Trim before or after mowing?

[Ron H]

I always bag my clippings when I mow. Because of the way I do it I use the trimmer before I mow.

My reason is: I know how close my mower will get to trees, fencing etc. By trimming first, I can get the areas I know the mower will miss, and the mower will pick up the trimmer trimmings. If I wait and trim after I mow, I have the trimmings to deal with.

I see it as a time saver, but I have had a couple friends think I'm nuts.

So, Do you mow or trim first?

 

[LandN]

HI RON, i cut first, then trim, then blower it. you are doing it the right way in order to pick up everything at the end, some how i just cant get it that way even though i've tried before. my mower just wants to be the first one on the lawn i guess :laughing:

 

[Muhammad]

First I trim, then I mow. I like to get the hard work out of the way first.

 

[grnspot110]

I trim first, that way the mower chops & spreads the trimmings. ~~ grnspot110

 

[JDgreen]

I trim first, that way the mower chops & spreads the trimmings. ~~ grnspot110

I do it both ways, but usually mow first then trim. For a large area I usually cut with the pusher first around trees etc, then use the tractor, then the trimmer. If just using push mower trim first.

 

[KennyV]

Most of my mowing I can get with the ZTR...
If there is anything left to trim... thats when I will get a smaller mower... I've always liked my larger cabbed ZTR mower, so I try to make it do most of the mowing.... :smile:KennyV

 

[JasonB]

Hi

I do it both ways, somedays I will trim first and mow and other times I will mow and then trim. If its a small property I am cutting, I usually mow first and then trim. But if its a bigger property with lots of grass to cut + trimming, then I will do the trimming first. My 2 Deere AWS mowers really help out cutting down on trimming which is a big help. It all depends.

Another factor, sometimes I show up to mow a lawn thats a bit dewy, so in that case I usually do the trimming first and in most cases once the trimming is done, the grass is dry enough to cut.

Take Care Jason B

 

[SouthCentral]

When I used to bag the clippings I would trim first then mow so the bagger would pick it up. But now since most of my trimming is around landscaping and I follow it up with a blower I find that trimming after mowing is better so the mower discharge will get cleaned up by the blower as well. Just depends on what you're doing.

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

There are positives to both. I like trimming before if I am trimming a lot of grass off because then when you mow it cuts up all the blades of grass that you trimmed, so you can't see the debris. But if you trim after, you can see what height you want to trim to.:anyone:

 

[bradnowell]

But if you trim after, you can see what height you want to trim to.:anyone:

This. :thumbsup: I like to cut first, and afterward go around with the trimmer in order to properly gauge the trimming height.