How to Mow Your Lawn Perfectly

But how do you get to that beautiful, thick, lush lawn? 

One of the first places to start is with your lawn-mowing technique. Mowing your lawn well is  about a lot more than pushing your mower around. When and how you mow your lawn play an important role in helping it thrive. 

Here are our top eight tips for lawn mowing straight from the Brandon Rushing team’s lawn care experts.

1. Check the weather.

Has it rained recently, or is it going to rain when you want to mow? 

Mowing a wet lawn can be dangerous for you and bad for your grass. Not only could you slip and fall, but the grass can clump and become susceptible to disease. 

Also, avoid the heat. When it’s hot, the grass loses more water and recovers slower.

2. Check the time.

Due to the “heat factor,” the best time of day to mow during the warm summer months is either: 

• In the morning, between 8–10 am (after the dew has dried)
• In the late afternoon, between 4–6 pm

3. Set your blade to the right height.

Before you start mowing, make sure your blade is sharp and set between 3.5” to 4.5”. Our crews cut to 3.75” in the spring and fall and 4.25” in the summertime. We’ve seen great success with these mowing heights.

Some people like to cut really short so they don’t have to mow as often, but this stresses the grass, leaving it open to disease, pests, thinning, and any number of things you want to avoid.

When mowing, you should cut about a third of the length off and have to mow every seven days. If you’ve waited too long and have overgrown grass, cut about a third of it off, wait a few days, then cut another third until you're down to about 3.5” to 4.5”.

4. Take care with fresh sod and seeded areas.

You can start mowing fresh sod 7–14 days after sod installation, or when the grass reaches 4” (depending on the season and growth rates). Keep the blade height at 3.5” to 4.5” and eliminate traffic on the fresh sod until it’s become established after a few mowings. 

For seeded areas, don’t mow until the grass blades are at 4”, and avoid traffic on the area until it’s mature.

5. Vary your mowing pattern.

We advise mowing in different directions or patterns every time you mow.

Grass tends to grow in the direction it’s mowed, so if you mow one direction one week, then the opposite direction the following week, you should get nice, straight blades, and a good, thick look to your lawn.

6. Leave your clippings.

We don’t want you to leave large clumps of grass on your freshly mowed lawn if you’ve just mowed an overgrown yard. Smaller clippings, on the other hand, can be really beneficial if you’re mowing regularly.

Those small clippings decompose quickly and release nutrients into the soil that can account for up to 25% of your lawn’s fertilizer needs. 

7. Trim your edges.

If you have a string trimmer, trim around edges and obstacles to finish things off with a manicured look. 

8. Maintain your mower.

Make sure your mower is ready for its next tour of duty. Check the blades to make sure they’re good and sharp. Dull blades rip away at the grass, so the cut is not clean, potentially allowing disease to seep in. 

Want to leave it to the pros?

While all of these tips are sure to give you a gorgeous lawn if you follow them all, you might want to leave it to the experts instead.

Brandon Rushin’s lawn care program includes weekly mowing, trimming and edging along with a whole host of other services.

See the program details here or get a free online quote here!