Having a healthy and thriving lawn brings you many benefits throughout spring and summer. However, if you’re worried about lawn diseases like Red Thread and Dollar Spot, we have some techniques for you to follow so you minimise the risks of them occurring in your lawn.
How lawn diseases inhibit your lawn
Most lawn diseases are spread through a fungus that attacks your lawn and deprives the grass (and other lawn plants like clover) of nutrients. Potassium, Nitrogen and Phosphorus are the main nutrients plants need, and if they’re not receiving any of them in sufficient amounts, then your lawn will suffer.
Of all the diseases that can attack your lawn, Red Thread is the most common. Other common lawn diseases include:
- Leaf Spot
- Dollar Spot
- Snow Mould
- Rust
- Fusarium Patch
Mowing practices to help prevent lawn disease
Your lawn can suffer from a lawn disease at any time of year, as some diseases thrive in different conditions. For example, Dollar Spot is a common disease that attacks your lawn in spring, whereas Red Thread can occur at any time of year, but it thrives the most in late summer and into autumn.
However, there are mowing practices that you can do to help minimise the spread of lawn diseases during the growing season:
1. Mow at the right height
You should set your cordless mower height setting so that it cuts no more than ⅓ off the height of the grass. This is because leaving a good portion of the plant intact means it still holds enough energy to fight any potential infection. If you cut the grass too short with your cordless lawn mower, the grass is more susceptible to disease and struggles to fight it.
2. Remove grass clippings
Whilst it’s true that leaving your grass cuttings on your lawn will act as a natural fertiliser to aid grass growth, we advise removing them if you’re concerned about spreading lawn diseases.
By leaving grass clippings on the surface of your lawn, you risk spreading any diseased areas that you may not have spotted to other parts of your lawn.
Instead, a great way to use the grass clippings is to compost them. They’re packed full of nitrogen, and because the mower blades mulch them already, they’ll decompose quickly, too.
The high temperatures generated during composting kill harmful bacteria and spores. This means that once you spread the compost on your lawn, you will have the same nutritional benefits as mulching without the risk of spreading disease.
3. Keep your lawn mower for personal use
Although your lawn may be lush, green, and healthy, others' lawns could be affected by diseases. If you lend them your lawn mower, you risk transferring fungal spores and bacteria from these diseases to your own turf, especially if they give it back unwashed.
While it is helpful, you should avoid lending your lawn mower if you don’t want to run the risk, and if you do, make sure you wash it thoroughly before you use it on your lawn.
4. Clean your cordless lawn mower after use
Fungal spores can still linger on your mower after use. The grass clippings which stick to the underside of your cutting deck and other parts of your lawn mower provide good conditions for lawn diseases to thrive. If you don’t wash your cordless lawn mower, you risk transferring the spores to your lawn when you next come to mow it.
For some general guidance on how to clean your lawn mower, follow these steps:
- Move your lawn mower to an area away from your lawn.
- Attach a hosepipe with an end connector to the wash port, which is usually located on the mower deck.
- Start your lawn mower and engage the blades. Adjust the cutting speed setting of the lawn mower to the highest setting.
- Turn on the tap and flush water under the deck for 1 minute or so.
- After 1 minute has passed, stop the mower.
- Wash the rest of the mower with running water from the hosepipe. If any grass clippings remain, use a soft-bristled brush to scrub and gently unstick them.
- Give your lawn mower another once-over with the hose pipe.
- Turn off the tap and remove the coupler and hose from the wash port.
What if there is no wash port?
Not every mower has a wash port. EGO battery lawn mowers have been designed to be user-friendly when it comes to maintenance.
To clean your EGO cordless mower, make sure the mower is off and remove the batteries. Using a hose pipe, wash off the excess grass clippings with running water. For any which are stubborn to remove, use a soft-bristled brush to gently scrub free any stuck grass clippings, before washing the area again with running water.
What are the benefits of a healthy lawn?
Having a healthy and thriving lawn brings benefits to both the environment and your lifestyle:
- Improved air quality - A healthy lawn helps to clean the air by trapping particles like dust and dirt between the grass.
- Reduced noise pollution - EGO cordless garden tools aren’t the only things in your garden that help to reduce noise pollution. Grassy lawns absorb sound better than hard surfaces like concrete and tarmac.
- Reduced flooding - Lawns absorb rainwater much better than hard surfaces, which minimises the risk of flooding.
- Increase in property value - A healthy and thriving lawn makes your property look more attractive and thus increases its value.
- Carbon absorption - Lawns absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which reduces your carbon footprint.
Caring for your cordless lawn mower
All EGO mowers come with a manual that details how you can properly maintain your battery lawn mower. You can also find and download a manual for your EGO tool from the bottom of any of our product pages.
Our battery lawn mowers also come with at least a 5-year warranty for domestic use. However, this doesn’t cover faults caused by improper storage. This is all the more reason to maintain your mower in accordance with our manuals and have it serviced regularly by your local dealer.