With the February weather proving changeable with sunshine one minute and showers the next, you'd be forgiven for having no idea when is the best time to start getting stuck into your garden again.
One of the trickiest things to perfect can be the humble lawn, which can need weekly attention during the warmest months of the year. No-one wants to be left with a muddy and patchy garden after being too premature with the lawn mower, but as the grass starts to grow we can be left scratching our heads over when to cut it - luckily though, gardening experts have the answer.
According to the RHS, your lawn should "generally" be mowed weekly or fortnightly between March and October - and most experts seem to agree that March is the right time to start cutting your grass, though this will depend on the weather conditions at the time. The RHS warns to "never mow" if the ground conditions are very soft, wet or frozen, or during spells of cold winds.
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According to a survey from the Woodland Trust, the average date that people in the UK first mow their lawns is March 18. The Woodland Trust reiterates that March is generally the right time to start cutting your grass again, but again this could change if the weather where you live isn't suitable when the time comes.
BBC's Gardeners' World says that mowing is "the key to a healthy lawn", because each cut encourages the grass to grow more thickly as well as blocking out weeds. They add that lawns generally need cutting less frequently in early spring - once a fortnight will do until the weather warms up - as it grows more slowly until late spring when a weekly mow may be needed.
The Woodland Trust advises cutting your grass later on in the day, to give any frost or dew a chance to clear up - cutting dry grass yields best results. They also suggest taking just less than a third of the height off the grass when you mow, as cutting too close could make your lawn more susceptible to bare patches.
Before you mow, you should make sure to check your grass for any animals that could be hiding, such as hedgehogs, to avoid harming them with your lawn mower. Or alternatively, the Woodland Trust suggests, you could leave some grassy parts of your garden to grow longer to help out local wildlife.
The RHS also supports this idea, suggesting that flower-rich lawns or wildflower meadows can be left uncut through the spring to support pollinators like bees and butterflies. The society promotes No Mow May - encouraging people to simply stop mowing all or a section of their gardens in early May to let wild plants grow and flower.
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