Spring is in the air and so too is the smell of freshly cut grass, the buzzing of lawnmowers can be heard in neighbourhood as gardeners being the six month lawn care task. If you haven’t already taken your mower out then now is the time to read a few lawn care tips before getting started.
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- Lawn Care
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- Lawn Care
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- Lawn Care
Something that many people fail to realize is that grass and lawns themselves are the most labour intensive parts of the garden. If you are looking for a low maintenance garden it can be best achieved by reducing the amount of lawn area you have. Or by designing and planning your lawn so that it is easier to cut. Ways to make your lawn easier to cut include having suitable edging such as a low brick edging and shaping your lawn so that there are no funny angles or narrow patches. Also positioning of trees on lawns should work around the size of your push or ride on lawn mower if your are to make lawn care as stress free and straightforward as possible.
Before beginning lawn care and grass cutting, turn your attention to your lawn mower. This is a good time to have is serviced ensuring that it is in full working order before it’s six months of hard labour in the field. if you intend on servicing your mower yourself remember to:
- Change the oil
- Remove spark plug before carrying out any maintenance work
- Sharpen blades
- Check that all screws are fastened
- Change the petrol
- Check the spark plug for damage or burnt out end points and replace if necessary
- Clean the filter
Once your lawnmower is in full working order the only thing standing between you and a freshly cut lawn is the weather. Ireland is of course known for is unpredictable weather and spring is particularly unpredictable. To cut lawns the grass must be dry otherwise the mower will not make a clean cut leading to frayed leaf blades causing stress to the grass. Also with wet grass, the grass is often lying flat meaning your mower may not cut a lot of it. Other issues with cutting wet grass include clogged grass boxes, strain of mower blades and engine, mess created from wet grass on ride on tyres and also unnecessary compaction of soil.
So knowing the harm that cutting in wet weather can cause it is unlikely that you will get a change to cut your grass at all in Ireland. If you do get around to cutting you need to be sure that your first cut only tops the grass and remember that every subsequent cut remove only 1/3 or less of the grass. This will minimise stress on your lawn.
Early spring lawn care really only involves cutting. Jobs such as scarifying, aerating, top-dressing and feeding don’t start until mid April.