A good cut can make your lawn look much better. Here's how to mow the lawn the right way!
Steps
Step 1. Buy a lawn mower
Step 2. If you bought a gasoline one, put oil and gasoline in their respective tanks
Check the air filter for debris and clean or replace it if necessary.
Step 3. Remove branches, sticks, etc. from the lawn
to make sure you don't damage the mower blades.
Step 4. If you bought a petrol lawn mower model, turn it on by pulling the starter cord
If you bought a cylinder mower instead, start pushing it. In this way, the blades will begin to rotate, cutting the blades of grass.
Step 5. The most important thing is to make sure that all edges of the lawn have been cut using the most appropriate tools, such as a trimmer
Doing this will delimit the contours of the lawn, so that when you start mowing you can see where to go. Another reason you should do this first is that the mower will pick up whatever the brushcutter has left lying around, giving the result a more professional look.
Step 6. Proceed in rows or columns, coming to the opposite side to the one you started from and then going back
Do not skip areas, you would get an unsatisfactory end result.
Step 7. To ensure that your rows or columns are straight and even, follow one of the tracks left on the ground when you cut the previous row (or column) with the wheels of the mower
Hold the mower securely and continue straight towards the grass to be cut. When you reach the end of that line, turn around and choose another track to follow. It will help you keep going in a straight line.
Step 8. Check that you have not skipped any points, and if necessary review them
If, as explained in the previous step, you have put the wheels on the tracks left to cut the previous line each time, you will hardly have skipped any stitches.
Step 9. Turn off the mower and put it in the garage or tool shed after giving it a clean
Step 10. Repeat if necessary until the height of the grass feels even
Step 11. Alternatively, pay a gardener who should already have all the necessary equipment and knowledge, along with some grass cutting skill and, perhaps, a qualification to attest to this
Advice
- Remove large branches and debris before cutting your lawn so they don't get in your way and damage you and your mower.
- For a healthier lawn, never mow more than 1/3 of the length of the grass blades. If the grass is very tall, cut to 1/3 and then cut back to 1/3 three days later. Repeat until you reach the desired height. As a general rule, remember: "1/3 - 3 days".
- To make the start-up phase safer, only run the mower on a curb, driveway, or other solid surface.
- Raise the cutting surface to about 10 cm for the shaded areas and to 7.5 cm for the sunny areas, if it is "Sant'Agostino" type grass. "Bermuda" grass should be braided to 3-5 cm to allow it to grow in an ideal manner.
- Mowing the grass can cause the strands to begin to lean in a certain direction, instead of growing straight up. For this reason, alternate the direction in which you mow the lawn. For example, cut into rows for one week, into columns the next week. The next week cut diagonally, and the next week starting from the perimeter and then centralizing.
- To save time and money on fertilizer, consider not removing the clippings. You could buy a special blade to form mulch; these are blades that can reduce the cut grass into pieces small enough not to suffocate your lawn.
- Grass left longer will require less water during the drier seasons. Plus, it will shade the weeds, and perhaps that will prevent it from growing. Conversely, you can cut shorter grass during the wettest seasons. Doing so will ensure a greater flow of water to the roots.
- For better results and less effort, first mow the lawn perimeter. If you can do this with the waste dump pointed towards the center, you will also have less grass to collect at the end.
- Divide the lawn area to be cut into large rectangles, and cut them into lines. Then deal with what's left.
Warnings
- Read the mower's user manual carefully. Try to understand what its power is, what its characteristics are and what its limits are. Learn about its safety devices, how they work and how to maintain them. Try to understand the differences between a safe operation and a potentially dangerous one.
- Keep children and pets away from the work area and the mower while it is running.
- Be careful of the blades; they can hurt you easily. If your blades get stuck due to cut grass or other debris, don't use your hands to free them. Rather, turn off the lawn mower and use water from a garden hose to unlock the blade of a gasoline one.
- Lawnmowers are dangerous tools. If used improperly, they can cause serious injury, even death.
- Choose hearing protection carefully. If on the one hand you want to protect yourself from the noise produced by a combustion engine, on the other hand you must avoid completely isolating yourself from everything around you. A set of quality earplugs is the ideal solution, because it will protect your hearing while still allowing you to hear the sound of a horn or a person screaming.
- When you pull the mower towards you, be especially careful not to trip, you will end up under it. Rather than pulling it towards you, consider standing next to it (opposite the drain) and pushing it like that.
- Listening to music from a portable device, such as an iPod, while you're mowing grass is a bad idea. While the earphones limit outside noise, it is a rather dangerous distraction at a time when maximum concentration is required to operate an extremely dangerous machine.
- Always wear proper hearing and sight protection and sturdy shoes when mowing the lawn. Even if the lawn is usually cut on hot and sunny days, do not give in to the temptation to wear short and light clothes, open shoes, sandals and slippers; and never knit without knitting. Professionals in the sector always wear long work trousers and light long-sleeved T-shirts to protect themselves from debris and insects.
