Here is volume three examining basic mistakes made in landscape maintenance. Learning from other people’s mistakes is much easier. It speeds up our progress. And to become landscape professionals we must progress. That’s mandatory.
A) Re-fuelling like pigs
Sure, accidents can happen. But unnecessary fuel spills cost money, they pollute the environment and they look awful. Imagine if you park your truck in the same spot once a week. It becomes an eye-sore and a potential source of complaints.
Gas up on tarps. (Stay away from grass as it burns and turns yellow.)
B) Don’t leave deep edging chunks behind
Proper deep edging requires a 90 degree edge. Nothing else will do. As you deep edge you will most likely generate some turf chunks. When you clean up, remove all chunks. Finesse the bed like a pro.
Inadequate clean-up; note weeds and chunks
Much better!
C) Mower collisions with trees
This is horrific. One collision may be fine. The tree will be forced to spend precious resources on fixing the damage, instead of on growing. Repeated collisions will kill the tree as water flow is interrupted. Keep your mowers away from trees. Period. Put up tree guards.
A tight fit. To stay on the curb, the mower deck collides with tree bark. Weekly!?
D) Stepping on frosty lawns
If you can help it, stay off frosty lawns. When the lawn is frosty, the grass blades have little oxygen and water inside. That means they can not bounce back the way they do in summer. They get crushed.
Stay off frosty lawns if possible
With little water and oxygen inside frosty grass blades they can’t bounce back and get crushed.
E) Mohawks
Mohawks result from improper overlap. When you finish mowing a line, pivot on the back wheel as you turn. Do not move the back wheel, just spin it around. That should get you nicely lined up.
Mohawks also result from failure to mow straight in laser lines. It takes some practice. The mohawks must be fixed because one week later they will be really noticeable. Practice mowing until you eliminate mohawks forever.
A huge Mohawk. Practice!
Have fun in the field.
