By Jeff Floyd
Certified horticulturist and arborist
A healthy lawn increases wildlife diversity, provides space for family recreation and has a positive impact on your mood. Mowing grass is a straightforward activity but a few simple steps will guarantee that your lawn is appealing, robust, and effortless to maintain.
In full sun, warm-season grasses such as Bermuda and zoysia are best maintained at about two inches tall. St, Augustine does better when it is cut at three to four inches. Cool-season species like tall fescue also perform well at heights between three and four inches.
Instead of bagging when you mow, try mulching. Catching the grass may “feel” cleaner but it’s a lot of extra work and removes a valuable resource from your lawn. When mowed at the correct height, clippings will break down easily and return nutrients to the soil. This will reduce your overall fertilizer needs.
While the leaf blades are the energy factories of each turfgrass plant, more is not always better. When allowed to go too long between each mowing, lawn grasses become spindly and less uniform in appearance. Excessively tall grass also becomes more difficult to mow and leaves behind unsightly clippings on the surface.
Ideally, no more than one-third of the leaf blade should be removed at any single mowing. Mowing too low may cause your lawn to become stressed and more easily susceptible to disease and pest problems. Scalping or mowing excessively low can damage the growing point of grass and cause permanent injury. Mow regularly to avoid cutting too low. When possible, a five-day mowing cycle during the growing season produces the best results. However, mowing at least once per week is more practical and perfectly fine in most situations.
Cut the lawn with a powerful mower. A high-rpm engine will spin the blade of a rotary mower fast enough to properly shear the grass. On the other hand, weak mowers tend to “hammer” grass blades, often injuring them and leaving a less uniform cut. Mowers with inadequate power are more exhausting for the user too.
Finally, always maintain a sharp mower blade. A dull blade tears the tips of grass leaves. The leaf tips will dry out around the jagged edges a few days after mowing and the lawn will take on a dull finish. The increased surface areas on the torn tips of leaves also become locations for diseases to invade.
