades will cut your grass, while dull blades will tear your grass.
Torn or raggedy grass blades present openings for fungi and diseases to thrive. Over and above these issues, dull blades can result in brown-tipped grass a few days after you have mowed.
Make sure that your lawn mower is free from leaks such as gas or oil. These substances can kill your grass. It is advisable to always refill your mower far away from your lawn.
You should avoid mowing off over a 1/3 of the grass blades at a time.
If you mow regularly, you won’t need to bag your clippings. The reason as to why not to mow the grass too short is that nutrients are stored inside the grass blade tips.
When you leave the clippings on the lawn you recycle the nutrients and fertilizer stored in the tips of these cut blades.
This means your lawn has the chance to stay greener for longer periods of time. If you mow your grass often enough, leaving behind the clippings will not cause thatch problems.
When you have allowed the grass to grow really long, make sure you mow the lawn in increments instead of cutting it all down in one day. Now wait 4 days and mow the lawn again at the standard height. If you decide to mow all the grass down in one go the lawn will turn brown.
If you mow your lawn in one direction each time you mow the grass, ruts develop that appear as mowing lines. When the temperatures begin to soar in the summer months raise the height of your mower and leave a little length.
The additional length means more photosynthesis that occurs and the grass makes more food to live off. In addition, the increased height assists in the roots growing deeper into the ground.
If your lawn has Bermuda and Fescue you should be adjusting the height accordingly. Fescue must be mowed at a higher height when compared to Bermuda. The term “scalping” means adjusting the setting of the blades to the lowest and then bagging all the clippings.
It is not advisable to scalp a Bermuda lawn, until you decide to over-seed using rye either in the fall or when you want to green-up the area in the month of spring. In the month of spring when the Bermuda lawns are beginning to become green and there are no more chances of frost, you should scalp your Bermuda lawn and bag all the clippings.
This process removes the grass that is dead which has insulated the roots during the winter months and allows the sunlight to warm up the ground quicker which encourages the Bermuda to green-up. LawnFrogsLandscapes.com suggest that the best time to scalp would be between the 1st of April and the 15 April after the frost has subsided.
If you plan to over-seed the Bermuda lawn using rye in autumn, in order to encourage a greener lawn in the winter months, you should be scalping the grass before you decide to seed. The above mentioned tips are the only instances that you should be scalping a Bermuda lawn.
If your lawn features bumps and hills that contribute to the mower scalping areas when you are mowing, it is suggested that you level out these areas. Scalping even in small spots can cause stress to grass as well as making the lawn look uneven.
In the summer months when the lawn is heat-stressed, scalping will cause the plant to stop growing roots and it will place all energy into the growth above the ground. This can contribute to weak grass.
Never scalp a Fescue lawn. When preparing to over-seed the Fescue lawn you can mow the lawn short just before seeding.
Other than that Fescue lawns should never be mowed too short. This is due to that Fescue requires enough leaf surfaces on the blades to create food and nutrients for itself through the act of photosynthesis.
Fescue is usually always in the shade and often does not receive a large amount of sunlight (direct). Sunlight for any plant is necessary for the purpose of photosynthesis.
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