If your lawn looked rough last summer – patchy grass, brown spots or lots of dandelions and weeds – there’s one simple thing lawn experts say can make a surprisingly big difference: sharpen your mower blade.
It sounds almost too easy, but a dull mower blade can quietly wreck an otherwise healthy lawn. And right now is the perfect time to fix it before the season of regular lawn mowing begins.
What happens when your mower blade is dull
The condition of your mower blade affects how your grass heals after every cut.
A sharp blade slices grass cleanly, almost like scissors. A dull blade tears and shreds the grass. Those ragged edges can turn brown, lose moisture faster and leave your lawn stressed, especially in the summer heat.
Torn grass blades are more vulnerable to disease, fungus and common garden pests. Frayed grass tips create openings where problems can spread quickly during hot, humid weather.
Signs your mower blade may be dull:
- Grass tips look brown a day or two after mowing
- Uneven cutting
- Clumps of torn grass left behind
- Mower is vibrating as you use it
And if you hit sticks, rocks, roots or curbs last year, there’s a good chance your blade edge is no longer clean.
How often should you sharpen a mower blade?
Most homeowners only sharpen mower blades once every few years, but for an average garden, sharpening every 20 to 25 hours of mowing is ideal. For many people, that means at least once or twice during the growing season.
Now is one of the best times to do it, as your grass is likely still waking up from its winter slumber.
Sharpening a mower blade is cheap and easy
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Many DIY stores and garden centres sharpen mower blades. If you take the blade in, the average cost is between £5 and £15. You can also do it at home using a file, grinder or drill attachment; this will take a little practice, though.
After sharpening, raise your mowing height
After sharpening the blade, raise your mowing height slightly heading into summer.
Cutting grass too short is one of the fastest ways to weaken a lawn during hot weather. A good guide is to follow the 1/3-rule.
Taller grass shades the soil, helps retain moisture and naturally crowds out weeds.
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Charlyne Mattox is the Food and Crafts director with over 20 years recipe development, recipe editing, and crafting experience. Prior to starting at Country Living in 2014, she worked in the crafts department at Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Kids before attending cooking school at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She was nominated for a James Beard media award while a senior editor at Real Simple magazine and authored a cookbook Cooking with Seeds.
When not in the kitchen she loves to garden, focusing on growing flowers and kitchen herbs (of course), watering her 25 house plants, and knitting scarfs or hats she will never be able to wear in the always hot and steamy Alabama.