Petrol Lawnmower Use – Best Practise

Peter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:44:37 +0000

If you’ve invested in a petrol lawnmower, following a few pieces of basic mowing advice can help you to keep your lawn in good condition.

Firstly, don’t forget to follow safety precautions when mowing. If you’ve opted for a petrol lawnmower instead of an electric, you won’t have the worry of running over and breaking the power cord. However, there are a few addition precautions you should use. Check out our article on safety when using a petrol lawnmower.
If you follow basic lawn care guidelines, you should be mowing the lawn regularly. If you’ve left the lawn to grow for too long, mowing it all to its normal hight in one go can actually damage the turf. Instead you should cut just a couple of inches from the top of the grass. Leave it to repair itself slightly (for a few day to a week) and then mow a couple more inches. Clearly this means that it won’t be at its optimum height for a few weeks, but it also means that by the time it is, it’ll be in a better condition.
Only mow the lawn when it’s dry. Mowing when wet causes a few problems: (1) It’s a harder job for you to push the lawnmower through the wet grass; (2) If it’s very wet, parts of the grass will be flatter than others under the weight of the moisture. Mowing it in this condition can cause it to look uneven when it’s finished; and (3) mowing when wet can actually spread fungus and moss around the lawn, causing problems to the health of the grass.
Speaking of fungus and moss – a lot of it will grow in just one direction. This means that if you always cut the grass in just one direction you may miss some of the weeds when mowing. So it’s always good practise to mow in different directions to ensure you hit as many weeds as possible.
Grass clippings are full of nutrients (see our article on lawn health). When you’re investing in a mower (petrol lawnmower or electric), consider choosing a model that leaves the clippings on the lawn. This lets the nutrients get reabsorbed, and means that the grass won’t need to be fertilised as often, which can help to to keep it a great shade of green. If you’d prefer a nice tidy lawn, however, lawn sweepers are always an option (they can also really help in the Autumn for clearing dead leaves). If you do decide to use one, make sure you have a thorough fertilisation programme for the grass.

Petrol Lawnmower Site » Fertiliser

Petrol Lawnmower Use – Best Practise