How To Mow Lawn Grass With A Lawn Mower

Each owner of a country house wants to have well-groomed green lawns on his plot. To make this dream come true, you should know how to plant lawn grass with your own hands.

Sea buckthorn (lat.Hippophae)

Photophilous plant, prefers open, but not blown by the winds places. Planting should be at a distance of 2.5. 3m from each other. In order for plants to be pollinated efficiently, 5-10 “female” trees must have one “male” one.

Planting a lawn involves several stages. All of them are important, because the decorative qualities and durability of the grass cover depend on them.

The lawn can be made in different styles: garden, blooming, classic or meadow. In any case, you need to choose the right kind of grass, determine the time of planting and prepare the soil for sowing.

When to sow lawn grass with your own hands

There is no strictly defined time for planting a lawn. On average, the whole process takes from 4 to 6 weeks. The most suitable is the interval from May to September. Despite this, for each pore has its own landing rules, which should not be neglected.

Many professionals of cottage design recommend to start arranging lawns in the spring. And they bring weighty arguments in their favor:

  1. Before the onset of cold weather, the grass will have time to take root and strengthen well;
  2. There is time to eliminate the shortcomings (reseeding, redevelopment);
  3. In the spring, there is a lot of moisture in the soil, which will contribute to the rapid ascent of seeds;

Before sowing lawn grass in the spring, it is necessary to clean the land of weeds and treat the soil with herbicides. It is best to start when the snow is completely gone and dry, calm weather sets in. It’s also worthwhile to wait until weeds come up, since spraying with herbicides on the “bare” ground will not give a result (they act only on the leaf machine, so it is useless to water the soil to destroy the root system). If this rule is not taken into account, weeds will drown out the young grass.

Lawn grass how to plant and pick grass mixtures

June is considered the most suitable summer month for sowing lawn grass; at this time, the soil contains more moisture compared to subsequent months. But if you establish an uninterrupted irrigation system, you can sow seeds and in August, in addition, by mid-summer the activity of insects decreases and the growth of weeds becomes dull. If proper care is carried out: fertilize and mow in time. The grass has time to grow stronger before the onset of frost.

The most favorable period for autumn planting. First half of September. Since at this time the soil is saturated with moisture (falls in the form of dew), and the grass will have time to ascend to the cold.

Lawn grass: how to plant and pick grass mixtures

Ready grassy mixture is selected according to the type of lawn. As a rule, the packaging indicates: for what type of lawn the contents are intended, in what place should the seeds be sown and the type of recommended soil.

Most producers bring seeds from Western Europe and are already on the spot engaged in their layout and packaging. But not all foreign herbs take root in our conditions. Therefore, before sowing lawn grass, carefully select the desired composition.

For the Moscow region and central Russia, a mixture of bluegrass and fescue is ideal (“Ideal” from Premium line). They form a dense bright green carpet and lend themselves to a short haircut. Dark grass will be added to the lawn with bluegrass content. In any case, you should not buy a mixture where ryegrass is 50-60%, because it is prone to freezing and keeps a dense grass stand for 3 to 5 years, after which it completely drops out.

How to plant a lawn: preparatory stage

First of all, on the site where the lawn is planned, it is necessary to make markings, remove all weeds and carry out leveling.

  1. Marking is performed according to the plan of the summer cottage, using pegs or pulling the fishing line. At the same time, flower beds and paths are laid. It is better to avoid strict lines and rectangular shapes, then the lawns and flowering glades will look more natural.
  2. They treat the area from weeds before sowing lawn grass, Roundup or Argument (herbicides of general action). Usually weeds are destroyed 14-20 days after treatment. Especially overgrown areas are sprayed several times with an interval of two weeks.
  3. After drying of weeds, their remains are scraped off, and the soil is leveled. If there is a need, you can cover the area with geotextiles, it will prevent the germination of seeds of the remaining weeds.

How to plant grass, fertilize and prepare the soil

In order for the seeds to sprout quickly and evenly, it is necessary to create the appropriate conditions for their growth.

  1. It is necessary to establish the soil composition, its structure and moisture content. If it is alkaline. Peat is added, sour. Chalk or lime, dense and heavy. Manure or vermicompost.
  2. At the same time, mineral fertilizers are applied: macrocells (NPK 6-22-28, NPK 21-6-17) are evenly scattered on the surface, and microelements are diluted in water with the calculation: ammonium nitrate and superphosphate 40 g per square meter, potassium sulfate 30 g per sq.M. In the spring, emphasis is on nitrogen top dressing, and in the fall. On potash and phosphate.
  3. After fertilizing, the earth’s surface is leveled with a rake, and then compacted with a garden roller weighing 50-100 kg or a round metal pipe. If after that there are still irregularities, they are leveled and rolled again.
  4. The rolled-up area is left alone for 10-12 days (so that the soil settles). If during this period weeds germinate on the plot with compost or humus, the upper ball of soil is gently loosened with a rake.

How to sow lawn grass with your own hands

Seed consumption, as a rule, is indicated on the back of the package, but it is not necessary to strictly adhere to the proportions, otherwise bare spots may form and grass will have to be re-planted.

  1. To evenly distribute the mixture, visually divide the area into zones, and then roughly divide the contents of the package between them.
  2. If the soil is dry, moisten it with a watering can, let the water soak.
  3. For sowing, use sevAL-KOy. If it is not on the farm, you can resort to the manual method. To do this, mix the seeds with fine dry sand in a ratio of 1: 1. Then, following the advice of professionals who know how to sow lawn grass, it is necessary to sprinkle the mixture first along the site, and then across. Over, the edges should be sown twice as thick as the middle.
  4. After finishing the rake, lightly sprinkle the seeds with earth, and then compact the future lawn with a roller.
  5. Finally, sprinkle the sown area moderately from a watering can or spray hose.

Lawn Care

Before planting lawn grass on the site, you should know how to properly care for the sprouted seeds until they finally get stronger.

  1. The first shoots appear in a few weeks, and the bulk. A month later.
  2. In dry weather, watering is carried out daily, to a depth of 5-7 centimeters.
  3. When the green cover will reach a height of 8-10 cm, proceed to the first mowing. Only the tops of the grass are removed by 1.5. 2 cm
  4. After the grass begins to densely spread, mowing starts more often (every 5-7 days), this allows you to form a strong root system of the plant.

Well maintained green lawns. Decoration of any suburban area. There is nothing complicated in how to plant a lawn with your own hands, if you follow the recommendations. Thanks to our tips, you can easily cope with the task.

How To Mow Lawn Grass With A Lawn Mower

Even though it’s been quite a while since the lawn was planted and it is still difficult to compare the grass with a dense green carpet, it’s time to take care of the first mowing of the lawn. If you miss the right moment, some seedlings will outgrow or die from the rain and then will not rise. It is the mowing of the lawn that allows you to create a beautiful grass cover of optimal density, therefore it is so important to cut the grass on time and do it regularly.

From first to last lawn mowing

The first mowing of the lawn should not be delayed due to the fact that the sprouting blades of grass still look very weak. It’s scary to trample. In fact, trampling and rolling the lawn will only benefit him, the grass from this will begin to shrub more, creating a dense turf. Yes, and you will step on already mowed grass, moving a lawn mower in front of you, so that this will not cause any harm to the young lawn.

Let’s figure out when to start mowing the first seedlings, how often to mow during the season, and when is the last time to mow the lawn? Also, from the article you will learn how to mow correctly in order to avoid common problems that newcomers often encounter.

How to understand that the time has come for the first time to mow the lawn? Usually the first lawn mowing occurs in mid-May. See how the blades of grass have grown: if they are stretched to 10 cm, then there is nowhere to put off. Try to choose dry weather so that the grass is not wet (clogging of the lawn mower will occur), but at the same time, the ground should remain slightly moist. Plants will take root from the dry ground, and mowing on wet soil is not recommended because the mower will damage the surface of the lawn when moving.

Before mowing grass for the first time, make sure that the mower knives are perfectly sharp so that weak blades of grass are not pulled out of the ground by a lawn mower. You will need to cut only the very tops of the plants, so immediately set the knives to maximum height.

Before mowing grass for the first time, make sure that the mower knives are perfectly sharp

In the future, grass mowing should be carried out at least once a week in warm, humid weather, and on cold or dry days it will be sufficient to mow the lawn once every two weeks. Focus primarily on the height of the grass: the lawn looks neat at a height of five centimeters, if the grass has grown two centimeters higher, then it’s time to mow it. It is advisable that your lawn be approximately the same height throughout the season, but mowing the lawn too short during the summer months is not recommended, as the plants can dry quickly.

The last mowing of the lawn should be carried out before frost, unnecessarily high or low grass does not winter well. Look according to the circumstances. Perhaps the last time you cut the grass in mid-September, and in the case of warm autumn, a second haircut may be necessary in October.

How to mow grass on the site and avoid mistakes

The last haircut in autumn should not be done with a cold wind, otherwise the tips of the blades of grass will frostbite

Here are a few rules to consider when mowing a lawn:

  • First of all, make sure that the height is the same on both sides of the mower drum, otherwise you risk simply ruining the lawn;
  • Clean the area of ​​stones, sticks, wire and other debris that could harm the mower;
  • Sweep the surface of the lawn with a broom or rake to even out the heaps of earth after earthworms and lift the grass towards the blades;
  • Mentally outline the direction of the haircut. Adjacent stripes should be obtained at a certain angle to each other;
  • The direction of the strips at each mow change to perpendicular, then ribbed strips will not work on the lawn;
  • The last mowing in autumn should not be done with a cold wind, otherwise the tips of the blades of grass will frostbite, which will negatively affect the quality of the lawn next year.

Mowing grass with a lawn mower is not as easy as it sounds. Of course, you will first need to learn how to control the mower before you start mowing the lawn. However, in the process, you can accidentally make mistakes that will noticeably worsen the appearance of the lawn. The most common mistakes:

Grass on bumps shaves off

If your site is characterized by the presence of many bumps, it is worth increasing the height of the mowing and adding mulch to level the surface of the lawn. When mowing, try not to press on the handle of the mower and do not pull it back and forth.

When mowing, try not to push the handle of the mower and do not pull it back and forth

After cutting, the tips of the grass turn brown.

Blunt knives on a rotary mower can cause this effect (blades of grass are jammed, but not cut), damage to the bottom plate of a cylindrical plate or its incorrect adjustment. Grass can also turn brown if it was wet during mowing.

The lawn looks ribbed

If narrow strips of long and short grass appear perpendicular to the movement of the mower during mowing, this means that the knives in a cylindrical lawn mower rotate very slowly. The reason for the resistance to knives can be dew on the blades of grass (therefore, you must sweep the lawn before mowing), the mowing height is too small or too high.

Wide waves cross the entire length of the beveled stripes.

A similar “washboard effect” is observed if each time the grass is trimmed in the same direction. The same vibrations during the mowing of the lawn result in the appearance of waves on the surface of the soil, therefore it is so important to change the direction of the strips with each mowing. To smooth the topography of the soil in autumn, you can add mulch.

Mowing the lawn

The question arises: what to do with mowed grass. Leave on the lawn or clean? On the one hand, cut plants can serve as an excellent fertilizer for the lawn, nutrients from them will return back to the soil, the spread of moss will stop, and you won’t have to spend time cleaning the grass from the lawn.

However, there is the flip side of the coin: the mowed grass will lead to the rapid emergence of weeds, the propagation of earthworms, the surface of the lawn will become porous and more susceptible to disease, soil ventilation will deteriorate. Thus, it is better to clean the cut grass after mowing, it is recommended to leave it only in dry weather, so that the necessary moisture evaporates less from the lawn.

Lawn mowing should be regular, then the plants will take a dwarf form

As for watering and top dressing. They are necessary for the formation of a dense, high-quality cover, even if you have to cut the lawn more often due to the rapid growth of grass. It’s better to mow the grass more often and get a beautiful green surface without bald spots.

Mowing the lawn should be regular, then the plants will take a dwarf form and, instead of increasing the leaf mass, they will form new shoots, creating a dense turf. If you cut it rarely and immediately shortly, the grass will weaken and begin to fall, and in its place separate islands will form, overgrown with weeds, yarrow, moss or bluegrass.