Have you ever looked closely at a lawn mowed using a rotary mower, especially a day or two after mowing?  You will see a brown haze to the surface of the lawn and a closer look will easily show the splintered and shattered tips of each blade of grass that has died back an 1/8 of an inch or so, victim to the brutal bashing from the rotary mower blade.

This is bad for several different reasons.  The first and simplest is the appearance, it just doesn’t look as green as it should or could.  You will not see this brown haze color on professional high quality grass stands like golf courses or athletic fields.  This is because there is no trauma or damage caused by a rotary mower, and we are talking about grass mowed at very short heights. You can achieve the same professional results at home and eliminate the brown shade on the surface by mowing your own lawn with a reel mower.

Secondly, all this damage on the tips of each blade opens up millions of damaged sites for disease to enter the grass plant and affect your entire lawn.  It is the equivalent of humans having a compromised immune system and being more susceptible to colds and flu germs…

Conversely, a grass blade scissored off with a reel mower has none of this damage on the tips, just a perfectly clean cut that does not open the door for excessive disease pressure.  Grass cut using a reel mower requires less energy from the plant itself to heal the damage, cutting down on fertilizer, water requirements, weed control, and disease control.

You may remember that I stated in HOC discussions that the best defense against weeds is a strong stand of grass.  All are good side benefits for the environment, and for your wallet and your time.  Take the time you spend dragging the sprinkler around the yard and pushing the spreader back and forth and use it to put an extra reel mower cut on your lawn each week.  It will be time well spent and it won’t cost you any money.