How to mow an overgrown lawn?

danielrvo

Good morning. I bought at Bunnings Croydon a Ryobi cordless lawn mower 18V 37cm and I was wondering if I can use it to mow my backyard. It’s a very small backyard (attaching an image) but the lawn is tall and I’m not sure if there’s a specific setting to use with my mower and avoid damaging it. Or perhaps I can’t use this mower and I need to call a gardener? Thank you!

The lawn is between 15-20 cms tall.

Daniel

JacobZ

Hi @danielrvo,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is wonderful to have you with us.

As a general rule, lawns only like about one third of their height removed at a time. Cutting too much at once won’t kill the grass, but it can stress it out quite a bit and can also make the mower work much harder than necessary.

Your Ryobi 18V mower should be perfectly capable of handling your grass, but you’ll want to bring it down gradually rather than trying to cut it all in one pass.

I’d recommend starting with the mower on its highest cutting height and doing an initial pass first. You can usually lower it another step and mow again on the same day if needed, particularly if the grass is healthy and dry. I probably wouldn’t take it all the way down to your final height in one session though. Bringing it down over two or three mows spaced a few days apart will be gentler on both the lawn and the mower.

As the grass is especially thick, you may also find it helps to go a little slower and empty the catcher more frequently.

There's a good chance this will shock the grass, and it will discolour, but don't fret, it will bounce back. In future, more regular mowing will be the solution to keep your grass at a reasonable height and looking healthy.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob