The first cut of the year is SO important to get right. You need to be ensure that you don’t cut to harshly and hence damage the roots of your grass leading to die off and problems later in the season. By following these essential tips from ParkerBrand you’ll certainly have a healthy start for your lawn.
ESSENTAIL CHECK LIST
YOUR MOWER
- Clean your mower down if it has been in storage
- Check your lawn mower over and ensure the blade is in good order. A chipped blade will bruise your grass and have a negative effect.
- Check your lawn mower has a sufficiently high level of oil (SAE-30)
- Ensure you use fresh petrol in your fuel tank
YOUR LAWN
- Common sense prevails! Take a brisk walk around the area to be cust and check for any debris that may have been blown into your garden over winter.
- Check for stones that may have surfaced with winter rains and snows. It's worth picking them up to avoid damaged to your machine - especially the blade of course.
- Check over the area you are about to mow for any wildlife that might have made it their home during winter. Surprisingly, hedgehogs or even field mice can sometimes be discovered in piles of dry and dead grass and leaves. If you do find a habitat, seriously consider mowing a different part of the lawn instead and leaving it be. Certainly don't disturb these guys!
- Don't cut more than a third of your grass in height. Adjust your mower to its highest setting. This will prevent your machine from damaging the roots of your lawn and causing serious problems, or even killing it!
IMPORTANT: CONSIDER WILDLIFE
If you have a garden that is planted and has an expanse of lawn you genuinely have a nature reserve. Such is the fashion for paving over outdoor spaces or using block paving or even, to our genuine dismay, plastic turf, that a host of insects and birds have less and less in the way of habitat. For sure the eco-system of your garden can support a lot of life.
What can you do about that? When it comes down to mowing your lawn, something really quite simple. Leave part of it alone. Choose a corner or arc of your lawn and leave it be to grown to full height. This is of great wealth as a resource to may inspects as food and places to lay eggs. Have a look here to see what you can incorporate. Known as eco-system services, the web of life supports everything and makes the internet look like amateur night in a design shop. Thinking that we are separate from it must be nuts, right?
GET ON IT
Don't leave your first cut too late. Cutting from the third week in March through to the middle of April is the ideal time and will mean that the part of the lawn that you choose to cut will be heathier later on! Remember don't cut more than a third of grass. Enjoy the Spring!!
