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Lawn Care. Tips and questions

How does your garden grow?
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CelticRambler
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#1

Post by CelticRambler »

I wouldn't normally contribute to a "lawn care" thread either, seeing as mine is more of a mole-infested prairie and I've never bothered too much about getting a "perfect" slab of green grass.

And then 2021 happened, with it's non-stop warm-n-wet summer (till this week :roll: ), my own constant availability within sight of the garden, and a regularly working mower, now that I have the time and technique to fix its occasional breakdowns. And wow! :o - despite the daily reappearance of fresh molehills, that grassy patch outside the back actually looks like a lawn, a real lawn!

So regular watering and regular mowing are obviously essential first steps.
490808
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#2

Post by 490808 »

Pro tip - I used to cut grass with a gang of 3 lads (part of a 40 strong landscaping organisation) - cut as often as you can and better to cut a bit high than too low.

Its almost impossible to meet the ideal of removing no more than a third of the height of the grass on every cut. But what is really bad is wasting time scalping grass by cutting on the lower settings. On most mowers (its surprising how similar they all are) the middle setting of 5 (#3 ) is a good general height. In most cases the middle setting is just a little less than 2 inches or about 50 mm. That may sound high but its low enough for your bog standard lawn. Take my advice do not go any lower or at least try 50 mm for 3 or 4 cuts and see how it goes. When its wet your mower wheels may sink into the ground so you are cutting lower anyway and if you have a lot of moss then you are probably scalping the grass down to the level of the moss at anything lower than 50 mm.

Now it may be that your lawn looks OK a week after its last cut at 45 mm and may not need cutting - wrong. Cut it every week even if it looks like it doesn't need it (in a drought cut anyway to keep the weeds down).

A lawn only works because grass can stand cutting but most weeds can't. You get the grasses over time that survive your mowing regime. If you cut often and remove very little grass then you will get finer grasses than if you cut irregularly. Cutting really low tends to damage even the finest grasses and can promote weed grasses, weeds and moss.

If you are short of time and the grass isn't long there is no harm to leave the grass box off. Its not very safe but I prop the grass chute cover open a little (bungee cord) so the grass can get out without blocking - I've done this on loads of different mowers for over 40 years and still have all my toes.

Where grass has got too high take it down in stages. Ideally cut it twice in a week say 3-4 days between cuts with the first cut on the highest cut probably about 3 inches. The time it takes to do two cuts will probably not be much longer than doing one cut down at the normal height. You can save a bit more time if the weather is good by leaving the grass box off on the first cut because the cuttings will have wilted and will take up less room in the grass box on the second lower cut. If its damp the wet cuttings will rot down on the lawn and make a mess.
CelticRambler
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#3

Post by CelticRambler »

With the same caveat as before, I can confirm that Continental Op's advice works well - that's pretty much exactly what I've been doing, especially these last three weeks, since it stopped raining. At the moment, I'm cutting about every three days - so sometimes three times in the same week - with the deck set at 5 (out of 7). Previously, when it was too wet to mow for days on end, I was doing it at 7 and if I got lucky with the weather, another pass on 5 a couple of days later. The lawn is still full of all kinds of everything, but I can see - and feel - the grass beginning to reclaim some territory.

I'm doing a once-a-week cut in the orchard at setting 7, and that's grand for there. More interested in the clippings than having a nice sod - they're for improving the soil in the new veg beds. :D
490808
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#4

Post by 490808 »

Plover1958 wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:51 pm I cut every three days generally. But, with growth so fast, could my neighbour cut again the next day as a one off to get back to it's usual height. It was cut at the highest setting 5 and needs to eventually go to level 3.
Thats great but imo very rare. Most people have a problem with cutting once a week.
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peasant
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#5

Post by peasant »

Just something for the beautiful views (and being completely different to what we're familiar with)

How about grass care including a helicopter?

(sorry, no English version ...just turn off the sound)

CelticRambler
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#6

Post by CelticRambler »

Along the same lines - i.e. way beyond our means :mrgreen: - is this article about the care of football pitch grass: https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ball-pitch
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Scotty
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#7

Post by Scotty »

The Continental Op wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:31 pmIf you are short of time and the grass isn't long there is no harm to leave the grass box off. Its not very safe but I prop the grass chute cover open a little (bungee cord) so the grass can get out
On that note, but not really lawn care as such, never ever EVER walk backwards while holding onto a mower - EVER!!!! If you must reverse, turn your body and walk pulling the mower behind you.
765489

Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#8

Post by 765489 »

Need one cut to sort out the lawns for winter. Will be doing it if we get a dry spell here. Left most of the grass as a meadow over the summer so strimmed it off two weeks ago. Will take a day to get it done with my battered woodies lawnmower. Was tempted to get the tractor and topper to do some of it but too many obstacles in the way :mrgreen:
CelticRambler
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#9

Post by CelticRambler »

One cut for the winter? What luxury! :lol:

I did a "high" cut yesterday to get things back under control after two weeks away; if it's dry enough, I'll take it down a bit at the end of the week. Unless we get a very early winter (or prolonged wet weather), I'm expecting to continue mowing every week till the end of November.

While whizzing up and down yesterday, though, I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to avoid creating "train tracks" when the soil is damper? The shape of the garden and the turning circle of the mower means that it's a lot more convenient and efficient to mow the same up-and-down pattern each time; criss-crossing is real headache. When I remember, I try to offset the next cut by a third or a half width, but the various reference points - walls, edging strips, marker-stakes, etc - tend to pull me back into the same grooves sooner or later. Other than not mowing when the ground is soft, are there other ways of minimising groove-formation?
765489

Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#10

Post by 765489 »

Your asking the wrong lad here. :lol: I don't like neat lawns. I had a large truck in today delivering posts... he went over the grass and apologised, told him don't worry it, free landscaping :mrgreen:

Unless you use a walk behind mower when the ground is soft ?
CelticRambler
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#11

Post by CelticRambler »

Ncdjd2 wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 10:52 am Your asking the wrong lad here. :lol: I don't like neat lawns. I had a large truck in today delivering posts... he went over the grass and apologised, told him don't worry it, free landscaping :mrgreen:

Unless you use a walk behind mower when the ground is soft ?
I used to be like you - still have 40cm deep ruts in what we call "the front garden" from where I drove the camper across it (until it stopped going across and started going through/down ... :roll: ) Until this year, when I discovered that even for someone like me who's quite happy with a "natural" look, a twice weekly cut and a flowery border grown from a few 29ct packs of Lidl seeds makes a huge difference! :mrgreen:

The neat lawn also helps to distract from the building site in the other half of the garden. :?
490808
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Re: Lawn Care. Tips and questions

#12

Post by 490808 »

The old gardening trick when anyone was going to visit the garden (and I'm talking big multi acre big house gardens) was to cut the grass, sweep the paths and edge off.

Edging off makes all the edges of the paths and borders neat and tidy. With that done it's amazing how many weeds can be ignored.
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