Are you mowing too low or too high? A bottle under the mower solves it for you

Lawn care is very important if we want our property to look good. But it’s not just a matter of buying the right mower and mowing your garden or yard once in a while. It’s important to know how high to cut your lawn so that it doesn’t grow too fast, get sunburnt or otherwise damaged. Surprisingly, even a simple petal can help you get the grass to the right height.

If you cut the grass so that it stays too high, it can become mouldy in rainy weather, but it is also a hiding place for pests such as voles, which can easily take up residence. In addition, it will grow quickly and you will soon have to cut it again. If you mow the lawn too much, you will weaken the grass, causing the soil to dry out and also making it easier for weeds and diseases to take hold.

Too low a lawn

If you cut the grass too low during mowing, you will remove a large part of the leaf area. This reduces the ability to photosynthesise. According to Kansas State University, the height of a normal lawn should be about 5-7 inches after mowing. Lower than this is not recommended because the root system is then shallower and the lawn is more exposed to drought, sun and disease.

Mowing below this threshold has a number of negative effects:

• Increased weed growth, which occurs because the weed seed has more light when it is not shaded by the grass blades.
• Faster evaporation of water from the soil, where more light goes. The lawn dries out and is destroyed.
• Damage in hot weather due to grass heating. Especially in hot weather it is better to leave the lawn a little longer.

Lawn too tall

If the grass grows too high and is cut infrequently or not maintained often enough, problems will also occur. The lawn looks very untidy. Leaves break and are destroyed, and the soil becomes more shaded, which leads to the development of moss, fungal diseases and rot. In addition, the mower is then put under much more strain when mowing. The blades can become clogged, the engine, the rougher cut is not as clean.

Experts say it is very risky if you mow tall grass and end up cutting more than a third of the lawn. They literally warn that crossing this threshold is already what they call unhealthy mowing, which destroys both the mower and the lawn.

Bottle under the mower

If you’re struggling with how to adjust your lawnmower to the height you want, a simple plastic bottle can help. How does it work? Place the bottle under the body of the mower near the wheels or under the front to raise the blade height. This way, the lawn is cut higher without having to deal with screws or changing the mechanism.

Benefits:

• It is a cheap and immediate solution.
• You can experiment with multiple bottle sizes to find the right height.
• You protect the roots of the lawn and reduce the risk of endangering it.

Disadvantages:

• The bottle must be strong enough, securely fastened and not shift during the cutting process. If these rules are not followed, mowing can be dangerous.
• The mower may behave differently when manoeuvring, for example it has less stability on a slope.
• The bottle under the mower can affect engine performance and fuel consumption.