Change mowing directions every time you mow.

 

Sure that makes sense next season, but will the ruts already there start to flatten out because of direction change?

 

It depends on your soil profile. Here where it’s almost pure sand, the tracks will eventually flatten back out if not too severe. If you have a lot of clay they may not. Aerating, rotating mowing pattern, and getting a mower with a drum help.

 

Thanks Redtwin! I’m north metro Atlanta so we mainly have clay. I top dressed about 9 years ago so there is a little sand still in there. Would you recommend aerating this Fall and then again next Spring? My TruCut H20 has the front roller attachment. As one of the other commenters mentioned based on my small front yard layout, mowing in cross direction isn’t easy and turning mower in short sections can lead to me tearing up yard in turnaround spots.

 

How do you propose he fix the wheel ruts at the edges of his yard where changing directions is not really possible?

 

Sand. You don't have much options. I use a GM1600 and I even need to bring in some sand on my clean up passes. Next year will be a rebuild year, but you just have to do it every few years no matter what. Erosion happens...

 

I really expected a messed-up lawn when I saw the title. I got tire marks on my lawn a few weeks back. I think someone missed their turn and did a wide U-turn on my street onto my lawn. It's compacted down into a 4 inch deep rut. They just missed my sprinkler head.

 

You could try adjusting the path when you turn around the first time back to overlap a lot more and that would put the tires in a different path instead of always falling in the same rut. I have to do this with my rider because of the odd shaped front yard and trees.

 

@nipper404, I would not aerate now. I would wait until early summer. You may be in a position where you have to aerate and top dress each season. I think it's best to do both at the same time when the grass is growing vigorously. I have a hell strip in front of my ditch in my front yard that I can't change directions. The only thing I can do there is reverse the cut direction but I'm only fighting graininess and not ruts. The rest of my front yard is relatively narrow but I find that doing diagonal cuts makes it a little more tolerable with the constant turning. I can also keep my mower engaged and "drift" it around the turns so I'm not constantly engaging and disengaging the drive. FWIW, I use a Flex21 so no tire marks to fight.