Lawn Mowing: How A Mulching Lawn Mower Could Help

Mowing and mulching are two terms that anyone with a green thumb has heard before. Mowing is the term that defines grass cutting while mulching is the process of covering soil with organic material such as bark, leaves, and wood chips in order to help the soil retain moisture. While both processes can be handled at different times, there are ways in which you can combine both processes. Integrating mulching into your mowing session ensures your lawn gets all the attention it deserves. One of the most effective ways to do that is via a mulching lawn mower. Regular Mowing Vs Mulch Mowing: What’s The Difference? Your typical lawn mower has a simple design: a set of fast-spinning blade reels push grass toward a fixed-height horizontal cutting blade. The mulching lawn mower improves on this design. Instead of just the blade reels pushing grass towards the blade, both the mowing deck and blades are designed to cut the grass multiple times. How Does It Work? For the most part, mulching mowers aren’t that different from traditional lawnmowers. The significant difference is that these lawnmowers cut the grass clippings multiple times before they are released onto the lawn. This design is possible since the mulching blades have curved edges that provide them with a larger surface area with which to cut. What To Know About Mowing Your Lawn While a mulching mower might operate a little bit differently, in principle, it works just the same as any other lawn mower used for landscaping. With that, here are a couple of tips to ensure your mulching mowing sessions positively impact your lawn: Mow Often Regularly mow your lawn according to the grass variety. When mowing, you should also follow the one-third rule. This general rule states that you shouldn’t cut more than a third of your grass blade per session. Wet Conditions Are Bad For Mowing Even before talking about how wet conditions can hamper your mulching efforts, it is important to highlight why you shouldn’t mow wet grass. Mowing wet grass can result in soil damage and plant fungal diseases. You are better off waiting until the grass dries before mowing. Furthermore, when the grass is wet, the mulch mower can’t cut the grass as finely as required due to the extra weight. This means you lose all the value that mulching could provide to your landscaping. Know Your Lawn Density Before mowing or even mulching, you need to consider just how dense your lawn is. A dense, slightly overgrown lawn can place additional stress on your lawn mower. If you don’t have a mower with sufficient power, it might be necessary to hire a professional landscaping company. Keep Your Blade Sharp It goes without saying that a sharp blade cuts better, with the result being a cleaner cut. Torn cuts could end up inviting disease onto your lawn, so ensure you sharpen your mowing blades regularly Benefits Of Mulch Mowing Now that we know what to look for before mowing the lawn, it’s time to discuss the benefits of mulch mowing. No Waste Compared to traditional mowers that collect grass clippings, mulch mowers recycle the clipping sby chopping them into fine particles before releasing them into the lawn. With this mowing style, there are grass collectors or bags to empty, and that resutls in a perfect lawn finish. Can Reduce Thatch Contrary to popular belief, mulching actually helps reduce thatch. Thatch is a loose layer of living and dead shoots, roots, and steps that appear between the soil surface and green vegetation. The traditional way of cutting and leaving long grass on your lawn could result in thatch buildup. Mulch mowing can cut the clippings finer, enabling the microorganisms that feed on decomposing organic matter to break down thatch seamlessly. Creates A Better Looking Lawn Nitrogen and other valuable nutrients are released into the soil by decomposing grass clippings. The decomposing clippings form to create humus–naturally occurring compost– that loosen hard soil, making nutrients and oxygen available to the grassroots. Conclusion Perhaps the most important benefit of mulch mowing is the fact that it makes any lawn look great. You get a fuller and healthier-looking lawn since mulching helps improve the content and texture of the soil while also reducing the occurrence of thatch and disease.