How to Cut Your Way to a Healthy Lawn

Contributor

By Murray Anderson
eHow Contributing Writer

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Cut Your Way to a Healthy Lawn

Just like the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach--the way to a healthy lawn is proper cutting (not adding a bunch of chemicals and fertilizers as some people seem to think). A properly cut and maintained lawn will grow green and healthy, without weeds and crab grass and be something you will be proud of. Best of all, maintaining a properly cut lawn actually requires less work than a lawn you’re constantly trying to make look good. Here’s how to cut your way to a green, healthy lawn.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Lawn mower
Sharp blade
Commitment to maintaining an easy schedule

Step 1

Cut your lawn high. Lawn experts all say the same thing, yet we all try to make our lawns look putting greens at a golf course. A high or long lawn doesn’t mean your grass is a foot tall, just set your lawn mower to its highest setting (or maybe its second highest) and you will end up with the proper height. Longer blades of grass will be able to block out weed and crab grass and absorb more sunlight making them greener and more attractive. Since the rule for cutting your lawn is to only cut off the top third of a blade of grass, the next most important thing is Step 2.
Step 2

Mow your lawn on a consistent and regular schedule. About once a week is a good rule of thumb, but weather and personal lives can interfere with grass cutting. However, if you actually plan on cutting your lawn once a week, it won’t seem like such a major chore and you can be sure you won’t be cutting off more than one third of a blade
Step 3

Let the clippings fall back onto your lawn. Bagging your lawn clippings and putting them into a composter simply adds time and effort to the process of getting the nutrients into the lawn. Short grass clippings will compost right on the lawn and put the nutrients they contain directly back into the soil.
Step 4

Pick up or rake any small piles of grass left behind. When mowing even a properly maintained lawn, you are bound to get some small piles of grass left behind. Don’t let them just sit there in clumps--either pick them up or rake them into the lawn.
Step 5

Mow when the grass is dry. Not only can wet grass be slippery and dangerous to walk on, it will tend to slip on the mower blade, resulting in grass that is torn rather than cut sharply. Torn ends will go brown and make your lawn look unkempt.
Step 6

Cut your grass when the temperature is cool. Late morning or earl evening is the best time. The morning dew will have had a chance to dry and evening moisture won’t have fallen yet.
Step 7

Change your mowing pattern each time you mow. You will avoid creating paths in your lawn and the blades won’t get trained to grow in a particular direction. Changing the pattern could also make lawn mowing a little more interesting for you.
Step 8

Make sure you keep your mower blade sharp. A dull blade will tear grass rather than cutting it, creating uneven ends that will turn brown and unsightly, as well as provide a place for disease or fungus to get hold.