How to Cut Your Overgrown Lawn?

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How to Cut Your Overgrown Lawn?

You might have just moved into a new home, or maybe you have been negligent because of a busy schedule and now your yard is overgrown. Handling a thick lawn can a big challenge. It is just not the case of pushing your mower around. There’s the risk of severe damage and scalping of your yard. All you will have left will be a murky field where it is used to be green. If you want to trim your overgrown lawn into a beautiful carpet of grass, you need planning and strategizing.

Mow the lawn in stages

To safely cut down an overgrown yard, you need to do it in steps to avoid damaging the undergrowth. You have to start with a higher cut, and slowly proceed to lower cuts over time. According to BottomLineInc, trimming down more than one-third of the height of the lawn in one session can be stressful and damaging to the yards.

 The entire safe process of cutting down an overgrown lawn might last between two and three months. After your first trimming session, water the garden and give it one or two weeks to recover. Mowing leaves the grass weak and tired, and that is not an appealing site for your home, right? So give it time, once you notice that the lawn has returned to a greenness, get out your lawn mower and continue to reduce the height of the bush one session at a time.

Why does it need to be done in steps?

All plants including grass grow from a crown which is at the base of the stem. A plant will rise again if you remove the leaves or parts of the stem, but you cannot remove the crown. In the case of an overgrown lawn, the grass has grown higher, and so the vital tops have also increased in height.

Mowing the lawn to a low cut in one session will remove the critical crowns leading to severe damage. The remaining parts won’t be able to grow, and eventually, you might have to plant new grass. Cutting down tall grass in stages gives time for the crowns to grow lower and retreat where it is cold and shaded.

Mow the lawn regularly

Frequent cutting of an overgrown lawn will help you to attain your desired bush height without damage. Adjust your frequency depending on the season. In the summer, you can choose to mow the lawn once in every three weeks, and once a week in autumn and spring. Don’t cut down the overgrown grass in the winter. Regrowth might fail since because the lawn goes into a dormancy stage during the cold season.

Tools you will need

Handheld trimmer

It is also called a string trimmer, and it uses flexible rotating cutters. It is the most appropriate bush cutting tool to use in your first session on an overgrown lawn. The trimmer allows for flexibility in height and direction when cutting down the bushes. You will also find it extremely quite convenient when working on steep and irregular terrains as well. Attach powerful blades to your trimmer, and you will be able to cut down even bushes that are as thick as 3 inches long.

If the lawn grass reaches knee height, cut it back to half its height using the strimmer and leave it for a few days to recover as required. Get back to it after seven days still with the strimmer. Trim it down to 6 or 8 inches high, before you can start using your mower.

Lawnmower

Use a brush mower for tall and thick bushes. These are powerful and bigger mowers that can help you cut down even the toughest of weeds and brushes. mowers are operated the same way as lawn mowers, but they have many advantages.

Whereas traditional lawn mower struggles in wet grass and thick bushes, the brush mower will help you clear a large area of overgrown lawns without any of these problems. These machines can cut grass as high as 6 feet and handle weeds that are as thick as 3 inches.

You also don’t have to stop to empty the baggers on a brush mower, as is the deal with lawn mowers. Unlike some quagmires lawn mowers whose engines bog down, you can expect a seamless session with no bogs. However, if your grass is under 4 feet, a traditional lawn mower will work just fine for you.

I would recommend a petrol-powered riding lawn mower for that matter. They are the most appropriate for clearing thick overgrowths without the engine having to jam. Get ready to break some sweat with the petrol mower. If you have a large yard, however, get a gas mower.

First, you need to sharpen the blades so that they can handle tall and tough grass. This will ensure that they don’t wear down during your cutting session. After that, it will be wise to check the engine to ensure that it works well before you set out to work on the lawn.

Set the cutting height to its highest level by adjusting the wheels up. Some lawn mowers come with pre-installed settings so that you won’t need to do this manually. Cutting the grass higher will protect the engine from getting overworked.

Adjust the mower blades down with every new cutting session. Mow the lawn from different directions to promote evenness. Use the mulch setting on your mower so that the cut grass is added back as nutrients to the remaining undergrowth. Then again do some watering to keep the grass healthy and help it survive the assaults.

Clearing an overgrown lawn is undoubtedly a daunting task. Your goal should not just be to cut down the grass but also to ensure that your garden remains green and healthy as well after the trimming. For that reason, this endeavor needs a lot of patience and planning. Follow the steps above, and soon your yard will be a desirable sight of consistently short and healthy grass.

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