What a beautiful lawn! It probably takes a lot of mowing to keep it that way, at least every week, right? Lawns like that don’t just come out of a seed bag.
It’s not just mowing that makes a lawn look and feel like a fragrant emerald carpet from fence post to porch steps. Other considerations go into making a beautiful lawn.
- Get an even cut. Keep all the grass at the same height as much as possible. Yes, there are always bumps at the soil level, but when properly height adjusted, most mowers will operate best at the optimal speed and smooth out those lumps.
- Sharpen your blades, or get new blades. The professional lawn guys keep at least one extra set of blades for each mower, so they don’t have to wait to keep mowing if one set gets dull. The extra blades are always kept sharp.
- Don’t cut wet grass. This seems basic, but wet grass will stick to your mower and the blades and clog up the whole machine. It takes a while to clean when this happens. If it’s rained recently, go on to other tasks and save mowing for dry weather.
- Don’t take the shortcut of mowing the grass too short. This is never a good thing, as it makes the lawn prone to weeds. Never cut more than ⅓ the length of a blade of grass. Most lawn mowers have some blade height adjustment that lets you mow at the perfect height.
- Schedule? Yes, most lawns need some schedule to make that lush carpet of grass. But pay attention to the grass before you bring out the mower for the weekly mow. Has it been raining a lot lately? It might need mowing more often in the spring. Is the grass growing more slowly? During the summer and fall, a drought might exist that keeps the grass growing more slowly, so you might not have to cut as often.
- Is your lawn beginning to show stripes, even when it’s not being mowed? That’s because you’re using the same pattern to mow every time. Everything that has life likes a little variety. Yes, even your lawn.
- Clippings. Rake ’em up or leave ’em? Leave them where they land. It’s like lawn mulch, and the bits will decompose and leave nutrients in the soil.
- When’s the last time you cleaned the underside of the mower? It should be done every time you use the mower, but people tend to forget this task or leave it till the next time. The extra stuff caught under there can cause your mower to break down or stop working. And speaking of mower maintenance, check the manual. It will tell you when you need to change filters and oil.
- How to store your mower when you’re not using it: Again, the manual will tell you what you need to know.
- Safety. Yes, safety. Take safety precautions every single time you mow. Keep the kids and pets away from the lawn as you mow. Ensure the discharge chute is aimed in the right direction, so the random debris that gets chopped up isn’t hitting you.
These seem like essential items, right? But, how many of them have you forgotten since last fall?
You know, there are lawn and landscape maintenance people who could take the chores of everyday maintenance for your lawns and gardens off your hands. But, now that you have hired Custom Acres, you’ll have time to enjoy your landscape with your family and friends – instead of spending every spare moment mowing, cutting, edging, weeding, raking, mulching, moving stuff around…
Give your Custom Acres team a call; they might even be able to take more of these chores off your schedule, and not just the mowing!
Other stuff your landscape needs regularly.
Your landscape needs attention almost as much as your kids and pets. So let’s look at some important stuff that needs to get done regularly.
- Look at your garden. No, not just wander across the lawns with bare feet, your toes slithering between the blades of grass, nice and cool, Mmmmm… Ahem! Look at your landscape. Notice stuff. Figure out what needs to be done. Wiggle the toes.
- Mulching. Check your mulch to make sure it’s holding up. If it hasn’t been changed or replenished within the last year, check it for deterioration. If it breaks down with just your fingers, talk with your landscape gurus to decide if you need to think about replacing it.
- Weeding. Mulching will help with the weeds, but weeds are always there, waiting to spring into action, choking out the good stuff and letting their slimy tendrils infiltrate and destroy the plants you want. It’s a very competitive world!
- Watering or irrigation. You probably have your sprinklers on a schedule, and they come on every day or every two days in the evenings or just after nightfall, when the water won’t harm the plants because it’s too warm. It might be time to step up to the next step in irrigation: rain sensors. You don’t need to run the sprinklers if it’s rained that day, right? That’s just wasting water. Rain sensors can keep your irrigation system from wasting water daily, especially in Florida, where there is a rainy season.
- Bugs and pests. This is an excellent subject to discuss with your landscape pros at Custom Acres. If you notice bugs or other pests, or holes in the leaves of your plants, call them! They will know what to do. Unless you feel very confident about pesticides, don’t try to do it yourself.
- Are you growing food for your table? Veggies and herbs and such? Don’t forget to harvest!
You’re doing great. Get help if needed; your Custom Acres landscaping partners are waiting for your call.