Mowing your lawn right after it rains in North Carolina is a recipe for disaster for several reasons. Grass and soil are physically affected by water and will react to mowing differently when wet than when dry. Grass becomes sticky when wet and can clog various parts of your mower. The soil also becomes soft when it's wet and pushing a mower over it can cause ruts. Rain can also cause grass blades to become heavy with moisture and lean forward, ultimately leading to an unclean cut or rips if mowed. Mowing your lawn right after it rains also creates a higher risk of spreading fungal disease. Waiting for your lawn to dry before mowing is the best way to prevent damage to both your lawn and your mower!

1. Mowing right after it rains can clog up your mower.

Lawn mower in Greensboro, NC, that's clogged with grass.

When grass is wet, the texture of it changes. It becomes heavy and sticky, which causes it to clump. If you mow your lawn when the grass is still wet, it can clump together inside your mower, causing a clog in the discharge chute or mower deck. A clog in the discharge chute will require immediate maintenance as this can lead to engine failure. A clog in the mower deck will require tedious cleaning to ensure all of the grass is removed. Waiting until your lawn is dry will reduce the risk of clogging your mower.

2. Pushing a mower over a wet lawn can cause ruts in your soil.

When soil is wet, it becomes soft, which is a big reason why you shouldn't mow your lawn right after it rains. If you mow your lawn while it's in this condition, the weight of the mower can cause it to sink down into the soil, resulting in ruts. Not only will this drag down the beauty of your lawn, but also compact the soil, resulting in stunted grass growth. When the soil is dry, it will be more stable and less vulnerable to ruts, which is why you should wait for your lawn to dry before mowing!

3. Grass blades won't cut cleanly and can rip if mowed when wet.

As grass absorbs moisture from the rain, the blades will get heavy. The weight of the moisture will cause them to become more fragile and lean or bend forward. When you mow grass that's not in its normal upright position, you risk an unclean cut. This could also cause the fragile blades to be ripped out of your lawn completely.

Dry grass is light and holds its straight posture, reducing the chance of tearing or ripping when mowed.

4. When mowing wet grass, you risk spreading fungal disease.

Fungal diseases, including brown patch and dollar spot, thrive in high humidity or moisture. Heavy rainfall can increase the possibility of fungal disease on your lawn and mowing your lawn when the grass is still wet increases the risk of spreading it. Fungal disease can easily spread through lawn equipment. If one section of your lawn is infected and you mow when the grass is still wet, you could spread the disease to other areas of your lawn. Mowing your lawn when the grass is dry will reduce the likelihood of this happening.

Contact us today to schedule our full-service landscape maintenance program.

At Ideal Landscaping & Irrigation, we include lawn mowing as part of our full-service landscape maintenance program. When we come out to mow your lawn, we will always follow best practices, including not mowing your lawn right after it rains, to ensure that we do the job right without jeopardizing the health of your grass! We offer this service to commercial and residential properties, as well as HOAs, in Greensboro, NC, and other surrounding areas, such as Winston-Salem, Summerfield, and Oak Ridge. Contact us today at (336) 396-9191 to sign up.