i'm no lawn expert, so paging qgl's home owner crew.

whats the go with mowing lawn after rain? pretty sure its not a clever idea hey, but my front lawn is in extreme need of it. best to leave it till we've had a couple days of sun?

i used to mow lawns when i was a youngster and we'd just smash them at anytime, just give the mower a clean afterwards

You mow when it is wet you will rip the grass out of the soil rather than cut it.

nah get into it
mowers don't die, unless you bought it from Aldi

I dont think I've ever serviced a mower in the 10+ years I've been mowing lawns
they just go forever, bit of wet grass certainly wont stop it

and clog the s*** out of your mower, especially if it's as bad as you say

can't say i've ever had that problem hey

If you're blades are blunt what Kat said might happen.
Cant say i've ever seen it clog a mower though.

the only issue i see with mowing the grass whilst its wet is you will not pick up the chopped grass as well. Dry grass results in the best finished product.

What sort of mower are you mowing with? Just remember to go a bit slower as the wet grass will labour your mower a bit more.

Oh and mower servicing is a good idea. I have two mowers in excess of 20 years old and they'd be dead if i didn't service them, 4-strokes moreso than 2-strokes.

interesting.. mix bag of advice there. i think ill hold off for a few days see if it clears up

Also if the ground is soft the mowers wheels will just sink in, lowering the blades all the way to the soil, and take out nice big chunks of ground and grass. Not a good idea.

once i left it so long my neighbor did it. mad fella.

he probably just doesn't like snakes or plummeting real estate values

hold off for a few days until. dry grass flies into the catcher much easier and less chance of getting the outlet blocked.

It's a waste of time, the mower will just push the grass down and you will have to do it again when its dry

Sharpen your blades and it'll cut awesome. Check the forcast out over a week still till it clears up heh.

he probably just doesn't like snakes or plummeting real estate values

it wasn't THAT long, i think he was just being nice. cept he had the blade too low and his mower doesnt have a grass catch, so he kinda f***ed it up. but its the thought that counts right?

Check the forcast out over a week still till it clears up heh.

yer i just checked that.. f***ing sigh. i bet the first week back at work is gonna be 5 perfect days.. argh

and his mower doesnt have a grass catch

As if you need a catcher.
I used to bother with that, now I let nature take its course, the wind takes care of most of it, bit of degrading and mulching of the lawn.
After a day or two all the clippings are gone anyways!
Quicker and easier than emptying the darn catcher all the time.

For some reason I thought this thread would be about shaving your pubes after a shower. I swear having a fever does s*** to your mind :(

If your mower is one of the old ones with a cast iron base it'll be pretty heavy and probably sink into the ground causing an extremely short cut and when the sun comes out the little water drops on the grass will act as magnifying glasses burning your grass (or so Don Burke reckons).

As if you need a catcher.
I used to bother with that, now I let nature take its course, the wind takes care of most of it, bit of degrading and mulching of the lawn.
After a day or two all the clippings are gone anyways!
Quicker and easier than emptying the darn catcher all the time.

When I was a kid and I mowed the grass my parents would yell at me for not using the catcher because they'd get grass on their feet and then get it inside the house. If only I was older and could tell them to learn how to wipe their f***ing feet.

last edited by whoop at 19:16:09 29/Dec/09

Wow...seriously....you really did just make a thread about mowing the f***in lawn after it rains didnt you?

...you're posting in it.

I just noticed there was a distinct lack of hate mongering in the following posts and thought it deserved some spicy returns.

P.S I didnt see anything about washing feet in hand basins so im not sure why you would even be looking at this thread?

For some reason I thought this thread would be about shaving your pubes after a shower

haha, well feel free to discuss.

i think the conclusion of this thread is that if you wait for it to dry out you're a liberal party-voting, lpg-loving camwhore

Its an easier job when its dry. If you're 12 feet tall and can call on the essence of rage at will this may not be an issue.

If the ground is soggy you can f*** up your nice lawn with tracks etc.

Unless you're going to mulch or something useful with it, don't use a catcher. Let the clippings decompose back into the ground. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to realise that you can't just take endlessly out of the soil in your lawn.

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to realise that you can't just take endlessly out of the soil in your lawn.

interesting. never really thought about that. i guess if you were mowing regularly the clippings would be minimal so no biggie. if however you are lazy like me and mow only when you have to the the amount of clippings would kill off all the grass.

noted.

mowing the lawn after it has rained sucks because its even more humid than usual.

its 100% humid infact.. surprised you don't drown when you're doing it..

hahaha

surely you've got that kid in your neighborhood who drops flyers in your mailbox offering to mow your lawn for like $10 ?
little johnny needs that $10 to buy his pot

I mowed my lawn today as low as I possibly could with a catcher and I mulch, then aerated, fertalized, put gympsum down, re-seeded and topsoiled.

You all sound like a bunch of pussies that need to grow a pair.

you sound like that angry old c*** that cares too much about his lawn

as a mowing pro, i say of course you wait until its dry, do you want to have some half asssed mowed lawn? no you dont.

My lawn is beautiful (but wasn't when I moved in) so you can take my advice.

Only mow when dry for above mentioned reasons but also the grass is limp and just gets pushed over by the blades. Two days later your lawn doesn't look very mown. Grass just magically stands back up.

Always use a catcher. Fallen grass clippings (especially clumps) smother the lawn.

Fertilise once a year around spring time. Water immediately with fertiliser, or preferablly fertilise just before a solid rain. I fertilise in the rain - makes me feel like Peter Cundel.

Airate. I just use a garden fork and a nail rake. Pushing the fork in compresses the adjacent soil, but I just wiggle it around under the roots a bit and away she goes. It's tedious, so usually I focus on the areas that aren't growing well.

Weed. When I'm bored, waiting for a download or something like that, I just go out, beer in hand, and pull out the broad-leaf weeds one by one.

You also put salt on broad-leaf weeds. Kills most of them good. The most common broad-leaf weed anyway, dandelion, is very allergic to NaCl.

nice one pinky!
im rebuilding my lawn atm, after a stack of renos to the house resulted in what was originally there got trashed by work men, fence builders and bob cat drivers

i think all of what you have suggested is good advice, but for grass, its hard to go past rain + sunshine.

after rain in brissy the last couple of days, my grass is going bananas

Electric Mowers aren't bad for small to medium sized yards. You'll never have to buy Mower Fuel again and they are zero maintenance.
The only bitch about them is the cord. Dragging a 240volt Tradesmans Cord through wet grass sounds like fun 8)

Cheers Spook. I forgot to mention I also like to yell at passing kids to get off my nature strip. I sometimes wave a shotgun in the air for good measure.

What grass do you have? I'm lucky enough to have a couple of good mates that are landscapers. For Melb the best grass to put down is either Santa Anna Couch (expensive but awesome and hardy) or Rye. I'm planting Rye myself. Slowly weeding out the Kikuyu and Fescue that is currently here. Buffalo is also popular here but that s*** is ugly.

you guys sound like massive grass nerds (not the cool kind).

pro advice tho. waiting till its sunny also has the added advantage of me not having to do it tomorrow, and you know how i like to put things off.

Minneapolis disagrees with Pinky

Dragging a 240volt Tradesmans Cord through wet grass sounds like fun 8)

It's only dangerous if you've got a damaged cord or you let the plug get full of water.

Buy a flat or a unit......mowing problems solved.

no matter what subject, couple of people always reckon they're pros :(

just dont do it in the rain for major fail


ugh, most uninteresting youtube search ever

Minneapolis disagrees with Pinky

Ahahaha. A council website trying to justify their cost-cutting measures? Hogfather, you should know better :-P Find a legitimate source kthx.

I would not mow after it has rained. I would, however, pay someone else diddly squat to do it.

Pinky:

Leaving grass clippings on the lawn becomes a problem only if they are too thick. If you mow the lawn before it gets overly tall, the mass of the grass clippings will not be sufficient to warrant raking. A good way to obviate having to rake grass clippings is to mow with mulching lawn mowers.

But making the case for using a mulching mower and leaving grass clippings on lawns goes beyond stating that no harm will be done. Leaving the grass clippings where they fall can actually be good for your lawn, your health and your pocketbook! The nutrients provided by the grass clippings allow you to lower your dependence on chemical lawn fertilizers.

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/lawns/f/grass_clippings.htm

Now that's two sources that leaving clippings on the lawn does no damage (if you mow regularly) and returns nutrients to the soil, reducing the need for fertiliser. The second point should be obvious, surely.

A simple GOogle search shows masses of sources saying the same thing. Before you demand anymore from me I think its time for you to back up your own claims.

last edited by Hogfather at 10:17:13 30/Dec/09

Yeah I understand the concept.

I agree that if you mow regularly then do it = small clippings. But who does that. I love my lawn but I'm still doing well to mow it every three weeks. Every month is realistic. I reckon if you leave clippings on you want to be mowing < 2 weeks. Especially in spring.

You are right though, I can only find advice to leave clippings on the lawn - but if it's clumps it kills the lawn. Might pay to at least rake them out a bit.

One site I read the main reason was that grass clippings are 80% water so if you leave them there they return some moisture, which I like. Also, they are 5% Nitrogen, so they can help by fertilising the remaining lawn.

I'm not going to change my habits though, my lawn is fanging along nicely.

This page summed it up the nicest (that I saw)

* Mow the grass often enough so that no more than one-third (about 1 inch) of the vertical height of the grass is cut each time. This leaves a healthy amount of grass cuttings on the lawn and also helps support a healthy root system, which translates into a lawn that is more drought resistant and less needy of water.
* Mow grass when it is dry. Cutting wet grass creates clumps, which can accumulate on the lawn and damage it.
* Keep your lawn mower blade sharp. A dull blade damages grass and increases the possibility that insects and disease will move in.
* If you have extra grass cuttings, spread them in thin layers in vegetable and flower beds or around the base of trees.
* Extra grass cuttings can also be mixed with leaves and used as mulch around shrubs in the fall.
* If you have not yet convinced your neighbors to leave their clippings on their lawn, ask if you can use the grass for mulch or for your compost bin.

A mulching mower cuts grass blades into smaller pieces than does a regular rotor mower, although it is not necessary to use a mulching mower when leaving grass cuttings on the lawn. For more information on lawns and the benefits of grass cuttings, the Virginia Cooperative Extension offers details as well as tips on how to use excess clippings in compost.

in QLD you have to mow every week during summer, it gets out of hand way too quickly

I have a russian guy who does my garden

Yeah I understand the concept.

I agree that if you mow regularly then do it = small clippings. But who does that. I love my lawn but I'm still doing well to mow it every three weeks. Every month is realistic. I reckon if you leave clippings on you want to be mowing < 2 weeks. Especially in spring.

I'm sorry but if you use a roller or push mower;

http://www.mylawnmower.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cylinder-lawn-mower-150x150.jpg

You have lawn.

If you use a rotary mower;

http://www.mylawnmower.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/electric-lawn-mower-223x300.jpg


http://www.thisplace.com.au/priceguide/lawnmowers.htm

Then you have grass.

If you use either but only mow once a month then you have grass not lawn.

HJ, i'm pretty sure you can have a lawn without a cylinder mower. It's just that most don't.
My olds have a 20-years-in-the-making lush cooch lawn that gets mown with a standard victa and it's damn nice.

The bloke down the road has one of those cylinder mowers - it's awesome, so is his lawn... it's like a bowling green :)

I agree that if you mow regularly then do it = small clippings. But who does that. I love my lawn but I'm still doing well to mow it every three weeks. Every month is realistic. I reckon if you leave clippings on you want to be mowing < 2 weeks. Especially in spring.

You aerate, weed and fertilise your lawn (as well as collect clippings) and then make remarks about bothering to mowing more regularly than every 2 weeks?

I mow every Sunday as required. By keeping it down its a heaps quick job and the grass is healthy and deals with the weeds itself because it is strong and doesn't put up with competition.

I never fertilise or aerate or any of that old man gardening bulls***, my lawn care is a 20 minute per week / fortnight exercise, I'm a lazy c*** so trust me I don't work harder at it than bare minimum.

I just mow the lawn regularly and water the garden as needed and its f***ing lush. I guess you might need to work at it a bit harder because Brisbane is a desert but that's your fault for living in a desert.

last edited by Hogfather at 15:54:32 30/Dec/09

pssst, he lives in melbourne.

cairns needs to collectively mow its yard

so many over grown places!

Melbourne is a desert too. Same theory applies.

Yeh its a s***ty time of year for yard work up here, heading in to the wet season so periodic massive rainfall between disgustingly sunny weather, its like steroids for grass.

Reasons to pick up clippings:

You're lazy and mow every 4-6+ weeks when its heaps long.

You like your lawn to look picture perfect after its mowed. Stop being gay.

You have bad informations.

last edited by Hogfather at 15:58:22 30/Dec/09

thought you'd all like to know that i was able to mow the lawn today, and it worked fine. looks quite sex.

Mowing the lawn during or after rain is major fail. That is all.

yeah even if it rains in the evening or overnight generally you don't need to wait longer than until the next afternoon (less than 24hrs) and it'll be fine.

unless its a cricket pitch who gives a s*** when you mow it?

or buy a better non blunt blade for your mower.

my lawn was fairly overgrown so being sunny most of the day I thought I'd mow it (6pm....dumb idea). It was still fairly wet at the bottom and clogged my mower......that'll learn me for leaving it so long.

You aerate, weed and fertilise your lawn (as well as collect clippings) and then make remarks about bothering to mowing more regularly than every 2 weeks?

Correct.

You missed the rhetorical nature of that question?

You missed the rhetorical nature of that question?

Sarcasm and rhetoric are constantly overlooked on the intarwebs in my opinion.

oh s***:
gigantic internet brains standoff

You hurt my feelings Spooky.

Hahaha. I must admit, I'm a bit hurt inside too.