From the first lawn mowing to the last, how often and how to mow the lawn correctly. What you need to know about the first mowing of the lawn after it has been planted? What grass can be cut with a lawn mower
The arrangement of green lawns in summer cottages and country estates is becoming a popular pastime. At first glance, it seems that everything is simple in this matter: allocate a place for a green lawn, sow the plot with grass seeds and wait for the field to turn into a green lawn. And only later comes the understanding of the need for proper care, and it, first of all, consists in the skillful operation of the lawn mower. It turns out that mowing the lawn is necessary not only for beauty.
Usually, lawns are sown with grasses of the cereal family, and mowing prevents them from flowering and fruiting. This simple technique prolongs the growing season of plants, promotes good rooting, growth of side green shoots and tillering. Regular haircut helps sod compaction, and densely growing "cultivated" grass prevents the growth and spread of weeds. Throughout the entire warm period, as a result of timely mowing, the green color of the lawn is preserved.
There is no certainty in the question of the frequency of mowing the lawn. This parameter depends on several objective factors:
- type of sown vegetation;
- type of soil and top dressing;
- weather;
- seasonal features of plant growth;
- purpose of the lawn.
The first lawn mowing activities begin in the spring, after the grass on the planned sown lawn rises to a height of 12 - 14 cm. The overwintered lawn is recommended to be mowed when the greenery rises to 7-10 cm. Depending on the purpose of the green cover, the grass is mowed to a level of 4-7 cm. Subsequent mowing is recommended every time the grass is pulled up to a height of 2-3 cm above the desired level .
Lawn mower cutting height adjustment
The lawn mower is structurally designed to adjust the cutting height of the grass. Range may vary between models. Equipment manufacturers indicate the minimum and maximum value of this parameter in the accompanying documentation. Inexpensive models of interchangeable height positions most often have 3, more expensive and advanced models may have 5-7 positions of the regulator.
For bumpy lawns, a model with a wider height adjustment range is usually chosen.
For different models, the technical solution for choosing the cutting height may vary. There are two types of regulation: manual and mechanical. The first involves stopping the engine and manually changing the position of the regulator. The mechanical method allows you to change the cutting height by pressing a button on the control lever, without the need to interrupt the process.
Basic lawn mowing rules
Owners of neglected lawns are interested in whether it is right cut tall grass lawnmower. Judging by the reviews, a high-quality gasoline wheeled unit with a capacious bunker for collecting mowed greenery can cope with such a task in several passes. But the work is unpleasant: loud noise and harmful emissions.
It is much faster to mow the lawn with a trimmer in a neglected state, but after completing this work, you need to collect the cut greens with a rake.
Hence the conclusion: the owners of lawn mowers should not allow high growth of grass.
The question is often raised as to whether mow wet grass petrol lawnmower. The rules say: it is not recommended to work with a lawn mower in the rain or after watering, since such mowing is of poor quality, and there is a risk of getting ugly stripes on the muddy ground
In addition, there are other rules that must be observed when mowing the lawn.
Mulching function in the lawnmower
In the care of beds and lawns, various methods are used to improve soil fertility. Mulching is a necessary activity for the improvement of lawns, as well as soil erosion prevention. Mowed grass has proven itself as a mulch. Periodically, it is recommended to mow the grass and make compost from it, which is used as an organic lawn fertilizer in winter.
On sale there are wheeled units in which the mulching function is already built in. With this extra feature, the lawn mower mulches grass and loose leaf litter during mowing: the process consists of chopping and gently ejecting the organic matter onto the mowed part of the lawn. The advantage of such models is obvious: the lawn is cleared of plant debris, which is returned to the soil surface in a processed form and enriches it. But the cost of a lawn mower with additional features will be higher than the usual model.
Problems when operating lawn mowers
As with any gardening equipment used in lawn mowing, wheeled lawn mowers require compliance with the rules for safe use. Motorized equipment may only be operated in good condition is an unshakable requirement. And before turning on an electric or gasoline unit, you must make sure that it is intact. When carrying out work, it is necessary to follow the general safety rules and the requirements of the instructions from the manufacturer.
There are five main problems in the process of using a lawn mower:
- hitting an obstacle;
- leaking oil;
- knives are clogged with grass;
- the unit rakes the ground along with the grass;
- uneven cut.
All problems are solvable to some extent. In the first two situations, most likely, you will have to seek help from specialists. And to prevent such problems, it is recommended to check the area before cutting for the presence of stones and other objects in the grass of the lawn, and also not to store the device upside down.
Young soft and juicy grass can clog the hole for its ejection, and then unstable, torn operation of the motor is observed. In this case, you need to periodically stop work to clean the hole from adhering grass segments with a thin, sharp tool.
When the mower powerfully rakes not only grass stalks, but also clods of earth, it will help to correct the situation. cutting height adjustment so that the knife does not reach the ground. If the unit with a normally working motor cuts the grass in uneven stripes, shreds, then the problem is with the knife: either it is dull or it is not installed quite correctly.
To clarify the correct location of the cutting tool, refer to the manufacturer's instructions. It is better to entrust knife sharpening to a specialist.
When working with a lawn mower, remember to use individual protection means. Regularly inspect work equipment to identify defects in time and solve the problem before a serious breakdown occurs.
Arriving after a two-week absence from the village, I saw thickets of grass and dandelions. In May, after rains and sunny days, the grass grows very quickly. And you need to spend a lot of effort on mowing the grass, as well as cleaning it. Usually in the summer I try not to bring the grass to such a state, but in May this often happens: holidays, planting potatoes and vegetables, and the grass seems to be still small. Only after the absence do you realize that you were late and the grass has grown.
Well, there is nothing to do - we take out our Oleo-Mac Sparta 25 lawn mower for mowing grass on uneven areas, fill it with a fresh fuel mixture, put on old overalls, protective equipment and go ahead to fight tall grass.
Mowed, tired, but it still needs to be collected. Well, if there are helpers, and if not, then again into battle!
If the area is flat
Another thing is on more or less flat areas. I use an Alpina self-propelled mower with a Honda GCV190 engine - a good machine with a good 5 horsepower engine.
To save ourselves from collecting grass, we use grass collection function into the grass catcher. But when mowing tall grass, it clogs literally after ten meters, and it even happens that the grass blocks the rotation of the knife and the engine stalls. And even if you empty the grass catcher after passing every ten meters, then a lot of time and effort will be spent, "plus" the engine will need to be started every time, because when the blade rotation lever is released, it is automatically turned off - this is done for the safety of the operator and other persons who are nearby.
I did the following - removed the grass catcher, increased the engine speed and quickly mowed my entire area in mowing mode with grass ejection back; a side discharge can also be used (if available), but in my experience, it also often clogs and makes it difficult to eject the grass. Then I put the grass catcher in place and started mowing again with the collection of grass in the grass catcher.
With this method of mowing, the grass catcher is filled after about a hundred meters of passage, which eliminates frequent emptying, "plus" uncut or skipped grass is re-mowed. On a plot of about three acres, I emptied the 60-liter grass box only three times and saved time and effort, getting a smoother cut.
My uneven plot of 15 acres "minus" building koshu all day using petrol mower and lawn mower, but I gradually level the site and sow lawn grass so that I can mow it with a self-propelled gas mower, saving myself from collecting grass with a rake.
It is mowing that is, perhaps, the main technological operation. You have to mow quite often, about 1-2 times a week, depending on the growth rate of grasses. There are several unshakable rules, the systematic neglect of which leads to a sharp weakening of the herbs, the appearance of sparseness and bald spots.
Two basic rules for lawn mowing
First, in one mowing, more than 1/3 of the original height of the grass should not be removed. Why? The leaf is a source of energy and organic substances for the whole plant, a kind of mini-factory, and the leaf surface itself can be considered as a solar battery. However, this is true only for the upper - green part of the leaf, while the lower part is in the shade and much lighter, the process of photosynthesis does not occur in it due to the absence of chlorophyll. If we mow more than 1/3, we will deprive the plant of energy, and it will take time until chlorophyll forms in the light part, or a new leaf grows. We'll have to put up with the yellow-green lawn all this time. On average, the growth rate is 1 cm per day / night - sometime it is faster (May, August), sometime it is slower (July), based on this, and determine the mowing schedule. What to do if as a result of heavy rains (sick, business trip, laziness) the lawn has overgrown? Here you can not do without a trimmer. First, roughly knock down the top and take the future hay out of the lawn, and then level it with a mower at the maximum setting, after a couple of days lower the height of the bevel. The key concept is gradually.
Secondly, all grasses have a minimum permissible cutting height, some species can be mowed lower, some species will simply fall out of the herbage with such mowing. For meadow bluegrass and red fescue, the minimum permissible mowing height is 2-2.5 cm, although now varieties have been bred that can be mowed even by 1 cm. There is also the concept of the optimal mowing height - this is about 5-7 cm, but it also varies if the weather is hot and dry, we increase the mowing height by 1-2 cm, and we carry out the last mowing (before winter) by 3-4 cm (less leaves - less conditions for the development of snow mold). Each type of grass also has a different rate of regrowth of the leaf blade, and the more it is cut off, the faster it grows back. Thus, the plant tries to make up for the loss. When mowing, the allowable length is from 6 to 4 cm or from 8 to 6 cm, in the first case, regrowth will go faster - but only on condition that the mower knives were sharp enough and cut, and did not knock down the sheet, otherwise regrowth may linger for a couple of days.
When is the best time to mow?
In the evening, after 6-7 hours and in the morning after the dew has disappeared before the onset of heat (before lunch), the grass begins to “get up”. I like the evening mowing more, when the light is at an acute angle, all the flaws and the quality of the mower settings are noticeable. Some features of mowing (probably more agrotechnical) bluegrass lawn in late May and early June. During this period, the bluegrass is actively trying to throw out the panicle and, when mowing, a rather rough stem remains, which does not really mow and spoils the whole picture. It will not be possible to get rid of this, but you can try to minimize it, for this date on May 20-25 it is necessary to fertilize with nitrogen fertilizers, after fertilizing the stem will be softer - it will be cut much cleaner and easier. When fertilizing with fertilizers with a low nitrogen content and increased phosphorus and potassium, the leaf coarsens, its tissues become denser and do not always mow evenly, “graying” of the lawn can be observed. There can be several reasons for this phenomenon, it is mowing with dew, mowing an overgrown lawn, and mowing with a “dull” mower, sometimes even a change in atmospheric pressure gives such an effect.
The choice of technique depends primarily on the size of the area that we have to cut. The easiest way to polish a small area (up to 150 m 2) is with a trimmer. Its main advantages are light weight (1.8-7 kg), mobility and compactness. It is indispensable on uneven and waist-high areas, as well as in hard-to-reach places where a lawn mower cannot pass.
The best trimmers for the domestic market companies supply Bosch, Black & Decker, AL-KO, Efco, MTD, Viking, Honda, Craftsman, Hitachi, KAAZ, Caiman, WORX, Flymo, Oleo-Mac, Gardena.
Trimmers are available in electric, gas or battery. They operate from an electric or gasoline drive that rotates the reel. A spool of fishing line is hidden in it, its ends, similar to antennae, come out.
Under the influence of centrifugal forces the antennae straighten out, turning into the sharpest blades that cut the grass. The diameter of the fishing line is from 1 to 4 mm: the thicker it is, the easier the trimmer copes with large stems and lasts longer. The width of the mowing depends on the diameter of the rotation of the ends of the fishing line (usually it is 22-45 cm).
Over time, the ends wear out and become thinner. This happens especially quickly if the trimmer often encounters hard obstacles: stones, bushes, etc.
If the line breaks, you need to restore its working length. It happens in different ways. So, in the MTD ET 700 model, manual adjustment is provided: the trimmer must be turned off and the ends of the line pulled out to the desired diameter. In semi-automatic designs ( Oleo-Mac TR130E Super, Efco 8110 and Homelite HBC26SJS) the antennae are lengthened by tapping the bobbin on the ground.
The most convenient models in this sense- those in which the fishing line is automatically extended each time the engine is started ( Worx WG101E.1, Wolf-Garten GT845, Black & Decker GL 350, Monferme 21327M, Flymo Power Trim 600HD,. accumulator turbo trimmer Gardena AccuCut 300NiMn).
When developing a site overgrown with weeds and shrubs, it is better to choose models in which a metal disc with sharp sharpened teeth works instead of fishing line.
Anyway the tall grass it is better to mow in several passes, removing 10-15 cm each. Otherwise, it will wrap around the bobbin and block its rotation, increasing the load on the engine, which may break as a result. However, there are devices that protect the engine from overheating and shutdown.
The most affordable – electric trimmers(1040 - 13000 rubles). They are made in the form of a cane, with a switch. The power source is an ordinary 220 volt socket. Maximum power - 1300 watts. Compared to petrol trimmers, they are easy to operate, light in weight and less noisy.
The electric motor can be located below or at the top of the reed. If the engine is down, the trimmer is most likely low-power (200-500 W), and is ready to work only with low and soft grass. In addition, for safety reasons, wet grass cannot be mowed with such a tool.
Such problems are not terrible. devices with a 600-1300 W motor located at the top of the boom. Rotation is transmitted to the working tool by means of a flexible metal cable passing inside the rod.
Electric trimmers- practical tools that do not need any consumables other than fishing line. The only thing that significantly limits their use is the power grid and the length of the electrical cable. However, working with any electric trimmer requires constant attention - after all, the cable can get under cutting knives or damage green spaces.
In order not to carry a power cable with you and not think about how not to damage the flowers, you can purchase a cordless trimmer.
It works offline no more than 30 minutes, managing to process about 100 m 2 of the lawn, and then recharged from the network for 3-10 hours, depending on the model. Instead of fishing line, plastic knives are mainly used here.
Many of these rates will not suit. But if you still give preference to the wireless model, there is a way out - to buy several batteries at once. The main manufacturers of battery trimmers: Bosch, Flymo, Gardena, Husqvarna, Monferme, WORX, etc. Their average cost is 4500 - 30000 rubles.
If electricity is unavailable for any reason, you can opt for a petrol trimmer. It resembles an electric overhead engine, in place of which is a two-stroke or four-stroke gasoline internal combustion engine that runs on a mixture of gasoline and oil.
If there is a supply of fuel, a gasoline trimmer is a completely autonomous mechanism. In addition, it is superior to electric in one important indicator - power. Such a trimmer is able to work for a long time and efficiently.
It is suitable for medium to large areas.(150−1000m 2), overgrown areas with uneven surfaces and for the most inaccessible places. However, there are also disadvantages: exhaust gases, the need to purchase and store fuel, vagaries at startup (the exact composition of the mixture must be observed) and increased noise levels.
Noise problem can be solved buying a trimmer with a four-stroke engine. Oil and gasoline are poured into them separately. They use less fuel and start faster. Therefore, such trimmers are becoming increasingly popular. Among the most popular models Honda UMK 435T UEDT, Caiman VS255W with engine Subaru EH025, KAAZ VSP255S with engine Honda GX25, MTD 800 41HD800G678, Craftsman 79170 and 79194, Oleo-Mac BC 260 4S. The cost of gasoline trimmers ranges from 3350 to 37,000 rubles.
There is another type of trimmers - wheeled. This is an intermediate option between a heavy, but very workable lawn mower and a light mobile hand trimmer. Large wheels provide it with good maneuverability. Therefore, wheel trimmers are perfectly suited for mowing tall grass and working on uneven areas. For example, ECHO Bear Cat WT190T, Murray TM6000 TM6000X61, Craftsman 77374, Husqvarna DB 51 5048544-01, Grillo HWT 550.
Every summer resident or owner of a country house, especially a novice gardener, asks the question: “How many times and when is it better to mow the lawn?”. After all, as practice shows. The appearance of the lawn depends on the frequency of mowing and proper care of the lawn.
In today's article, I would like to give answers to the questions: "When to start mowing the lawn" and "How many times per season do you need to mow it." So let's get started...
It is necessary to take care of the lawn regularly and care must be of high quality, that is, it must follow certain rules.
The basic rule of lawn care is regular and high-quality grass cutting. This will help create a quality lawn.
Lawn mowing is carried out with a lawn mower or trimmer. Of course, you can mow with an ordinary scythe, but after such a haircut, the height of the grass will not be uniform. A scythe can mow grass for rabbits in a meadow or weeds, but not a lawn.
Which mower is better to mow the lawn, you can read in the article
I've deviated from the main topic a bit. Let's continue.
When to start mowing the lawn?
Start the season, that is, the first mowing of the lawn is carried out in the spring, namely, when the grass is 5-8 cm high. Some gardeners believe that it is not worth mowing the lawn so early. Because the grass is still tender and has not grown very much. But I believe that without early cutting, the grasses continue to grow maternal shoots, that is, they grow stronger and do not allow the lateral shoots to grow. Grass grows poorly, grows tall, but rare.
Early cutting promotes good tillering (growth of lateral shoots), this will give the lawn a decorative look.
How often should the lawn be mowed?
The frequency of cutting depends primarily on climatic conditions. On average, the number of lawn mowing per year varies from 10 to 20 times.
At my summer cottage, I planted tulips and daffodils on one half of the lawn, and only grass on the second. Therefore, I begin to mow the second half at the end of April-beginning of May, and the first - after the stems of my bulbs begin to die off, that is, in the second half of May. And I mow throughout the season at least once a week. For many years I mow my lawn on Friday night, I water it on Saturday morning, and in the evening I fertilize it with Green Guy granular fertilizer, this is the optimal formula for me.
The last haircut is carried out in the 2nd - 3rd decade of September, here everything also depends on weather conditions. For example, I mow the lawn in the first decade of October, while setting the average mowing height on the lawn mower. The height of the grass after the last cut should be an average of 6-8 cm, because, like cereals, it is necessary to save energy for overwintering, and not spend it on forcing green mass.
Even if you have a young lawn, it still needs regular mowing. Don't be afraid to mow it often. Frequent mowing will not only promote the tillering of cereals, but also prevent the growth and spread of weeds. And they, as a rule, grow intensively on a young lawn. For example, frequent mowing in the period from the second half of May will stop the active growth and spread of dandelions across the lawn (plot).
And at the end of my article, I want to note that only with regular mowing will your lawn have a dense turf and the number of young shoots will only grow with each haircut. But at the same time, it should be remembered that for one haircut it is necessary to mow no more than one third of the height of the cereals.
That's all! I wish you to receive only positive emotions from working on the lawn!
