Lawn Mowing Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

After all the effort you put into prepping your new lawn, don’t blow it with mowing mistakes. Watch the video above and read below to learn how to mow for better grass:

Use sharp blades.

Dull blades hack off rather than cut grass tops. The damaged tips will give your yard a brown tinge.

Skip the grass catcher.

Mulching blades chop up the grass clippings before they fall. Once there, they’ll give up their nutrients to nourish the grass and help keep moisture in the soil.

Don’t cut wet grass.

Wet grass will not only carpet the underside of your mower deck; the thick clumps left all over your yard will suffocate the grass below it.

Cut tall grass twice.

The rule of thumb is to never mow more than one-third of the grass height at a time. Those long shafts of grass will lie on top of your lawn like hay for weeks. If the lawn has gotten away from you, mow it twice, starting high and dropping the mower deck for the second pass.

Cut at the right height.

The best height to cut grass depends on the type of grass. Every variety of grass has an ideal cutting height. Cutting too short is a mis-take. You’re robbing the grass of its food source: the grass blades, which are the plants’ food-manufacturing facility. Taller grass also shades the ground, slowing weed growth and water loss from the soil. To find the ideal mowing height for your grass varieties, search for “mowing heights” at pennington.com.

Consider a zero-turn mower.

When it’s time to upgrade from a push mower to a rider, or replace a rider, consider a zero-turn model. Zero-turns were once used mainly by pros, but now homeowners have a huge selection available.

Unlike with a conventional rider, you steer with two levers, one in each hand. Push or pull on those levers and you control speed and the zero-turn function. Plus, zero-turn mowers fly over the lawn much faster than any garden or lawn tractor. With a zero-turn, you’ll find that mowing the yard is fun rather than a boring chore. With its incredible maneuverability, you’ll zip closely around trees, follow twists and turns of landscaping features, and instantly change direction.

Cub Cadet, one of the leading manufacturers of outdoor lawn equipment, launched the Ultima Series this spring. It has models ranging from $2,700 to $4,700. If you step up from the ZT1 to the ZT2 models, you’ll get a bigger mower deck, larger tires, a more comfortable ride, and of course, more power. To learn more, visit your local retailer.