# How do you mow your lawn? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904 "2012-04-05T12:21:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/1 "2012-04-05T12:21:55Z")
With Spring sprung and the temperature rising, the year’s first grass-cutting will soon be upon us (if it hasn’t occurred already). How do you do it? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/2 "2012-04-05T12:35:57Z")
I mow a couple of laps around the perimeter, then do diagonal rows. I tend to alternate the direction of the rows each time I cut the grass. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/3 "2012-04-05T12:44:11Z")
2 perimter laps for tractor turning space, then rows. Direction of rows varies between sessions: N-S NE-SW E-W SE-NW Then I drink heavily. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/4 "2012-04-05T12:44:38Z")
I’m all over the place. We can’t use a regular mower here though. We use an edger that is pushed instead of carried. The land is steep too. It kicks my butt to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/5 "2012-04-05T12:47:19Z")
I voted ring around the outside, then sequential rows, but I’ve got a large backyard, so I do that in sections. But generally I take a section, then mow a ring, then sequential rows across until that’s finished, then begin the next section. Repeat until complete. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/6 "2012-04-05T12:48:21Z")
Spiral, on a lawn tractor. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/7 "2012-04-05T12:51:39Z")
Generally some variation of a twin spiral due to the position of a gate which lends itself to bisecting the lawn on the first mow. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/8 "2012-04-05T13:02:42Z")
I have an oddly-shaped perimeter with multiple mid-field obstacles, but I generally try to do one or two laps around the perimeter, then I do sequential rows in one section of the yard to more or less create a workable quadrilateral, then sequential rows to fill in the main field. Sometimes N-S, sometimes E-W, sometimes diagonally in one direction or the other. Then the side yard in sequential rows, then on to the front yard. The front is also oddly-shaped- kind of twice as deep on the West end than it is on the East, with the frontage alongside the sidewalk a swooping curve- so I have to get creative. All of this was made much easier when I bought a zero-turn mower a couple years ago. What used to be a 2 hour ordeal I can now do in 45 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/9 "2012-04-05T13:16:52Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > 2 perimter laps for tractor turning space, then rows. Direction of rows varies between sessions: > > N-S > NE-SW > E-W > SE-NW > > Then I drink heavily. I drink heavily first, and don’t remember the pattern. 🙂 I mow in sequential rows. Sometimes, especially on large areas I cut around the perimeter first. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/10 "2012-04-05T13:27:52Z")
My neighbor told me to mix it up. He’s handy, so I believe him. One week horizontal rows, one week diagonal rows \*this \*way, one week diagonal rows \*that \*way. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/11 "2012-04-05T13:30:04Z")
I chose ‘I don’t mow my own lawn’. God I love having someone do it. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/12 "2012-04-05T13:31:52Z")
I pay some bastard to mow it for me. Due to sun cancers, in this climate I need to limit exposure. It costs me $60 a throw- it is not cheap and the job is not flash. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/13 "2012-04-05T13:32:39Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > God I love having someone do it. But they might whack the Sarracenia! Besides, beer tastes better when you’ve earned it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/14 "2012-04-05T13:57:05Z")
I picked “varies” - I tend to do it in sections as defined (to my mind) by the trees or flower beds in my way. I model my paths in a zamboni-like route so I don’t have to make extremely sharp turns - my riding mower isn’t a zero-radius model. The front lawn has 3 Zones. The back yard is 2 or 3 depending upon my approach. I try to keep from blowing the clippings into the flower or veggie gardens. The only place that’s simple back-and-forth rows is along the road beside the side yard. And even then, I try to work it so I’m not blowing clippings into the street - not easy since it’s a fairly narrow strip of grass. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/15 "2012-04-05T14:10:04Z")
Boustrophedon mostly, but sometimes I do the back yard in a spiral (starting with the spot under the cherry tree so I only have to duck under the branches once). ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/16 "2012-04-05T14:14:03Z")
That reminds me, I need to buy a new mower before the weeds get too thick to mow. ---
**Author:** ![nudgenudge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@nudgenudge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nudgenudge)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/17 "2012-04-05T14:36:50Z")
I have a hover mower, so there’s no particular reason to use a set pattern. I just wave it about in an abstract fashion until all the grass is cut. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/18 "2012-04-05T14:44:52Z")
Eh, I just hike up her skirt and have at. No patterns. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/19 "2012-04-05T15:29:14Z")
I have a small urban lot, it takes all of 10 minutes to do the front and probably 15 to do the back, I never follow the same pattern. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904/20 "2012-04-05T15:43:43Z")
In a hurry - spiral Otherwise - border with strips border with -diagonal stripes I mix it up to keep from forming ruts in the soil (really unnecessary, the soil is compact enough) and for variety. I get my son to mow my backyard because it’s very hilly and I really don’t care how crappy of a job he does. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-mow-your-lawn/617904.md?page=2)