Best 5 Tips For Mowing The Lawn Properly
I was listening to Big Jim’s House the other morning and they were discussing a viral video of a man losing it because his wife was trying to mow the lawn. He did not feel that she was mowing the lawn properly.
Even though I wasn’t a fan of his berating attitude, I have to admit that I laughed out loud when he asked her if she was drunk. LOL! Told ya. I did it again. His wife is completely unphased and clearly in on the joke of messing with her husband. Here’s the video:
Man Tells His Wife She Isn’t Mowing The Lawn Properly
Watching Brady’s mom mow the lawn and his dad critique was hilarious, but I can’t say much. I am a notorious critic of lawn mowing as well. When I mow, I want to make sure that I am mowing the lawn properly.
I am a freak when it comes to mowing. I love mowing diagonally, but I change the direction each time. I mow diagonally, but also horizontally and vertically. My dad told me this helps keep your grass cut evenly.
I argue back and forth over the LENGTH. Someone at my house wants to mow short because he thinks he will have to mow less. I think the lawn will still need mowing roughly the same amount of times and it looks better when you leave it longer especially during the drier times of the summer. I decided to research it. Here are my findings:
5 Tips For Mowing The Lawn Properly
- Cut the grass high. (I told you!) Baylandscaping.net has a great list of best practices. I learned a lot from their article. It’s called “scalping” when you cut too short. It makes the grass focus on regrowing their blades rather than developing a healthy root system and it increases the likelihood of weeds.
- Sharpen your blade often. Another “discussion” at my house. You can’t leave the same blade forever. Regularly sharpening your blade makes for an easier and better-looking mow.
- Change patterns when mowing. Again, Dad called it way before the internet.
- The best time to mow your yard is late afternoon/early evening. I will freely admit that I did not know this. Scotts.com suggests an early evening mow because your grass is most likely to be dry and it’s not the hottest part of the day. Not only is it an easier mow, it’s less stressful on your grass. Yes, you can stress your grass.
- Leave your grass clippings in the lawn – Dang it. I am guilty of bagging every time. I don’t even know where the chute it is, but I need to find it. I always thought leaving the clippings created thatch, but it doesn’t. Lawndoctor.com says the clippings work as a natural fertilizer.
I hope you found the tips for mowing the lawn properly helpful! I’m a mowing snob, I enjoy my flower beds, but once a year I am in love with my mailbox. Scroll down to see what I mean. Thanks for reading and happy mowing!
I'm In Love With My Mailbox Flowers
It sounds crazy, but here we are. I love gardening. I can’t wait to have some color in the Spring. I try to gear my flowers so that something is blooming at all times, but it’s more than that. My flowers are a seasonal scrapbook. One of my favorites: my mailbox flowers.
The Flowers In My Yard Are a Scrapbook
I have flowers from friends’ and family’s yards. Double daylilies from Grandpop’s yard in Philadelphia. Iris from our home in Maryland. I have a ton of flowers from my mom and dad’s yard in Flushing. My dad loved to garden too. It’s something we did together. When their home was sold, I actually put it in the rider that not all flowers would remain (my brother was pretty annoyed by this, but he still let me do it).
I dug up daffodils, succulents, iris, hibiscus, and lilies. I even have flowers from my son’s elementary school flowerbeds. I didn’t leave messes behind. I just took a piece and left the bed better than I found it.
Mailbox Flowers = Curb Appeal
I love all my flowerbeds, but my favorite is a tiny spot surrounding my mailbox. My mailbox flowers have a little bit of everything shoved in there. lol… daffodils, daylilies, iris, succulents, tiger lilies, and clematis. The clematis is blooming right now and I am in love with my mailbox.
Scroll down if you would like a few notes on how I did this. I also included pictures of my band of gnomes. My sister, Mary, painted them for me. She is super talented.
Hey! I want to do that!
It’s not hard. I re-purposed some bricks from our old patio for the frame. I planted small amounts of each (although currently, the irises are trying to take over). I bought one of those trellis pieces from Home Depot and attached it to the mailbox. Planted the clematis at the bottom and let them do their thing. If you have a metal mailbox, this may not be for you. The mailbox gets smoking hot in the sun and the clematis definitely do not like it. I really did NOT do a lot to achieve this look. I just guided the clematis a few times to stick with the trellis piece and that was it.
Let Me Tell You About My Band of Gnomes
In addition to my gardening, I am home to gnomes. My sister, Mary painted these for me and then DROVE THEM from Texas, up to Michigan. I 100% love them… and her. I wish I knew how to paint like that, but sadly, I don’t. Meet Keith. He’s my drummer. He likes shrooms.
Band of Gnomes - on lead vocals
Jerry is my front man. He keeps on truckin’ his cart through my flowerbed. Sidenote: I also have stepping stones in my gardens from my kids at different ages. I HIGHLY recommend stepping stones. It’s such a cool moment in time to preserve.
Band of Gnomes - Brian on Guitar
I chose Brian for my guitarist because he’s reading. You don’t get to be an astrophysicist without reading some books. My gnomes are the champions, my friend.
Band of Gnomes - Entwistle on Bass
This dude is just chilling. That’s what I think you need for a great bass. John Entwhistle had to be chill to handle the very big and, sometimes, crazy personalities of The Who. Take a load off, dude. You deserve it after such an amazing career lifting the bass to a lead instrument through your talent and technique. Rest easy, brother, and thank you for what you did for the world of rock and roll.
I LOVE Summer and gardening AND rock and roll… check out some of my favorite summer tunes.
