The first mowing should not be made until the new lawn (grass and weeds) is a good 2” high. Set the mower to the highest setting and use a grass box to collect the clippings, rather than a rake. It is at this time you will see if your lawn is level or not. Hollows, providing they are no deeper than 2”, can be filled with sharp sand and the grass will grow though it without any problem. Deeper hollows will need to be filled with top soil and re-sown. Leave the weeds alone until the lawn is well established, which may be the following year. Once the lawn is well established, you must mow the lawn regularly at least once a week. For the first and last cut of the season, use the highest settings. Never cut the lawn too close to the ground, as you will encourage moss, weeds and disease and to be honest, a shaven lawn doesn’t really look that good.

Occasionally leave the clippings on the lawn to break down and create a bit of humus in the soil. It’s good to do this in really dry weather as it provides a kind of protective mulch for the grass. However, leaving the clippings all the time can create a thatch of dead grass which will need to be removed with a rake.

Start mowing your lawn in March/April when it’s obvious it has started to grow and stop mowing in October as soon as the cold weather arrives.