Your mower blades may be hurting your lawn.

​Lawn mowers are very simple machines, an engine (electric in the case of Del Sol Lawn Care), spins a blade at about 3,000 rpm. This blade cuts the grass that goes under it to a specified height. One piece of maintenance that goes neglected in both the commercial and residential world of lawn mowing is sharpening that blade.  

The difference between a sharp and dull blade is easy to detect. The easiest way to tell the sharpness of your blade is to physically inspect it.  Verify that the mower is turned off, and remove the battery, or the spark plug wire before starting this procedure. Prop the mower up and look for pitting and chipping on the edge of the blade, this is a sure fire indicator of a dull blade. Further feel the blade, it should be sharper than a kitchen butterknife.  Alternatively, we favor a different approach. After cutting a swath of grass, get in close and investigate the cut quality. The cut should be square and smooth, with limited fraying or excess marks on the grass. In the picture from Rain Makers, exhibit A is a clean cut from a sharp blade, B, C, and D are all examples of dull blades damaging your grass.

The problem of dull blades is two fold. Primarily the grass will become stressed and prone to infestation. Additionally the grass tips will brown, ruining the lush green you’ve been managing for. The second issue of dull blades is the excess stress on you and your equipment. It takes more effort to slice through grass when the blade is dull and damaged. This makes your mower work harder, and forces you to mow slower. 

A sharp blade may be the difference between a green lawn and a browned lawn. If you find your blade is dull, take the mower to a local shop to sharpen and tune it up. Or if you’re feeling handy, tackle the project yourself with a fairly basic set of tools.

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