Lawn Mowers

Mower Care

Basic engine maintenance of your lawn mower is essential to keeping your garden in good shape. Use the fuel and oil recommended by the lawn mower manufacturer.

When working on the lawn mower always follow some basic safety guidelines, be sure the blade has stopped. When accessing the underside of the mower for inspection or cleaning, always turn it so that the air-filter side of the mower is up. This will avoid oil draining out into the air filter and the engine not starting.

Keep your blade sharp at all times.

If you use an electric lawn mower you must use a contact breaker at the power cord start or extension on the wall. If you run over the cable without one it could kill you.

Sharpen Your Blades

If you have a cylinder mower like above you will have to visit a lawn mower machine repair specialist and have them remove the blade to sharpen it.

If you have a rotary you can sharpen this yourself with a file or sharpening stone in a drill. This device will let you sharpen the blade in place on the mower.		The alternative is to remove the blade and place in a vice using a file in one direction until you have a very sharp edge.

How To Cut The Grass

The way that you cut the grass is also quite important. There is a proper way to cut grass, even on a small domestic lawn. The grass should be cut in a different direction, each time. This way, the grass will never gain a grain effect. You should start with once or twice around the perimeter, and then in strips.

Scalping is the worst problem that a customer can cause, (blades that are set too low); this cuts all the leaf off, leaving just the brown stem, or bare earth.

The golden rule should be; never cut more than a third off the leaf, in any one cut. We find that when customers return from holiday, this is the worst time for scalping. Grass left for two for three weeks, without a cut, will grow quite quickly.

The first thing that some customers do on return from holiday is cut it down to the same length as your neighbours. Unfortunately, two days later, the lawn is yellow, and withdrawn. Try to only take the top off, then two or three days later, cut a bit lower again, until the normal height is reached.

If you would like us to stop your lawn growing for a few weeks while on holiday please inquire about this service.

It is also a good idea; to leave the collection box off the mower, every once in a while. There is a technique for this, and it is very beneficial. You can only do this, when the grass only just needs cutting, in other words you are just taking the top off. You must not leave the grass, in a pile or heap, in any way shape or form. You should not be able to see, where the grass has landed, when cutting is finished.

The benefits in mid season are that the grass manufactures it own nutrients and it will help it to maintain good colour, and help it feed, the re-manufactured food to the plant. It is false that it will cause thatch build up, if done as described.

One thing that you must understand, is that there are a lot of do’s and don’ts, and old wives tales, about when to cut grass, and when not to. Most things, like cutting grass, will cause stress to the plant. After cutting, it will stop growing for a short while. In the golf sector, grass is cut if it needs cutting, regardless of the time of year. It will not cause damage; likewise, we should cut our lawn, when required, or when weather permitting.

The roller on the rear of your mower only does the effect of striping a lawn. Also for better effect, the grass needs to be left a little longer, to allow the blades of grass to be bowled over, causing the shaded difference.

Remember your lawn should not be cut for two days before a treatment and for two days afterwards, to avoid fertiliser collection and to ensure that you have some leaf on the weeds, to hit with the weed-killer making it more effective.