You’d think that mowing the lawn was a simple and relaxing task with nothing to worry about.
It’s not.
This common garden maintenance task can throw up all kinds of problems, especially when it comes to damaging the mower or other aspects of your garden. Different hazards can come into contact with your mower’s blades to cause long-term (and costly) problems. Most people forget about this when they’re about to mow their lawns, so here’s how you can prepare to avoid damaging anything during the mowing process.
Step 1: Remove Any Unfixed Obstacles
Look at your lawn and carefully remove any unfixed obstacles that could get in the way while mowing. Items to look for include any kids’ toys, stray flower pots, and so on. You should also use a rake to go over your lawn and remove any large sticks or stones. Good preparation like this means you have a nice, clean lawn to cut.
Step 2: Protect Any Fixed Obstacles
Some obstacles can’t be moved because they’re fixed in place. If your garden uses a sprinkler system, then the heads will be hidden in the grass and impossible to move. In this case, you need to use a sprinkler head protector to cover the sprinklers and stop them from being hit by the mower’s blades. The same goes for any embedded LED lights in your lawn; a protective cover means you can go over the area without worrying about cracking the lights or damaging the mower.
Step 3: Use A Strimmer For The Edges
Following steps one and two will put you in the prime position to begin cutting the grass. Any removable obstacles are out of the way, while the fixed ones are neatly covered and protected. There’s only one other area of a garden that can cause mowing issues: patio or stone paving.
If you have a patio or stone pavers creating a walkway down your lawn, then there’s a risk of blades hitting the stone and either causing scratches or breaking the blades themselves. Avoid this by mowing away from the stone/patio and switching to a strimmer so you can tackle the edges. Strimmers aren’t going to damage the stone because they use a blastic string that spins really quickly to trim the edges of a lawn. This is also a good tool to cut any grass or weeds between patio pavers.
Bonus: Only Mow Under The Right Weather Conditions
We’ll end with a quick bonus tip: don’t mow your lawn when it’s wet or frosty. These weather conditions affect the grass and make it hard to cut. Frosty grass is too hard and will damage your lawn mower, while wet grass clogs up the blades and can break the entire machine.
To avoid paying for replacement blades (or a replacement lawn mower) every few months, aim to cut the grass when it’s nice and dry. It’s much better to wait an extra couple of weeks for better weather than it is to mow under poor weather conditions.
As shown through these simple steps, you can mow your lawn without damaging the mower or anything else in your garden. All it takes are a few minutes of careful preparation, mixed with a strimmer for edging, and you’re good to go.
