Grass too long to use a lawnmower?

My friend has asked me if she can borrow my lawn mower. I have a simple Bosch Rotak 320C which is a good few years old now but always either replace or sharpen the blade.

Her lawn is only about 3 metres wide and 6 metres long. Her house is a new build from last year so the turf isn't that old. The lawn has not been cut at all since she has moved in and now it's getting very long with some big fat weeds creeping in.

I wish I took a photo when I was last there so you can see, nevertheless, I would say the grass is about 10 inches tall.

It is said you're only supposed to take no more than a third off at one time but of course my lawnmower can't go high enough for that and it will still look very long.

What do you do in these situations? Should she simply go over it with the lawnmower at the highest setting? There's also a long run on the other side of the pathway, next to the fence but it's too narrow to run the lawnmower down there. I do have a cheap strimmer as well, which she can use for this useless part of the lawn and I will tell her to replace it with either gravel/chippings or a plants.

Should she use the strimmer for the main part of the lawn too instead of or just before the lawnmower?

Also, should she address the weeds first? I can tell her to buy a spray bottle of weed killer for now but should she do this first and wait even longer to cut the lawn or just cut them along with the grass and deal with it later when the grass is at the right height.

Thanks very much and hope you can help.

 

Moin there

That's exactly what I would do. But watch out for any hidden stones or pieces of scrap.
Just give it a go, then let the grass right itself for a day or two and give it another go with a lower setting.

 

Rather than hit any stones or large hard clumps if grass I'd strim it all first.
It will look awful but that's what happens if you leave it too long.
Then go back in a week or so and assess the situation, run the mower over at a high setting if it has made new growth.

 

Thanks for all your replies, I really appreciate it.
Whether I use a strimmer or mower, can I water in some iron sulphate immediately afterwards or give it some other treatment?

 

My Electric Mower is 30 years, my Grass was quite long so the first cut I gave it was done by walking backwards and pushing down slightly on the handle to lift the blade.
Ok I know this sounds crazy but. ha it worked for me.

 

I wouldn't take any notice of this no more than a 3rd off business - strim to get off the longer growth and then mow as normal. I always mow on the lowest setting - to reduce the frequency of mowing. Don't bother with any after treatments. Grass is tougher than you think - it will go brown during a drought but will still recover. The turf will be well established by now.

In terms of weeds/moss I just leave them in and mow over - the lawn will look fine.

My top tip - get a strimmer that uses plastic blades - the line strimmers are a nightmare of stop, rethread and start.

 

You'r e not crazy, I've done the same or similar, but cant remember if it was lifting the rear or pushing down on the handle to lever up the front (or a bit of both), but it works (mind toes if lifting).

As its so bright and sunny at the moment, I wondered if cutting right down to 'normal' height would expose pale grass that could then get scorched.

 

Another advocate here of pushing down on the handle to "wheelie" the mower along for dealing with very high grass.

I always take off a bit at a time when it's long. It's not about "a third at a time", it's because long, thick grass is always wet, and mowers can't cut wet grass. You want to cut whatever's dry, and realistically that's usually 2" at a time at most.

 

And then no matter which method, rake up the cuttings please

 

Thanks again for your replies. It turns out she already bought a cheapy 'Challenge' cordless strimmer from Argos when she first moved in and hid it in the shed, therefore, saved me the job of bringing my own stuff.

She hasn't got a rake though but said she'll go down to the large Tesco-Extra round the corner to get one.

Once she's got it under control can you recommend a product what she should use to cut the grass in the future whether corded or cordless?

From my own research using Which? it seems the cheapest 'good' cordless lawnmower is this one although ironically not good at cutting tall grass!



That said, what about a corded one? I'm not sure if it's worth her spending that much on such a small garden but I'd like to bow to your expertise.

If it helps, I've now manged to take a photo of her garden:

 

@Gn0me is she not planning on mowing regularly? I would think if she kept it at a reasonable length, she could go with a small corded or cordless one. I hope she is planning on maintaining her yard as it can't be very nice for the neighbours if she doesn't.

 

Absolutely! I'm trying to drum it in her head that everything that is alive requires some sort of maintenance especially as the growing season has started. The neighbours have replaced theirs with artifical grass although to be honest I don't know which is worse!

I saw some artificial grass in Home Bargains not long ago and thought how realistic it looked and it's come a long way since its beginnings so can't understand how some people still have it looking like a youth centre 5-a-side pitch.

 

To me even that amount of grass needs a decent mower to make it look good and as @CanadianLori says it needs doing once a week when growing well and a bit less in dry spells.

I dont like corded mowers, not sure if you said how old she is but a good push mower would work well on that.
Everyone wants something with a motor these days?