The dreaded B from the E appears to have retreated back to whatever eastern European fairytale it came from, wagging its snow-flecked, forked tail behind it, the sun is shining, the air is a little warmer and your grass is definitely growing. It is often said that the most popular weekend for taking your first foray into the garden to mow is the weekend before Easter. Well, that is coming up very fast indeed, so let’s get going, people!
So, as Dick pointed out yesterday, time to think of our lawn mowers again. Have you got yours out yet? Is it in good nick? Did you look after it over the winter? Do you need a new one? (if you do, the Einhell mowers Dick was discussing yesterday are superb – especially the exclusive superstar Einhell GC-PM 47 SHW 5-in-1 Hi-Wheel Self-Propelled Petrol Lawn Mower.
But whatever mower you have, use or need, there are a few useful pointers to take notice of when it comes to the first lawn haircut of the year.
Firstly the obvious, tidy up your garden. A general tidy up is probably a good idea but at the very least make sure there are no sticks, leaves, rocks, toys, cats, dogs, frogs or logs lying in wait in your lawn waiting to ruin your mower and generally have a tidy of your borders.
Next obvious, check your lawn mower. Whether it’s a cabled mains powered electric mower, a variable speed petrol powered machine like the Einhell GE-PM 53 VS-HW 5-in-1 Hi-Wheel or a quiet and emission-free battery powered mower like the
Redback Range or even a time-saving robotic mower, make sure it is in great working order, cleaned, wheels free running and level, if petrol powered, fuel tank filled with fresh unleaded petrol or if it’s a battery-powered mower, fully charged. If electric check contacts and cables for dents and faults.
If you need more information about getting your mower ready for spring and the rest of the season, you will find an article on these pages in our knowledge base, MowHow
Most importantly, check your mower’s blades. If your blades are not sharp and clean you can damage the grass blades from the very beginning, tearing the tops off the grass rather than neatly clipping and snipping them. You can take your mower to a service centre or dealer to have the blades sharpened if needed or you can sharpen them yourself. There is an article on MowHow that can give you some information about how to sharpen your blades.
Now. When it comes to the actual cut, the trick is to only take a little off in the first instance. I can’t stress this enough. If you hack too much off the top you will potentially damage your lawn. In fact, you could scalp your lawn, ripping out too much and cutting down the soil level.
We recommend (and so does the RHS) that you use your mower at its highest setting for the first go, ensuring you don’t take off too much. After that, change your settings very gradually until you reach the height you want, this avoids shocking the grass and means there is more chance of a good, healthy lawn when you want it.
Once you have carried this first cut out, you will probably want to mow about once a week over the spring and increase frequency as the weather gets warmer into summer.
And that’s it really. If you need to view our comprehensive range of mowers of all types, do look at these pages, where you will find a large selection of petrol, automatic robot, mains electric, revolutionary cordless battery-powered mowers, even some very good value ‘keep-yourself-fit’ hand-propelled mowers and some excellent best buy recommendations can be found here.
or you could always give us a call on 0345 4588 905 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri & 10am-4pm Sat) and speak to one of our friendly, knowledgeable product experts. They really know their stuff and they will offer impartial, no pressure advice.
‘Honest advice, no sales pitch… I looked around in the internet a bit and found MowDirect which was coming up with the best prices. Phoned them up and spoke to someone who gave me advice about the difference between models and helped me make my own mind up without sales pressure. I am delighted with my purchase and it has made my work so much easier.’ B. Garside
Enjoy your garden. Drew Hardy
