Lawn looking ragged, brown-tipped or stressed right after mowing? The cause is usually dull blades, cutting too short, or mowing wet grass. Here's how to fix it.
A mildly scalped lawn where green tissue is still present will recover in 7 to 14 days in spring or early fall growing conditions. Severely scalped areas where crown tissue was damaged may take 3 to 6 weeks or require overseeding if the crowns were killed. Stop mowing the affected area until it reaches 4 inches, water consistently, and apply a light nitrogen feed to accelerate recovery.
This is the classic dull blade symptom. A torn blade tip looks normal immediately after the cut because the wound is fresh. Over the next 12 to 24 hours, the damaged tissue at the torn tip browns and dies. When this happens to thousands of blades simultaneously, the overall lawn takes on a brown haze. Sharpen or replace your mower blade — this problem disappears immediately with a sharp blade.
For most Toronto lawns, mulching clippings back is better — clippings return nitrogen to the soil equivalent to one fertilizer application per season and reduce moisture loss. The exception is when you are mowing wet grass, where clippings clump and smother, or when you have a disease outbreak where mulching spreads fungal spores. Trim Gym mulches on every visit.