How to cut grass without a lawn mower

How to cut grass without a lawn mower

If you either don’t have the funds to buy a lawn mower or the space to store one, or are pressed for time, need to cut some grass and don’t have a mower at your disposal, what are you supposed to do? It does depend somewhat on how big the area of grass you need to cut is, but there are actually more ways to cut a lawn without a lawn mower than you probably imagine.

Nowadays, most people wanted to have a lawn in their house, so let me tell you that having a lawn is easy. It takes a lot of maintenance to keep looking beautiful. If you do not take care of your lawn, it will become ugly and start ruining your property’s beauty.

Lawnmowers can be very expensive to purchase and difficult to maintain if you do not know much about it. If you find yourself with an overgrown lawn and no mower, there are some ways you can cut your grass without a lawnmower. Though it may not be easy to maintain your yard without a mower, it is possible.

5 Ways to Cut Grass without a Mower

1. Scythe: This tool has a long handle with a curved blade, and you may have seen this in the hands of the character of the Grim Reaper. The blade must be very sharp in order for it to cut grass. A person holds on to the handles and swipes at the grass with a smooth, curving motion. It takes some time to master the use of the scythe, but it is an effective method of clearing tall grass from a field or lawn.

2. Shears: If you have some time to kill, shears may be an option for mowing, but only if you have a small yard. Shears are sort of like big scissors, but even with longer blades, it will still take time. The art in using shears comes from being able to hold the blades level, so the grass will be even.

3. Sickle: A sickle also has a curved blade, but it is a shorter tool typically used for harvesting. It can be used to cut grass, but the scythe will probably work better.

4. Scissors: Believe it or not, there are people out there that will get on their hands and knees and cut their grass with a normal pair of scissors. This is very inefficient, but it gets the job done…eventually. A very meticulous person may choose this method, and it could be an effective meditation exercise. If it isn’t soothing to the soul, pick a different method.

5. String-trimmer: Lastly and more-commonly, some people use their weed eaters to get the grass cut. This is time consuming but not as much as other methods. Also, it is very difficult to get an even cut when using this handheld instrument. There are electric weed eater options that use batteries and are more environmentally-friendly than gas-powered options.

If you decide to use something other than a mower to cut your grass, enjoy the opportunity to do something that is rarely done by anyone else. It can be fun to choose alternative methods to lawn care, but just remember that these options are typically less-efficient. Most of them are better for the planet.

Cutting grass without a land mower

Other Options for Cutting Grass without a Lawn Mower

Now I’ll warn you in advance – the two options we’ve already discussed above are by the far best IMHO. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other answers to the question of “how to cut grass without a lawn mower?” There are some truly stupid suggestions online if you do some reading into this – hacking grass with golf clubs + cutting your lawn with hand scissors are two of the more ridiculous ones that I saw – but I’m going to stick with a few improvised solutions that might actually work for a few people.

Hedge Shears

If you have one or more hedges in your yard, this is a simple tool that you most probably have. I guess it’s not too dissimilar to the idea of hand scissors that I just dismissed as being absurd. There’s one big difference though; hedge shears are a lot bigger. So while it’ll be slow going cutting even a small lawn with hedge shears, it won’t be anywhere near as slow as it would be with hand scissors.

Even so, I wouldn’t recommend this option for an entire lawn, as you’ll be hunched over to get down low enough to cut your grass to a suitable length. I’d probably say it’d be best to move around on your knees – that’ll probably be easier on your back.However, hedge shears are a great option if you’ve got an overgrown corner of your hard to tackle.

Hedge Trimmer

This is basically the motorized alternative to using a set of hedge shears. Again, I wouldn’t recommend this for a whole lawn, as you’ll run into the issue of being hunched over with your back bent double. But in terms of how to cut tall grass without a lawn mower, this really is a great option. With super tall grass, using any type of lawn mower isn’t really an option. And even a powerful string trimmer will likely clog.

What you need to do with extremely tall grass is quickly bring it down to a more manageable length. If you did have a mower or string trimmer, you could then use it to do the rest. I’m not sure a workplace safety inspector would sign it off, but if you’re really in a bind, using a hedge trimmer to cut grass in small areas can work.

Livestock (Goats, Sheep)

Now, this won’t be suitable for most, BUT if you have a lawn area of grass that you need to keep under control and either can’t or don’t want to buy a lawn mower, or don’t have the time to mow such a large area, this honestly might not be the worst idea in the world.

Both goats and sheep are very effective at keeping grass short; they’ve got a huge appetite for it! Just be aware that using livestock to keep your grass under control will bring about its own set of challenges and responsibilities.

Using Golf Clubs

  • Yes, golf clubs can be used to cut grass, and the good news is that it is a highly enjoyable activity.
  • Practice in your backyard by swinging without creating divots, which will whack the grass off.
  • This strategy has two advantages: the first is that it will help you improve your golf skills, and the second is that the conclusion of the practice sessions will mow your lawn down.
  • You might invite your pals to play golf to speed things up as it takes time.
  • Some individuals even use baseball bats to chop the tall grass; swing your club a few inches over the ground.
  • While using this method, be careful not to strike the ground because it will scalp the lawn.

Using An Edger

  • One of the most common gardening equipment used by professionals is an edger.
  • Though the primary function of this tool is to cut edges, it can be used for various horticultural tasks, from grass cutting to hedge trimming.
  • Because this tool is specifically built for gardening, you won’t have to kneel or stoop down on the ground to use it.
  • This makes it a terrific lawnmower substitute that is also significantly less expensive.
  • Apart from that, one of the key reasons edger is a fantastic choice as it is more environmentally friendly.
  • Many people use environmentally hazardous gas-powered lawn mowers, but edgers are not the case.
  • They are electric and do not pollute the environment much.

What happens if you don’t mow your lawn?

It takes much time and effort to grow tall lush green lawn grass. At some point, you feel so proud of your efforts and you may be tempted to keep your tall lush green grass.What you may not be aware of is the fact living with a thick tall lush green grass in your lawn can be detrimental to it, the same way as not caring for it at all.

Allowing lawn grass grow so tall works the same as encouraging weeds and mosses to grow with your permission. Tall grass blocks sunlight from reaching the base of the lawn, and this ends up killing the grass.And because lawn weeds are opportunists, they overgrow the lawn grass and by the time you realize it, the weeds have already overtaken the lawn.

Another major issue with letting your lawn grass grow so tall is the difficulty of mowing when you decide to do so. Taller grass blades are stronger and tougher to cut either by hand and by a lawnmower, than shorter and softer lawn grass blades.For this reason, you should normalize cutting your grass when the need arises and not when you feel like. And even as you do so, always to follow the one third thumb rule.

Letting your lawn grass grow very tall means you cannot use the grass clippings produced during mowing. Grass clippings from a very tall lawn could mat together and smother the grass, something that prevents sunlight from reaching the base of the lawn and this ends up killing the grass.Mowing often produces shorter and healthy grass clippings that are used to enrich the lawn soils when they give water and nitrogen back to the lawn soil. The clippings could also be used for mulching the lawn grass during the hot summer days.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest way to cut grass?

Lawn experts note circling is probably the easiest and most efficient pattern when mowing your lawn. After mowing the edges, just keep making passes in a circular pattern until you make your way to the middle of the yard.[1]This is the Most Efficient Way to Mow the Grass

Can you cut grass with scissors?

You can, but it will be very time consuming. The blade length of scissors is simply too short to make good progress quickly. Instead scissors are best used around things like sprinkler heads or in tight spaces.[2]5 Ways to Cut Grass without a Mower

About De Hua

Lindsay Boyers is a former New Yorker who now lives at the beach. She received a double B.A. in International Relations and Marketing from The College of William & Mary and an M.A. in Interactive Journalism from American University. Lindsay Boyers has been published in The Washington Post, New York Daily News, Cosmopolitan, Women's Health, The Bump, and Yahoo, among others.How We Tested and Reviewed

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