Is Rain Good for Freshly Cut Grass
Whether lawn mowing is your hobby, or simply a chore as a homeowner, the appropriate lawn care will help your grass become strong and healthy. There’s nothing quite like the smell and look of fresh-cut grass. You have just cut the grass, and it begins to rain. Is rain good for freshly cut grass? Let’s check out how rain impacts freshly mown grass.
Is Rain Good for Freshly Cut Grass?
You have just finished mowing your lawn, and it begins to rain. You might be concerned as to whether or not this is good for your freshly cut grass, or if it’s going to hurt the recently cut grass blades.
In short, don’t worry about your freshly cut grass getting fresh fallen rain on your lawn. In fact, a little light rain will help your grass grow, and produce a healthy lawn. You might even notice that your grass begins to green up after rain, especially spring rain, when your grass is able to absorb fresh nitrogen, making it luscious and green.
The amount of water that your freshly cut grass receives is not a big deal under normal conditions. It’s okay if your freshly cut grass receives heavy rain. Too much rain could cause other problems for your lawn but is not likely to hurt your freshly cut grass.
Even the king’s rule, says that rain upon freshly cut grass will likely cause new grass to grow. (Source)
If you have a choice, it’s always a good idea to mow before a rainstorm, then there is no need to worry about the freshly cut grass receiving rain. Cutting dry grass is the right way to take care of your lawn properly.
The main reason why you might be confused about fresh cut grass receiving too much water, or a little late rain is actually due to the concern of a wet lawn being mowed.
There are several different reasons why rain is good for freshly cut grass. For one, it will help your clippings absorb into the ground and decompose. Plus it will encourage new growth on your grass, making it healthy. The nitrogen from the rain is also more likely to absorb in your freshly cut grass making your lawn beautiful and luscious.
Should You Mow Right Before it Rains?
The best grass to mow is definitely dry grass. Your dry lawn will enable the grass blade to be cut much more evenly, and also encourage grass growth. For a beautiful healthy lawn, all of you lawn enthusiasts out there will want to strive to mow your grass while it is still dry.
But why didn’t you know that a large storm is coming, or can even see it on the horizon. Is it a good idea to mow your grass right before it rains? The best rule of thumb is to cut your grass when it is dry, you did not want to mow the grass when it’s wet, or covered in dew. So, yes an answer to the question, you should mow the lawn before it rains.
Of course, let’s point out that you should not be outside, on a lawnmower, in a thunderstorm. If you can’t get the grass completely mowed before it begins to rain, you may want to reconsider running right out to mow the grass as a thunderstorm is coming.
Why You Should Not Mow After Rain
If you should mow before it rains, can you also mow the yard after it rains? Let’s explore why you should not mow the grass after it rains, while the ground is still wet.
Wet Grass Clippings
When your grass is dry, and you mow it, most of the time, the grass clippings will sink down into the grass, and serve as nutrients for the grass as it decomposes. However, when you mow wet grass, the wet grass clumps into ugly bumps of grass clippings across your lawn. Clumps of wet grass can carry fungal diseases, and they just don’t look very pretty all strewn up on your lawn.
Wet grass clumps can be a pain to get rid of, and also detract from the appearance of your freshly mowed yard. Not only do wet clippings distract from the appearance of your yard, and are hard to get rid of, but they can also clump up underneath your mower deck, and cause difficulty for your mower as it tries to run. You may have to get underneath the mower and scrape off the grass clippings to remove them from the mower deck.
Mower Wheels
If you try to mow after it rains, the ground is soggy, when you try to mow on soggy ground, the mower wheels are likely to slip and slide across your grass. Another thing you might encounter is that the mower wheels create ruts in your yard, which are difficult to remove. The risk of rut damage to a lawn can be of concern, especially for lawns that have wet soil in addition to wet grass.
Lawn Mower Blades
Another thing to keep in mind when considering mowing the grass after it rains, or when the grass is still wet, is what it will do to the mower blades. It is often thought they could dull the mower blades, although this is not highly likely.
Even though it may not make dull blades on your mower, it will cause other trouble for the lawn mower’s blades. As I mentioned above, cutting wet grass will cause the grass clippings to clump, even with very sharp blades. This clumping can have an impact on the lawnmower blades as well, although air-tapered decks on lawnmowers can help it to not clump as much.
The clumping not only takes place on your lawn but also underneath the mower deck. When the grass clumps underneath the mower deck, it could cause the lawnmower blades to have to work harder to turn, causing the motor of your lawnmower to struggle just to turn the blades.
Uneven Cutting
Next mowing wet grass also impacts the cut of your grass. When the grass is dry, your blades will be able to make a much neater cleaner cut to the grass. When the grass is wet, you will likely end up with an uneven cutting to your mowing job because the wet grass bends more, especially if you are using dull mower blades, which makes it harder to get a nice even cut.
What is the best time of day to mow your grass?
Considering that it’s not ideal to mow the grass when it is wet, such as after rain, or even when the grass still has dew on it, what is the best time of day to mow the grass? In the early morning, most locations will have a mild morning dew on the grass. Some days, the dew may be heavier than others, and the amount of dew can vary by your location.
By early to mid-afternoon the grass has dried out and you likely have dry soil, but the sun is at its hottest point, and during summer months, it’s not always fun to be outside in the hottest part of the day. Of course, there is always late afternoon, and early evening before you run into dew falling onto the grass once more.
The best time of day to mow the grass is after it has completed the drying process. If the grass is dried out, the best time of day to mow the yard is in the middle morning hours.
However, not all lawns are dry by mid-morning. If you are unable to mow the lawn during mid-morning hours, another great alternative is to mow in the late afternoon to early evening hours. This would be after the heat of the day has passed, and after the grass has dried.
Gas and Electric Lawn mower
There are two main types of lawn mowers, those are your traditional gas-powered mower and an electric lawnmower. There are a few types of electric mowers on the market, you might find a corded electric mower or a battery-powered electric mower.
Gas mowers tend to have more power than electric mowers, and stronger engines. Since we are talking about mowing the yard in the rain, after it has rained, or right before it rains, it’s important to point out that although very small, there is a slight risk of electric shock when mowing with an electric mower in the rain.
There are pros and cons to both of these types of lawnmowers depending on your specific situation. Now, let’s turn on attention to a few quick tips about mowing your lawn.
Mowing Tips:
Different Directions. As you know, it’s a great idea to mix up the directions that the lawn is mowed. Or put it on a rotation, so that each time you mow, it’s different from the last. This helps the grass as you cut it, and the lawn as the grass grows.
Top one-third of each grass blade. When mowing the lawn, the ideal height for the lawnmower is so that it cuts 1/3 of each grass blade, this is mean it’s cutting just the tip of each blade. This is why it’s important to mow often if your grass grows quickly, so that you’re not trying to cut too much at a time, and could potentially shock the lawn by scalping it.
Drought Conditions. If your yard has not been rained on recently, or if you are experiencing drought conditions, it’s a good idea to hold off mowing the yard for a little while. This will help it to retain the moisture it has.
Fresh Cut Grass
There is nothing like a freshly cut lawn. It smells so good and looks so beautiful it’s hard not to stand back and admire it. But is rain good for freshly cut grass? The answer is that yes rain is very good for freshly cut grass, as it helps the grass to grow, and become strong and healthy. To help your lawn grow to its peak condition, mowing the grass before it rains is a great plan.
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