Mow Your Way to a Beautiful Lawn
Proper mowing makes an impact on the appearance of your lawn-more of an impact than you might think. Follow these guidelines and your lawn will be a cut above the rest.
- Sharpen your mower blades 3-4 times per year. A dull blade leaves a less attractive ragged edge that can also leave your grass susceptible to insect & disease problems.
- Mow you lawn often enough that you only remove 1/3 of the leaf surface at each mowing. This will eliminate the discoloration you see after mowing.
- Mulch your grass clippings, as long as you follow the 1/3 rule.
- Change the direction of your cut every mowing.
- You may have an area of your lawn that suffered damage and is thin. Remember the more often you cut, the thicker your grass will be. If you leave your lawn uncut, it will grow up but will not spread as much.
- Start at a low cutting height in the spring to encourage thicker turf. As the season progresses, you can gradually raise your cutting height.
Scalping Cut
Early spring is a great time to mow your lawn lower to remove the dormant, brown grass blades, particularly if you have bermuda grass or zoysia grass. Some people will perform this lower cut, sometimes referred to as scalping, as early as January. If you have not mowed your lawn at a lower height alreday, now is the time to do that.
When you are ready to scalp your lawn, these are the guidelines you should follow:
- Sharpen your mower blades first. You want a clean, even cut.
- Cut the lawn slightly lower than the last cut you made in the fall.
- If you have bermuda grass, you can be radical with your scalping cut. If you have zoysia grass, be more conservative with how low you cut.
- Be sure to bag the clippings so you don’t have all of that thatch piled on your lawn.
If we can help you with your lawn, please contact us! [cta_button link=”http://lawnandpest.net/contact/” color=”cyan|red|blue|grey”]Contact us[/cta_button]
Lawn & Pest Solutions provides pest control, weed control, and lawn fertilization services to customers in New Albany, Oxford, Tupelo, Amory, Hernando, Olive Branch, Fulton, Houston, and Mooreville, Pontotoc, Southaven, Saltillo, and beyond. Lawn & Pest technicians can be seen all over northeast Mississippi in their clean, white trucks. If you have not already spotted us in Desoto County, be on the lookout! We would love to meet you.
