To Mow Me Is to Love Me
Spring, glorious, spring. Hear the birds chirping. Smell those warm, flower-blossom breezes. See the lawn waiting to be mowed.
Sorry, didn’t mean to ruin your reverie.
If you aren’t a huge lawn enthusiast, leave all those fancy fertilizers and treatments for everyone else. But the one lawn-care step you shouldn’t skip in spring is raking to remove thatch—the layer of dead stuff between the grass and the soil. And don’t say you just raked in the fall—that’s no excuse. Plenty of dead grass collects over the winter.
Once mowing season does start:
- Mow in the evening, not in the hot sun. It puts less stress on your grass.
- Avoid mowing when the lawn’s wet—you risk introducing disease.
- Mow in a different direction each time to avoid forming ruts.
- Mow frequently to stimulate lush, green growth.
- Keep your mower blade sharp for a clean cut, promoting better grass health.
Leave the rest to Mother Nature. Or your local lawn-care professional.
As much as I appreciate the value of this tip, I am somewhat disappointed that you are promoting lawns. There is a small movement, gaining momentum, for getting away from grass lawns and making better use of yard space for edible plants and/or plants that are more sustainable.
The grass used on most American lawns is not native, and ultimately the better plan is to have native species growing in your yard. For example, green grass lawns were not designed for Los Angeles, and the continual forcing of those lawns is damaging the environment through over water-use in a naturally dry area.
Though I am usually very pleased with these daily tips, I feel like this one is pushing the wrong agenda. If we are truly promoting change, let's promote real, sustainable, positive change. Mother Nature could not have been all wrong.