Although you could mow the lawn after it has rained, there is a risk of uneven cutting and damage to the grass surface. Nevertheless, the grass requires regular care, which sometimes has to be done when it is wet. If you are going to use a lawn mower after it has rained, it is advisable to wait until the grass dries. However, weather conditions could sometimes thwart plans, making confrontation with wet lawns inevitable. In such cases, you need to adjust your lawn mowing to perform optimally in wet conditions. Here is some useful information and tips that can help you with that.
What can happen when you mow the lawn after rain and when the grass is wet?
When mowing on damp or wet grass, the risks described above could be significant. In some situations, therefore, the operation requires some precautions, the ideal conditions being in dry and cloudy weather. The mornings are best, when the dew has evaporated and the summer sun has not yet reached its full strength over the lawn. However, the weather does not always coincide with mowing times, and heavy rain can sometimes complicate the situation just before mowing the lawn. It might be tempting for inexperienced gardeners to just continue mowing, but there are a few factors to consider when doing so.
Although the occasional mowing of dewy grass is not a problem, operating the mower when mowing the lawn after it has rained puts the unit at risk. In addition, wet operation could adversely affect the mower blades and significantly reduce the life of the mower. If your lawn is sloping and you want to mow it, a self-propelled lawn mower could make the job easier. However, there remains a risk when the ground or grass is wet.
Should you also slip while mowing the lawn, you may dig up the surface layer of grass with your shoes. In such cases, you may need to seed new grass to prevent bare patches or bumps in the lawn. If the lawn is uneven or the cutting height is very low, it can quickly happen that the grass is accidentally dug up in some places when it is wet. If you still want to mow wet grass, you would have to set the cutting height to at least 35 mm.
Why shouldn’t you mow the lawn when it’s wet?
Gentle mowing of wet lawns depends not only on the weather conditions, but also on the type of grass. Furthermore, the lawnmower used for it, as well as the length of the grass and the type of terrain also play a decisive role. In general, wet grass is more difficult to mow because the weight of the water makes it difficult to mow evenly. Even the most powerful mower will clog up with wet grass underneath and will be very difficult to clean. As a result, it can happen that the mower does not catch the grass in the basket as usual, but throws it around again. It can also lead to loamy soil or soil compaction under the lawn when it is wet.
In addition, the mowing blades will not snag a wet grass and tend to tear it up rather than creating a clean cut. Such damage can also make the lawn more susceptible to fungal infections. This can also kill the underlying grass, leaving brown spots and allowing competing weeds to spread. Another reason you shouldn’t mow your lawn after it rains is that it can leave permanent ruts. Using an electric mower also poses some risk of electrocution in wet conditions, although this is a rare occurrence. If you have to do this anyway, you can take the following steps to prevent possible risks.
How to mow the lawn after rain without causing damage?
If the grass is wet you should mow slower than usual as the mower blades have to work harder to cut when it is wet. Therefore, try to move the mower at 50% slower speed than usual and repeat the process several times if necessary. In addition, after rain it is advisable to move in half a row over the grassy area. After mowing the first row, push the mower just half an interval so it drives through a row that is half cut and half uncut grass. This will make work more efficient when you need to mow lawn after rain. Here are some more actions to take:
Try to start mowing at the edges of your lawn and work your way inward. This will prevent the mowing blades from being overloaded. The whole process would likely require multiple mowings. Therefore, you should mow in many directions, as long and wet grass often lies on the ground and makes mowing much more difficult. Also, try moving in horizontal and vertical trajectories to ensure you get the results you want. If the lawn is tall and overgrown, this also complicates the wet operation. It is therefore advisable to mow more regularly during the rainy season. For example, if you have been doing this once a week up to this point, you should mow the lawn every 4-5 days during rainy periods. Finally, you should never mow the lawn when it’s still raining outside. Although there are modern mowers these days, you should keep a conventional lawnmower out of rainy conditions, otherwise the engine will be damaged. As already mentioned, there is also a risk of slipping, especially when working on uneven or sloping terrain.
Alternatively, can a grass trimmer be used when it is wet?
Although not recommended either, you can use a lawn trimmer to trim wet grass in your yard. This will shape your lawn, but care must be taken when doing this. Depending on your preferences and needs, you can choose between devices that run on petrol, electricity or batteries. However, for safety reasons, it would be wise to only use a petrol powered trimmer on waterlogged lawns.
As with mowers, using an electric model is not desirable due to the risk of electric shock. This is especially true when the unit has a low mounted motor, as is the case in the watershed. This allows you to provoke a short circuit. It is also not recommended to use an overhead motor electric trimmer when it is raining outside. In this case, there is a risk of water getting inside the power unit, which not only can disable it, but also pose a hazard to the operator.