Mowing Tips

Whether you live in the Baltimore area or somewhere else, you should know a lush, healthy lawn care program starts with the grass roots. And when it comes to your lawn mower, there's one axiom to observe. That's the rule of one-third. It says: Never remove more than one-third of the surface area of the grass blade at any one time.

Why one-third?

If you let the grass grow too high then cut it back by half or more, you shock the plant down to its roots. In fact, there is a direct relationship between lawn mower blade height and depth of grass roots. Mowed at the recommended height, grass roots grow deep. But if cut severely, grass root growth slows, and the grass is less vigorous and more subject to stress because its energy is directed to replacing lost leaves.

The grass will recover, but it may take several weeks. Also, at low lawn mower cutting heights, diseases such as dollar spot, leaf spot, and rust are more of a problem because they can envelop the whole plant more quickly.

An occasional too-low mowing is usually a temporary setback. But if you routinely cut off more than a third of the grass, either by setting the lawn mower cutting height too low or not sticking to a once-a week schedule, you can expect your lawn to thin out, be weedy and subject to disease and other problems. A good lawn care program can be compromised by improper mowing.

Just how and when you mow depends on several factors including the type of grass, the season of the year, and the amount of fertilizer and water applied. For example, cool-season grasses need mowing more in spring and fall warm-season grasses in summer. And the more you fertilize and water, the more you'll need to get out the lawn mower. The important element is flexibility. You may have to mow twice a week during peak growth periods or only twice a month during the slow times.

When you mow, vary your pattern. Mowing in the same direction every time tends to compact soil. Grass leans or grows in the direction it is mowed, so altering the mowing pattern will keep it straighter

Do not cut wet grass. It mows unevenly, and the clippings clog the lawn mower, as well as mat on the grass, blocking light.

For safety's sake, mow slight slopes on a diagonal. If the ground is uneven, avoid scalping high spots. Either raise the lawn mower cutting height or re-grade the area.

Developing a Mowing Schedule for Turf Grasses

• Rather than basing a mowing schedule on the calendar, you should build your own schedule based on the needs of your lawn.
• Determine the maximum and minimum mowing height for your grass.
• As soon as the lawn greens up in the spring, allow it to grow to its maximum mowing height, then cut it back to its minimum height, but do not remove more than one-third of its length at any one time.
• When summer arrives, allow the grass to exceed the maximum height by about one-third, then cut it back to its maximum height, again removing no more than one-third.
• Continue mowing at this height until fall, when the grass stops growing or goes dormant.