Rod Stewart once sang “the first cut is the deepest” and when it comes to your lawn this can be true if you haven’t taken the time to care for it. In fact, the first cut of the year is without doubt the most important, and can set the pattern for the rest of your mowing season.

But it isn’t only ahead of the first cut when you need to take care of your lawn. It’s a year round job. And to help you keep your lawn looking luscious, it’s important to know when and how to cut your lawn, as well as how to take care of it.

When to Cut Your Lawn:

Many of us only opt to cut the lawn when it is too long. But, the Royal Horticultural Society suggests we should really be cutting it once a week during spring and autumn, and twice a week in the summer.

Knowing when you shouldn’t cut your grass is equally important, and to keep it in shape you should never mow the grass when it’s wet as this can lead to it becoming clumped and blocking the blade. Cutting the lawn when it’s wet can also result in the grass becoming torn rather than cut – causing damage in the short and long term.

How to Cut Your Lawn:

Cutting the grass isn’t as simple as getting the lawnmower out and whizzing it over the lawn. Instead there are 5 steps you should take, to ensure you get a perfect cut every time.

• Prepare the lawn by removing any debris, including stones, twigs and toys.
• Weed the area making sure to remove the weed’s roots too. This will help prevent them from spreading across your lawn.
• Prepare your lawnmower by adjusting the blade height. How high the blade is set will depend on the season and whether it is the first cut of the year or not.

  Ideally, for the first few cuts of the year the lawnmower blade should be set at its highest before being lowered throughout the year. Take care not to cut the lawn too short, as this can result in scalping and your lawn turning yellow or brown.

• Plan the cut before you start the mower. How you cut the grass comes down to personal preference, some prefer to trim the edges first using shears or a trimmer – leaving the cuttings to be picked up by the mower. Others opt to edge the grass once they’ve cut the lawn.

  In addition to deciding whether to edge before or after cutting the lawn, it’s also important to alternate the direction in which you mow. By switching the direction of the cut every time you mow, you’ll encourage the lawn to grow straighter and healthier.

• Don’t rush the cut. Quickly cutting the lawn at any time of the year increases the risk of damage to your lawn or an uneven cut being achieved – resulting in the overall finish being unattractive.

In addition to ensuring each of these steps are carried out, for those who use a lawnmower with four wheels, it’s recommend you overlap each run to make sure the wheels don’t go in the same place all the time. Whilst those who wish to achieve stripes in their lawn, will need to use a mower with a rear roller.

Caring for Your Lawn:

Cutting your lawn as per the advice above is only part of ensuring it remains luscious throughout the year. Caring for your lawn is equally important as it’ll not only help strong growth, but it’ll also help prevent your lawn from falling victim to moss.

Key to caring for your lawn throughout the year is to ensure it receives enough water to promote healthy growth. During hot spells the best way to water an established lawn is with a sprinkler system, whilst young grass and grass seeds should only be watered with a fine mist.

Along with watering your lawn, you’ll also need to make sure you regularly rake it, as this removes dead grass, enables air to reach the crowns of the grass and also encourages the formation of new shoots.

Another tip for caring for your lawn is to overseed, which provides a thicker finish – reducing the risk of moss forming across your lawn, helping your lawn remain healthy. To overseed involves sprinkling grass seeds across an already established lawn and letting it grow.

By knowing when to cut and how to cut your lawn, along with caring for it in the right way will help to ensure the lawn remains the focal point of your garden throughout the year, due to its luscious appeal.

Do you have any further tips on lawn care, perhaps ones which have been passed down amongst the generations? If so, why not share them in the comment section below – who knows, your tips could feature in a future eSpares blog.

Tags: Gardening Tips, Lawn Care, Lawnmower