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Sharp mower blades benefit the lawn

Dull blades cause browning of leaf tissue tips

There are many cultural factors that can influence the appearance of the lawn in addition to irrigation and fertilizing.  These consist of proper mowing practices such as proper mowing height and sharpening your mower blades regularly.  Commercial lawn mowing companies sharpen their blades daily and or weekly.  This insures that the blades make a smooth clean cut to the leaf tissue.  Most homeowners fail to keep up with this practice and as a result their lawns can suffer.  As a homeowner mowing your own lawn you should insure that your blades are sharpened every 4 to 5 mowing's or monthly throughout the mowing season.

 Shredded leaf tips from dull mower blades

Dull mower blades can create damaging effects on your lawn.  A dull mower blade shreds the leaf tissue instead of cutting it clean.  This shredding causes damage to the leaf tissue and can leave your lawn with a light brown have color on the surface.  The shredded leaf tissue is also more susceptible to disease and insect damage as well.  Just like an open wound to a human, the rough cut leaf tissue is open for infection from disease spores floating around your lawn.  Disease spores can cause serious damage to your lawn during the hot and humid summer months when leaf tissue slows and disease spores can spread quickly due to less frequent mowing.


Dull blades and cut too short equals a browning lawn in summer


Sharp mowing blades result in a clean cut of leaf tissue when mowing your lawn.  Dull mower blades will also result in a browning effect on the lawn.  The leaf tissue will die back from a rough cut .  This is what results in the browning of the lawn. In extreme cases this can cause the entire leaf shoot to die back or even die off completely requiring a whole new shoot to replace it out of the crown.  This can take weeks to come back and repair leaving your lawn a little browner than usual in the mean time.  Sharpen your mowing blades monthly to avoid unnecessary damage to your lawn this summer.

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