A grass blades health plays an important role in a quality lawn. If you have ever noticed yellowing grass blades in your lawn, we might have a few solutions to help you get rid of them. One of the most common plagues to attack a lawn is operator error. Meaning that yellowing grass blades may not be caused by a lack of water or fungus, but by your lawn mower.
What causes yellow grass blades?
How does your lawn mower contribute to yellowing grass blades you might ask? Well in order for your grass blades to be cut, your mower must have sharp blades. There are a lot of home owners that do not sharpen their mower blades on a regular basis. They assume that if the mower is still knocking down the grass, the blades are fine. Contrary to popular belief, if your mower blades are not sharp, they are not cutting. What your mower blade is doing is ripping or tearing the grass blades. Upon further inspection of the grass blades, you will notice a rough end. Tearing grass blades is not the same as cutting them. Cutting grass blades means that there is a nice finish cut on the end of the grass-blade. You may notice a slight yellowing on the tips a few days after your lawn is cut with sharp blades, but it is nothing compared to mowing with dull blades. Dull blades can cause damage to the last third of the grass-blade depending on the extent of the tear. The yellowing of the grass blades shows that the grass plant is damaged. Damaged grass blades are more susceptible to insect and fungus damage. Damaged blades can not fight off weed encroachment as well. All of these things combined can lead to an extremely unhealthy lawn. Even if you fertilize and water on a regular basis, your hard work may be in vain if you do not mow with sharp blades.
How often do you need to sharpen your blades?
As a good rule of thumb, it is best to sharpen your blades after every 3 hours of mower operation. If it takes you an hour to mow your lawn, you will need to sharpen your blades after every third mow.
