- Dull blades rip at the grass leaf and can leave it bruised and rough-ended taking away from its finish.
- Sharpening your mower blades can decrease fuel consumption by up to 25 percent.
- Rule-of-thumb is that mower blades should be sharpened around every 25 hours of use.
As the weather warms up and we get more into the growing season for our lawns, the maintenance usually increases as well. This can vary from around one-mow every couple of weeks in cooler times to as much as a couple of mows per week over spring and summer; depending on your lawn type and where you’re located. A good rule of thumb when mowing is the one-third-rule where it’s advised to remove no more than 1/3 of the grass blade height with each cut. Cutting more than 1/3 of the blade off can stress the plant by reducing photosynthesis and subsequent root growth that is essential for usually dry summer months.
The trouble is that with this type of approach it can mean more mowing, but usually kinder on the operator as well as the lawn, by not scalping or cutting into the lawn thatch or matt too aggressively. If you’ve got everything going fairly well with your lawn; water, fertiliser and no underlying soil or compaction issues your lawn should be approaching its peak condition around now, especially before it gets too hot. If you take a closer look at your leaf edges or even your mower blades you may notice that both may be a bit rough as it can be easy to neglect this part of the maintenance schedule. Mower blade sharpening is an important aspect of your lawn maintenance and can be easily attended to by those who are handy with a grinder, or else a quick trip to the mower shop can get it sorted.
Just how often you should sharpen your blades comes down a little bit to personal preference, but for most parts it helps with more than just the leaf-cut and finished appearance of your freshly-mown lawn. Oversees research reports suggest that there are savings to be had with fuel efficiency, in the order of 25 percent with sharp blades; the time spent mowing is also decreased with less resistance and; sharp blades have also been shown to decrease the risk of disease incidence in most circumstances. How often you should sharpen your blade can be an item of contention in the lawn-maintenance sector, however a number of surveys have indicated that the professionals sharpen their blades around once every 25 hours of use. That could easily equate to once-per-week if you’re mowing lawns day-in-day-out, but for the average lawn-mowing-punter, that could mean sharpening your blades just once or maybe twice per year for a larger lawn. So, no matter what type of lawnmower you own, it’s important you keep the blades sharp. Otherwise, you risk tearing or smashing your lawn-leaf instead of slicing it cleanly and healthfully down to size. A sharp blade also keeps your mower running more-smoothly and safely. And keep safety in mind if you’re going to attempt to sharpen your own blades by immobilising the mower and preventing it from starting whist your working on it by loosening a spark-plug cable or similar and taking the appropriate precautions when it comes to taking out the grinder.
Lawncare doesn’t need to be difficult and simple hints from Lawn Solutions Australia and their network of member turf growers and Lawn Solutions Centres Australia-wide can help with products to keep your lawn in top condition this spring and summer.
