Proper Mowing Height

What is the proper mowing height for my lawn? Click below to watch this quick helpful video explaining why height is so important.

Not into videos? No worries here are the main points:

Cool season turf should never be mowed less than 3” spring and fall and 3.5”+ in the summer.  Why?:

Ever notice that short cut lawns are a pale color? That’s because the top part of the grass that performs photosynthesis has been cut off and now needs to regrow. Let’s break down the issues with this:

1. This causes stress in the grass- stress causes root production to slow down to repair this top damage- slowing down root production allows weeds to outcompete the grass which gives you more weeds!
2. This undo’s the work that a fertilizer program is trying to do to improve the lawn with eliminating weeds by allowing them to flourish. 
3. Mowing taller shades the soil and helps prevent new weed germination
4. Mowing taller shades the soil in the summer to help protect the crowns and roots from the sun’s heat- mowing short allows roots and crowns to burn out killing the grass
5. By cutting the lawn short you are promoting weeds, wasting the fertilizer applications and causing your lawn to become thinner.

Anytime I talk with a prospective customer that is cutting the grass too short they always tell me that they are trying to kill the weeds by cutting the flowers off them- I feel like responding- “So how’s that working out for you?!” This does not work and as shown above will actually create more weeds.

How often should I cut my grass?

A good rule of thumb is weekly this is because you don’t want to cut more than 1/3 of the blade off at a time.  Cutting more than that will result in stressed grass and the issues mentioned above even if you are cutting to 3”.  To maintain 3” you want to cut it when it’s 4”.

I’ve often had people tell me that that they mow infrequently to allow the grass to grow tall and thick.  Don’t do this because when you cut it back to 3” from 6” you are cutting 50% of it’s food production at once and causing stress.  Staying on a regular mow schedule is always preferred. 

Questions about mowing height? You know where to find us- 978 358-8029.