Mowing Your
Lawn
Proper Mowing
Mowing Height
Mowing Frequency
Scalping
Blade
Sharpness
Improved Mowing Practices
Clippings
Be Green:
Grasscycle Your Lawn
How to
Tell You Need to Change Your Mowing Practice Proper
Mowing Proper
mowing, along with proper watering, can be the most critical factor
in the appearance of a lawn. Good mowing techniques not only enhance
the appearance of the lawn, but also increases the turfgrass
vigor.
Mowing
Height
Turfgrass
stressed by mowing too low is more prone to disease, weed invasion,
drought and traffic stress. Removal of most of the leaf blade limits
food production. Limited food production decreases root, thizome,
and stolon growth. Plants with limited food production and a limited
root system will not have vigorous growth. A vigorous, dense
turfgrass area is one of the best defenses against weed invasion.
Weak grass plants with a limited root system are more prone to
drought damage. It is particularly important to mow high during dry
weather. Mowing height varies for different turfgrass
species: -
Many turfgrasses such as
Kentucky bluegrass should be cut at 2 1/2 to 3
inches. -
Bentgrass and bermuda
grass should be cut at 1 to 1 1/2 inches. -
Determine the type of
turfgrass in a lawn before recommending mowing
heights.
Mowing
Frequency The
second critical factor is mowing the lawn on a frequent
basis -
The grass should be mowed
so that no more than 1/3 of the leaf blade is
removed. -
If the desired height is
3", mow the grass when it has grown to 4". -
Mowing frequency will
change throughout the year with different weather
patterns. -
Cool season grasses such
as Kentucky bluegrass may require mowing twice a week in the
spring, but only every 7-10 days in the summer. -
Warm season grasses such
as Bermuda grass may need more frequent mowing in the summer than
in the fall or spring.
ScalpingWhen a
lawn is allowed to grow too high and then mown too low, excess leaf
blade tissue is removed. Such "scalping" of the lawn can cause
severe visual damage. More importantly, scalping shocks the grass
plants and growth slows or stops, limiting the vigor of the turf. A
scalped lawn may dry out quickly from drought, or may develop
unusual weed and disease problems. Blade
Sharpness A dull
mower blade shreds the tips of the grass blades. The shredding opens
the ends of the leaf blades for increased moisture loss and
potentially provides a site for disease invasion. Lawns cut with a
dull mower blade may have an overall white appearance from the
shredded grass blades.
Improved Mowing Practices
Mowing
during the heat of the day during hot weather may cause the lawn to
brown. It is best to mow during the cooler part of the day. And
leave your grass clippings on the grass.
Clippings
When
grass is mowed frequently, clippings are small and degrade rapidly.
Recycle plant nutrients by returning clippings to the lawn rather
than bagging them. Be Green:
Grasscycle Your Lawn As the
world observed Earth Day on April 22, many U.S. homeowners did their
part for the environment in their own backyards by grasscycling.
Grasscycling or leaving grass clippings on the lawn when you mow,
saves time, landfill space and nurtures the soil. The Professional
Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) coined the term and
educates the public about it's benefits. "About 20
percent of all waste that goes into a landfill is landscape debris
and about half of that is simply grass clippings," says Michael
Gaffney, PLCAA's technical resource specialist. "With yard waste
bans in place in many areas of the country, grasscycling offers you
an alternative, and at the same time increases the health and beauty
of your lawn." Grass
clippings are 85 percent water, decompose rapidly, and return
nutrients to the soil with no thatch buildup. They actually return
20 percent of their nitrogen to the soil to feed the lawn's root
system. And grasscycling can be practiced year-round with most
mowers. "The key
is to follow the one-third rule when you mow-never remove more than
one third of the grass leaf blade at any one mowing," says Gaffney.
He recommends cutting the grass when dry and keeping the lawn mower
blade sharpened properly. How to Tell You
Need to Change Your Mowing Practices Symptoms
that indicate mowing practices require change are:
-
Frayed grass
blades -
Excess clumps of
clippings -
Tall grass mowed short
resulting in a yellow color -
Short grass with thin
areas and weeds
Free 14
Point Lawn Analysis from TruGreen Chemlawn
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