Why are mower wheels tearing up my new grass?
Heavy mower wheels easily crush and tear tender new grass seedlings and sod, even weeks after installation. This mechanical damage causes the lawn to thin out and rapidly deteriorate, leaving patchy areas that look ruined.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Mowing at a higher height (4 inches)
- 2Contacting the lawn care company to come out and inspect the damage
- 3Inspecting the turf closely for pests like chinch bugs or grubs
- 4Adjusting the mowing height
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I've mowed 6 times so far at 4 inches and it's still tender, as you can see from the mower wheels tearing some up.”source ↗
“I started noticing little by little that the lawn started to thin out in certain areas but just assumed it was killing weeds that were introduced with the sod and that it would fill in and get healthier over time.”source ↗
“Last month I became concerned and today since their last application 2 weeks ago it has began to deteriorate at a rapid pace.”source ↗
“at this point I think I flushed a few grand down the drain on sod and have been just paying them to kill it.”source ↗