Moving an old-fashioned push mower across your yard is stressful on your body, especially in the event that you have a large grassy area. A riding mower is a smart choice to keep your grass to a consistent basis. If you put in new sod, however, you need to refrain from utilizing the riding mower before the grass is strong enough to defy the machine’s weight and cutting activity.

Preparing the Website

Every turfgrass has varying growing times, involving several weeks to a few months, but you have to wait until the grass is between 3 and 4 inches tall before trying to cut it with any mower, including a riding model. Now, your new sod is well-established from the soil to avoid accidental removal through a cautious mowing session. If you are watering the new sod consistently based on the particular grass species requires, then you need to allow the blades to dry for 2 days before any cutting activity. Dry grass blades have a cleaner cut with the mower’s blades when compared with wet grass, which easily clumps and bends.

Riding Mower Maintenance

Prior to mowing the brand new sod, evaluate your riding mower’s blades. You need to use newly sharpened blades on the sod for the healthiest cut. Dull blades from repeated usage simply split at the grass; the blades literally rip apart. As a result of this damage, disease and insects invade the grass and cause extensive harm to the sensitive sod seedlings. In fact, the entire sod ecosystem may succumb to dieback and lifeless patches throughout the yard with a poorly maintained mower. If you’re not comfortable sharpening your mower blades, have an expert evaluate your riding mower to keep your new sod’s healthy blades.

Initial Mowing Session

With sharpened blades, you need to ride your mower slowly across the brand new sod. Avoid rapid turns in management so that sensitive sod corners are not accidentally pulled from the soil; some sod origins may continue to be weak within the soil. Although the grass is tall, just cut about one-third of the blade’s length off during the first mowing session. Cutting this little fraction off reduces the strain on the seedlings as they continue to set themselves in the grass.

Subsequent Mowing Action

Because your brand new sod has such a tall height, you need to mow the grass after several days elapse; follow the one-third cutting limit through each mowing session for the best lawn results. Moreover, your mowing activity has to be in a different direction for every subsequent session so that the grass blades don’t lean to one side exclusively. Mowing in varied directions enables the grass to stand tall and cut cleanly for a wholesome look.

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