Secrets to a Great Lawn
Professional lawn care manager offers tips on how to make your fresh-cut lawn look its best.
March 27, 2009
Courtesy Ben Nesvig for Toro
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A bird's-eye view of the mowing process.
iStockphoto.com/diane39
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Mowing your own lawn can either be a source of pride or a real disappointment. Either way, it’s a workout. And if you are like most people who choose to do it yourself, you might as well do it right.
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“There are a few simple things anyone can o to make their lawn look great,” says professional landscape manager Kris Birch. “Choosing the right equipment to maintain your lawn is really the first step.”
Birch and his team of more than 25 professionals count on Toro mowers to get the job done. Other factors to consider are proper watering, feeding and weed control.
“But in my mind,” Birch says, “the most important consideration is how you go about cutting your grass.”
When asked the secrets to a great cut, Birch says that keeping your blade sharp throughout the season is key, not only to a nice even cut, but also for the overall health of the lawn.
“We sharpen our blades after every 10 hours of use,” Birch says. “If you don’t keep your blade sharp you’ll end up tearing the grass instead of cutting it. This can put a lot of stress on your lawn, making it dry and prone to weeds and disease.”
While blade sharpening is a ritual before the first cut of the season, people tend to put it off over the summer. According to Birch, you should sharpen your blade more often in the summer because dry grass can dull blades faster than succulent spring grass.
Birch also recommends alternating the direction you mow each week as a good way to make your lawn stand up and look fuller. If you mow in the same direction every time, the grass becomes trained to lay in one direction. Alternating directions and changing the way the lawn lays will expose all sides of the grass to sunlight, creating a better growing environment.
While many of us reserve a day of the week for mowing, the best approach is to mow at intervals that keep the turf at its optimal length.