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Semi-related: Worked as a landscaper during my youth, one of my first jobs I used to think that the line patterns mowed into grass were a purely aesthetic thin
by gavinray 2mo ago
Semi-related: Worked as a landscaper during my youth, one of my first jobs
I used to think that the line patterns mowed into grass were a purely aesthetic thing.
It turns out, the lines are mowed in a rotation to prevent wearing out the grass and causing damage. First you mow length-wise, then width-wise, then diagonally, finally diagonally in the opposite direction, before cycling through again.
Useless information for you today.
- b40d-48b2-979e 2mo agowat. Causing damage to the grass you're hitting with a (relatively) blunt object in the first place? All you did was waste three times the gas.
- sunrunner 2mo ago> hitting with a (relatively) blunt object in the first place Well there's your problem right there.
- gdhkgdhkvff 2mo agoLawn mower blades are meant to be somewhat blunt. Like a butter knife. Too sharp and the blade will chip away on the harder materials.
- SoftTalker 2mo agoI have a battery electric lawnmower. I found I got noticably better battery life after sharpening the blade to a near razor edge. Yes the edge is more fragile but it cuts the grass with much less resistance.
- sunrunner 2mo agoThat I did not know. I still wouldn't stick a finger near one of course.
- AngryData 2mo agoThey still work when blunted which is most of the time. But ideally they are sharp and slicing pure grass, grass tolerates slicing better than ripping. It's like a sword, ideally it is razor sharp, doesn't chip when blunted, and still works as a decent club even when blunted because it will be the second it hits something hard.
- asdff 2mo agoFor regular mowing sure. For reel mowing (e.g. golf) you will want to sharpen them.
- therealpygon 2mo agoThey are meant to be sharp like an axe (high angle), not sharp like a knife (low angle). They aren’t supposed to be blunt like a butter knife. Dull blades damage the grass.
- collingreen 2mo agoI believe the point is the wheel lines and to vary where the wheels go by changing the pattern each time you mow so you don't, for example, always drive exactly down the fence and cause a rut or mulch buildup or missed area. I dont think it was "don't hurt the grass while you cut it" or "mow it four times in one sitting".
- b40d-48b2-979e 2mo agoHow often are you people mowing your lawn that that's even a concern? It's like this is "surburbs: the problem: the comment section"
- Carp 2mo ago"Worked as a landscaper during my youth"
- topspin 2mo agoWe people vary frequency with weather. Lawn tractors are heavy and, due to moisture, ground isn't always hard. On large properties some of the ground stays moist longer due to drainage issues. So yes, after years of indifferent mowing, one can detect where wheels have been moving topsoil.
- EdwardDiego 2mo ago> Lawn tractor I feel you're dealing with a different level of lawn mowing if you're towing a mower, not pushing one.
- topspin 2mo agoCommon lawn tractors integrate a mower deck. They're heavy duty riding mowers, but the terms are ambiguous. Large, commercial units can tow mower decks, but most lawn tractors used by property owners don't do that: it's hard to maneuver, and typically only used on fields.
- 2mo ago
- stackghost 2mo ago>All you did was waste three times the gas. They don't mean do all those cuts each time you mow. You mow the grass in one direction one day, and then a few days later when it needs cut again, you mow a different pattern.
- dylan604 2mo agoI do this very thing in the fall when all of my neighbor's trees drop their leaves which blow into my yard. I don't bag leaves. I mulch them. To get them down to a respectable looking yard, it can easily take this many passes. I do it all over again in the early spring towards the end of February when the Live Oak trees in my yard finally drop their leaves for the year. According to my watch, I can cover more than 2 miles just taking my mower for a walk on those days.
- wildzzz 2mo agoWhen I used to mow neighbor's yards as a kid, I'd do a crosshatch pattern that I'd rotate 45deg each week, orthagonal vs diagonal. Just doing one direction looks fine but a crosshatch looks even better, especially if they have thick, healthy grass. I wouldn't be as meticulous on the side and backyards, those would just get a single, slightly overlapping pass in whatever direction was convenient unless they had a really nice backyard, then I'd do extra there. People like that golf course look and I'd get nice tips for doing it.
- inigyou 2mo agoYou are mowing your lawn every few days?
- asdff 2mo agoDepends on how much rain you are getting that can be expected.
- Hugsbox 2mo ago>a few days later Ohh, you're one of those neighbours. Once every two weeks is plenty.
- Brian_K_White 2mo agoYou worked for someone better than average, or I worked for someone worse than average, because this sounds like a thoughtful touch and they never told us anything like that.
- deweywsu 2mo agoAbsolutely correct. If you always mow in the same direction, the grass always gets pushed in the same way by the lawnmowers blades and it will eventually morph to that direction and lose strength, which appears as grass that doesn't stand straight up, and it looks worse.
- SoftTalker 2mo agoI don't usually do the diagonal paths but I do try to go at right angles to the previous mowing each time I mow the lawn (excepting when I can't remember which way I did it last time, but it's usually still visible) or a few narrow areas which really only make sense to mow in one direction.
- MarkLowenstein 2mo agoSurprised no one here just does the outside border and spirals in (pinching off and immediately finishing irregular bulges). Looks neat, though more organic than rows, and is naturally motivating, as the second "half" always seems to go much quicker. Spiral the other way next time for evenness.
- justonceokay 2mo agoTends to look strange, though spiraling around the edge twice before doing the usual lines will make your life easier, as you mentioned.
- kylehotchkiss 2mo agoWhat if your yard is only crabgrass
- taberiand 2mo agoThen you mow side to side
- pmontra 2mo agoHow often did you mow the same grass to have to care about the direction of the previous mow? I mow my garden between one to two weeks, according to the time of the year and sometimes I stop in June, if it stops raining like in 2022 and this year.