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How Often Should You Mow Your Lawn?

How Often Should You Mow Your Lawn?

Regular mowing your grass has a lot of benefits. It will help your yard looks beautiful, healthy, and vigorous. However, if you mow the lawn too frequently or cut the grass at an excessively short height, you can do the damage you will find difficult to correct.

The primary keys of having a healthy, lush, and green lawn are to mow your yard regularly and keep the grass at an optimal height depending on the season and the type of the grass you have chosen.

Benefits of Mowing Your Lawn Regularly

Benefits of Mowing Your Lawn Regularly

Your grass will get a bunch of benefits when mowing your lawn at a specific time interval, bearing in mind that each grass species grows and thrive depending on the cutting height.

  • Availability of light and nutrients – Regular mowing by using a riding lawn mower or cordless weed eater will bring enough light and nutrients to every part of your yard which will be beneficial for the growth of your grass.
  • Roots – If you mow your grass regularly, its roots will be healthier and better branched. The result will be a beautiful, grassy yard with lush and robust grass.
  • Fight against pests – If you let your yard overgrown, it will become a perfect place for numerous garden pests and all kind of rodents to hide. On the other hand, if you trim your lawn neatly, you can prevent almost every infestation.
  • Faster recovery from pests and diseases – Regularly trimmed yard will be able to recover faster from the harmful pests, various disease, and adverse weather conditions.

How Often to Cut Your Grass

How Often to Cut Your Grass

One of the first things you need to learn when deciding to have a lovely yard is how to maintain your grass. I will give you a couple of tips about grass mowing that will help your lawn to be healthy, thriving, and lush.

1. The type of grass

grass type

The best timing for mowing your yard is during the grass growing season. If you have warm-season grass in your lawn, you should mow it during summer. In a case that you have cool-season grass, mow it in the springtime or in the early fall.

Since the grass generally grows slower during cold months, you probably don’t need to cut it during late autumn and winter.

2. The grass growth rate

In general, how often you should mow your yard directly depends on how fast a particular type of grass grows and the desired height of the grass you want in your lawn.

During the growing season, most owners mow their yards once a week on average. In general, it is enough to keep the grass healthy.

During the rest period, you can reduce the frequency of mowing and do that job as necessary. I mean that mowing your yard every other week or even less often is a quite enough, but as I already said, it primarily depends on the grass type you have.

3. The grass height

The grass height

Avoid mowing by ‘the required schedule’. Yes, I know, there is a recommended schedule for appropriate mowing your yard, but these are just general guidelines. You should treat your yard individually, and to follow the instructions in line with the grass requirement you have.

Check the height of your grass before start mowing and be sure that it is tall enough to justify every trimming. Always keep in mind that too short cutting may lead to weak root systems of the grass which won’t be able to absorb nutrients and water appropriately. That will affect the health and appearance of your lawn.

4. The way of fertilizing and watering

The way of fertilizing and watering

The type and amount of lawn fertilizer you apply and the frequency of watering will directly influence how fast the grass in your yard will grow. In general, the more fertilizer and water you add to the soil, you can expect more quickly growing of the grass, and consequently, you need to mow your lawn more often.

5. Mow your grass when it is dry

The essential rule of mowing says that you shouldn’t cut your grass when it is wet. Also, try to mow your yard in mid-morning when dew dries up. When your grass is wet after raining or watering, it will get heavy and stretched.

Every cutting it in that period will be uneven. You can prevent this by syncing up the schedule of lawn maintenance with the announced weather conditions.

 

The ideal mowing height depending on the type of grass

Grass type

Mowing height

Bahia grass

2 – 3 inches (5 – 7.6 cm)

Bent grass

0.25 – 1 inch (0.6 – 2.5 cm)

Common Bermuda grass

0.75 – 1.5 inches (1.9 – 3.8 cm)

Hybrid Bermuda grass

0.5 – 1 inch (1.3 – 2.5 cm)

Blue grama

2 – 3 inches (5 – 7.6 cm)

Buffalo grass

2 – 3 inches (5 – 7.6 cm)

Centipede grass

1 – 2 inches (2.5 – 5 cm)

Fine fescue

1.5 – 2.5 inches (3.8 – 6.3 cm)

Tall Fescue

2 – 3 inches ( 5- 7.6 cm)

Kentucky bluegrass

1.75 – 2.5 inches (4.5 – 6.3 cm)

Annual ryegrass

1.5 – 2 inches (3.8 – 5 cm)

Perennial Ryegrass

1.5 – 2 inches (3.8 – 5 cm)

St. Augustine

1.5 – 2.5 inches (3.8 – 6.3 cm)

Zoysia grass

1 – 2 inches (2. 5 – 5 cm)

 

6. The ‘one-third of the length at a time’ rule

The ‘one-third of the length at a time’ rule

You can’t heal an overgrown lawn by mowing the grass too short. It will probably stress the grass and keep it without food-producing parts. Believe me; you won’t like the result because the lawn with the grass that can’t get enough nutrients will turn brown.

The golden rule is to cut the grass only one-third of the blades’ height at a time. It is OK if you want to have shorter grass, but you need to do it gradually. Mow it regularly, but always one-third of the length at once. Repeat the procedure until getting the grass height you desire.

7. What to do with grass clippings

Since grass clippings contain approximately 3 – 4% nitrogen and about 2.5 – 3.5% potassium, don’t move these clippings from the ground after mowing and use it for the lawn fertilizing. I like that way. Try it!

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