Home LivingGarden7 mistakes everyone makes with lawn mowersDon’t slay sward like a chumpWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Home LivingGarden7 mistakes everyone makes with lawn mowersDon’t slay sward like a chumpWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Don’t slay sward like a chump
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)
We’re now firmly in the six months of the year where mowing lawns is a regular occurrence for many. However, in our experience, many people regularly make some epic mistakes when slaying their sward. Just as they makeawful BBQ grill mistakes, too.
As such, right here, we’ve listed the top 7 common lawn mower mistakes we see regularly. And the great thing is that they’re all easy to fix and cost nothing to implement. Stop making these mistakes and, overnight, you’ll have a healthier, better lawn.
(Image credit: Kärcher)
(Image credit: Kärcher)
1. Mowing the same direction every time
2. Bagging grass when it should be mulched
(Image credit: Stihl)
(Image credit: Stihl)
3. Scalping your sward
4. Mowing with insufficient power
(Image credit: Gtech)
(Image credit: Gtech)
5. Never cleaning your mower or sharpening its blades
We can’t emphasise this enough – clean you lawn mower at least a couple of times per season. And, what’s more, at least once a year sharpen the cutting blades on your lawn mower. Seriously, the amount of mowers we see getting used with gunged up internals and dull, rusted cutting blades is just criminal. Both these mistakes lead to grass being cut unevenly and, worse, actuallyrippedout of the ground, which is a sure fire way to kill your lawn and leave it looking like a wasteland.
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(Image credit: Karolina Grabowska)
(Image credit: Karolina Grabowska)
6. Cutting grass when it is wet
We know it’s tempting if you’d got a mow planned in and then it rains just to proceed as if nothing has happened. But, honestly, you should just back away from the mower. Just. Don’t. Do it! You should never, ever mow your lawn when it is wet, and this is for multiple reasons.
Firstly, wet grass actually speeds up cutting blades being dulled. Dull lawn mower blades lead to damaged sward, as we detail above. Secondly, wet grass actuallytearswhen cut in a messy, unhealthy way, instead of being a dry, clean cut. And, thirdly, wet grass clumps and gunges up lawn mower internals really, really fast. This not only means the mower has to work harder to cut grass, but also increases the amount of time you need spend cleaning it.
(Image credit: Bosch)
(Image credit: Bosch)
7. Pulling your mower when you should be pushing
I see this a lot, too. The classic push-then-pull mower action of a person who just wants to get the job done as fast as possible and thinks, wrongly, that going forwards and backwards repeatedly is the best way to do it.
Finally, on top of this damage and extra time sink, there are also safety concerns with pulling a mower and its razer-sharp, rapid spinning metal blades towards you and, if you have a corded model, its wire. I learned long ago from personal experience that cutting through your own mower cable (which short circuited my home’s electricity breaker and lead me to a painful re-wiring job) makes you feel a right chump.
Simply put, mowers are designed to be pushed, so don’t make the mistake of pulling them.
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