Lawn mowing

[Dave2002]

Is it now time to give up mowing the lawns for winter?

[Richard Tarleton]

Is it now time to give up mowing the lawns for winter?

I use the lawn mower to pick up leaves - we're surrounded by trees..... The grass is still growing, just - I switch to a higher cut at this time of year.

[Jonathan]

I think the cut off point for grass growing is 6degC so I assume as we're not quite that cold yet, it can still be cut. I've not had a chance to cut ours for weeks as every time I was ready to do so, it rained!

[Dave2002]

I've just sent ours out on a mission, though it didn't seem to know about the clock change. I might have to get the petrol one out if there are some dry days, to pick up the leaves - we also have trees. It is raining.

[oddoneout]

I find the limiting factor at this time of year is the grass not being dry enough for my little mower to cope. With the sun being low and the days short the baleful effect of the neighbour's trees are very apparent - leaves dropping, shade preventing drying, but the grass still growing. I will still try to find a 'least bad' day to cut it(high blades obviously) since leaving it tufty long over winter is not good; the sward is such poor quality it doesn't get away well after drought, winter etc. The leaves being collected at the same time - and chopped for quicker decomposition - is a bonus, but my neighbour's semi evergreen buddleia trees just keep dropping all year round so the illusion of a lawn is very temporary.

[doversoul1]

We have given up mowing the back garden for sometime and now use a strimmer. The front still needs mowing. I caught a nice dry day last week but the ground was very soft and uneven which made it hard to push the mower (petrol run) even with the second highest setting. I used to leave the patch of primroses uncut but they have spread so much now that I run the mower over them and hope for the best that some will come back in spring.

[gradus]

I keep cutting until it stops growing. We have a soakaway system under the largest area and it keeps the grass lush and thick.

[jayne lee wilson]

I left the garden wild, no lawn mowing (beyond me now, gardeners seem to have disappeared..as they do...one of them opened a bakery, so..warmer work....) since about June.....
Wild flowers: amazing......
...unlike with birds, I'm not so hot on ID despite various guides.... but in October some large yellow ones, with thick green stems, came out in the very middle, near the towering Wild Rose...

Still there despite all the rain...Like sunflowers but I'm not sure.... very welcome to all the creatures that dwell...
As for leaves....apres le deluge comes another deluge....... in denial, I think....but too wet to move yet, so...

The long mis-described "front lawn", on the dark side of the house-moon and under the shadowy galaxy of trees, goes to moss after any relaying, so... it looks better green (wet) rather than brown (Pheasants and Magpies rake away, Squirrels bury their treasure, scattering beech-husks.....)

[oddoneout]

We have given up mowing the back garden for sometime and now use a strimmer. The front still needs mowing. I caught a nice dry day last week but the ground was very soft and uneven which made it hard to push the mower (petrol run) even with the second highest setting. I used to leave the patch of primroses uncut but they have spread so much now that I run the mower over them and hope for the best that some will come back in spring.

Primroses are quite resilient plants and provided the flower buds aren't chopped off you should still have a show in due course. I cut back the foliage in late spring as a matter of course and the plants largely go dormant through the summer and then spring into life come cooler damper autumn. Many start flowering as well and will continue off and on through the winter - usually one of the flowers to pick on Christmas Day.

[oddoneout]

I left the garden wild, no lawn mowing (beyond me now, gardeners seem to have disappeared..as they do...one of them opened a bakery, so..warmer work....) since about June.....
Wild flowers: amazing......
...unlike with birds, I'm not so hot on ID despite various guides.... but in October some large yellow ones, with thick green stems, came out in the very middle, near the towering Wild Rose...

Still there despite all the rain...Like sunflowers but I'm not sure.... very welcome to all the creatures that dwell...
As for leaves....apres le deluge comes another deluge....... in denial, I think....but too wet to move yet, so...

The long mis-described "front lawn", on the dark side of the house-moon and under the shadowy galaxy of trees, goes to moss after any relaying, so... it looks better green (wet) rather than brown (Pheasants and Magpies rake away, Squirrels bury their treasure, scattering beech-husks.....)

Might be sunflowers - bird feeders and wildlife can spring surprises!

[doversoul1]

Might be sunflowers - bird feeders and wildlife can spring surprises!

I found a few buckwheat plants growing by the bird table a few years ago. I let them mature and cut them to add to the bunch of dried grass I’d collected.

[Old Grumpy]

Might be sunflowers - bird feeders and wildlife can spring surprises!

Like these, perhaps...

OG

[ardcarp]

I love the way it advises against putting them on the bonfire. Kill-joy. Could be quite a jolly Guy Fawkes night methinks.

Back to mowing. Given the torrential rain we've just had in the Soutwest, I think it's time to give the mower its winter service and put it to bed. Leaving grass a bit longer over the winter seems a good idea to me anyway. I suppose the cut-off date (ho ho) probably depends on where you live and how the season is panning out.

[Old Grumpy]

I've given up the idea of another cut. I was away two weeks in mid October and have not had a chance since. Cutting the lawn in November is a no-no.

Mower is off for annual service as soon as. My dealer gives a discount if done before end of December.

OG

[Quarky]

Mower is off for annual service as soon as. My dealer gives a discount if done before end of December.

OG

Fortunately, the recent "dry spell" coincided with a full recovery in a back injury, so I was able to pull the mechanical starter cord without risk; the lawn hadn't been mowed since June.

I am the proud possessor of two petrol mowers, both ancient and equally decrepit, neither of which have ever been serviced. The preferred mower is a Flymo Lawnchief, which is so old, replacement parts are impossible to find, even on ebay. It has been patched up from time to time, but recently I broke the plastic throttle control lever. I was able to substitute a piece of Al strip with some Heath Robinson metal work, and a mechanical G clamp to hold the housing parts together.

Hopefully it will last another season or two. If not I will have to get to work on the second mower, which hasn't been used for 20 years!