How to mow the lawn and how often?
How to mow the lawn and how often?
Mowing your lawn regularly is an important part of maintaining a healthy lawn. Regular mowing can help keep your lawn looking clean, beautiful and healthy. While it is important to mow your lawn regularly, there is such a thing as mowing your lawn too often.
Mowing your lawn regularly is not necessarily a problem, but keeping your lawn too short is. When thinking about keeping a healthy lawn, it's important to look at the length of your grass and decide if it needs mowing.
How Do You Know If Your Lawn Is Too Short?
Over-mowing your lawn is something you need to watch out for. If your lawn has started to turn yellow and dry out, you are probably mowing your lawn too short (often referred to as "scalping").
There is a great rule to follow when determining how long you should keep your lawn and how often you should mow your lawn - the "rule of thirds".
I recommend cutting one third of the length of grass each time you mow.
This rule of thumb will actually differ depending on the time of year and that's why I decided to write this article and provide information for those who are wondering how often to mow their lawn in spring, summer or fall.
So, let's find out how often you should mow your lawn in each season.
How Often Should Lawn Mowing Happen in Spring?
Spring is here! Birds are chirping, the sun is shining and warming us and nature is coming to life. Taking advantage of this, the grass will start to grow with all its strength. When we see this, we should not immediately run to the lawn mowers.
If you have a healthy lawn in the spring, it is more important for the annual balance of your lawn to remain healthy as a priority.
Here are some things to consider before starting a spring mowing program for your lawn:
How long is your lawn? Before mowing, make sure your grass is at least 6-7 cm long. After checking the initial length, follow the "rule of thirds" mentioned above and adjust the height of your mower accordingly. Make sure that your fertilizer is completely absorbed before mowing your lawn. Mowing the lawn too early can either pull young seedlings out of the ground or smother the roots. If your lawn has emerged from a cold winter, it is in the best interest of your lawn to first compact your heaving soil and at the same time consolidate your grass roots and increase tillering (the formation of several more stems from each germinated seed). Don't immediately put your lawn on a mowing program and never mow it - the results will be disastrous. After the first mowing, you should plan to mow your lawn every three to five days to maintain a clean and healthy lawn.
You may also need to adjust your mowing schedule depending on where you are, what type of lawn you have and how much rainfall your area receives. Usually, if it rains a lot in the spring, it means you will have a busy mowing schedule during this period.
What should be the frequency of lawn mowing in summer?
Summer brings to mind warmer weather, accelerated nature activities and the rapidly growing grass cover. After a cold winter, plants bloom and everything is back on track. Due to the warmer weather, your lawn will grow faster than in the colder months and may grow faster in early summer than in spring. This means you will need to mow your lawn more often.
How Often Should We Mow Your Lawn in Summer?
Keep in mind as you read, all lawns are different. Just because your neighbor mows his lawn every two weeks and his lawn looks great doesn't mean you should do the same. As I detailed in the spring section, the amount your lawn grows depends largely on your lawn care routine.
1. How Tall Was Your Lawn at the Beginning?
2. Do you plan to fertilize your lawn this season?
3. Will you overdo it and fertilize too much?
4. Will the season be warmer or colder?
Do you have an irrigation system or are you relying on mother nature to provide water for your lawn or will you be watering by sprinkling?
As in spring, it is important to follow the "rule of thirds" when mowing your lawn... So, the length you want to keep your grass will determine how often you should mow it.
However, I recommend keeping your lawn longer in summer than in spring. The recommended length for your lawn in summer is about 7-8 cm. You can even leave the grass longer, because it helps to protect your lawn during periods of drought that can occur during the summer months. The average time it takes for your lawn to grow about 1cm in summer is between 1 and 3 days. Therefore, if you mow just under 7-8 cm, I recommend cutting your lawn every four days during the summer months to keep the average length at the ideal length. This will keep your lawn healthy and moist during the hottest months of the year.
How often to mow the lawn in the fall and winter?
Unlike the summer months, lawns will not grow as fast in the fall or winter (even in areas without snowfall). Even if you don't get snowfall during the winter months, it may seem like your lawn has completely stopped growing during the colder months. The truth is that when the temperature drops below 5 degrees Celsius, mowing your lawn every week is a thing of the past. You may not need to mow your lawn, especially in colder climates.
Here are some things to consider when thinking about mowing your lawn in the fall or winter:
Avoid mowing your lawn when it is wet. Maybe it has just rained or the ice on your lawn is melting. Whatever the case, avoid mowing your wet lawn. Mowing a wet lawn leads to uneven mowing due to an unstable base under the grass. Lower temperatures can also cause problems with mold or mildew growth.
Also do not cut your lawn on a warm day in winter. Just because one day is warm, it doesn't mean you should go out and mow your dormant lawn. I recommend a very short mowing for your lawn at the end of the season so that when the season is over, you can leave your lawn alone to withstand the coming cold and prepare your lawn for the cold.
The amount you should mow your lawn in winter differs greatly from my recommendations for the frequency of mowing in Spring or Summer.
For the most part, if you live in a climate with colder winters, you don't need to worry about mowing your lawn. Once it stops growing, the best thing you can do is wait until spring.
