Mowing an overgrown lawn

With summer on its way, it’s around now that people start dusting off their BBQs, refilling their gas bottles and getting the rest of their backyards ready to host family and friends again. When it comes to getting the lawn in perfect condition, however, you may find that it’s looking a little high or overgrown. Whether the mower was broken over winter, you’ve been away on holiday or you’ve just had a few weeks of intense growth, here are a few things you should bear in mind before taking care of it.

Raise your mower’s blades

To make sure you aren’t damaging your mower when tackling larger jobs, it’s important to raise the blades as high as possible when your lawn is over 6 inches (15cm) tall. This applies for both ride-ons and push mowers, and if you’re using an electric mower then you may need to take a little off the top with a brush cutter because electric mowers aren’t always as powerful as petrol powered ones.

Note: If your lawns are too high for your mower even at its highest setting, brush cutters or manual scythes our range of DR Trimmer mowers are your best options at getting the lawn down to a manageable height.

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Mow the lawn twice

After mowing your lawn once with blades as high as possible, wait a couple of days before mowing again at your preferred height. If you like to leave the clippings for nutrients, then using the bag on the second mow is completely up to you.

Be patient and reseed where necessary.

Now with your lawn at the right height, you’ll probably find it looks slightly messy and that in the days to follow it might dry out a little. This is completely normal, and most lawns will bounce back in time. However, if you still find patches 3-4 weeks after mowing down to height then you will need to spread a layer of seed to get everything back to normal. Be sure to pick up the right seed so that everything is even, and to give them the best chance at sprouting sow your seeds in the early evening when birds are asleep.

If you’re still a little unsure or are thinking that your equipment might not be up to the task, feel free to bring it into our store at 100 Gasson Street, Sydenham to find out, or contact us online and one of our professional staff will get back to you. With a range of options to suit any lifestyle and property, we also offer free at-home demonstrations with all of our mowers so you can be sure that it will work where you need it to.