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I just purchased my first home and it has a gorgeous lawn. I want to make sure I maintain it properly, but I also want to be environmentally friendly. How often should I mow my lawn?
Maintaining the lawn can make or split up your home ’s curb appeal . hold grass green drive planning and effort . Regular watering and seasonal feeding are important , but proper mowing is also all-important for achieving a beautiful lawn . Not only does mow make the weed front tidy , but it also helps keep it goodly .
Regular mowing is cardinal to a thriving lawn , but the question remains : How often should you mow your lawn ? The response depends on many factors , include the mintage of green goddess you have , the season , and the prevailing weather . mow too infrequently can leave your lawn looking scruffy , butmowing your lawntoo often can have damaging issue for the well - being of your grass . The challenge is finding the happy medium . To reckon out how often you should pout your lawn , pay off close attention to your grass ( its elevation , its rate of growth , and its overall wellness ) and keep the come after guidelines in mind .
How often a lawn needs to be mowed depends on the time of year.
grow season are incredibly important in ascertain how often you should cut your grass . unlike grass specieshave dissimilar idealistic growing conditions . Warm - season species , such as Bermuda grass and zoysia grass , do most of their develop in the summertime calendar month and are well befit for regions with lovesome summer and modest winters . The more temperature - durable cool - season species , such as Kentucky bluegrass and recurrent rye grass , grow the most in early outflow and fall .
apparently , supergrass requires more frequent mowing during itsgrowing time of year . A rule of thumb for a well - manicured lawn is to mow once a week during the growing season . ( If you ’ve opted for agrass choice , such as trefoil or prairie grass , you ’ll postulate to mow much less often . )
Grass height and growth rate should also factor into mowing frequency.
Even during a lawn ’s growing season , growth ratecan be varying . yield care to the height of your grass and the speed at which it ’s growing , and adjust your mop schedule accordingly . For instance , if it has n’t rained for a while , your grass is probably growing more slowly and may not need to be mowed as oftentimes . To persist on the ripe track , remember the one - third rule : Never cut off more than one - third of the length of a blade of Gunter Grass . So , if you want to keep your grass at 2.5 to 3 inch in height ( a typical range for cool - season grasses ) , you should hold off to mop until your lawn is over the 3 - column inch mark . If you need to grow the lawn out , consider setting the mower blades to a higher level so you ’ll be cutting off less of each blade .
Many cistron can affect growth rates . Some significant ones to keep in mind are rain and climate . During times of limited rainfall , you may require to mow the lawn less frequently to insure that the grass retains the pocket-sized amount of moisture it is receive . Cutting back on mowing will facilitate conserve water and keep your lawn healthy .
Mowing your lawn too short or too often can stress the grass.
While cut down the lawn is a time - honored suburban ritual , mowing too often or shorten the lawn too short can have damaging effects on its wellness . When grass is too short , it photosynthesizes less efficaciously , and this affects its admittance to nutrients . As a solvent , a too - scant lawn lead its energy toward steel growth to ameliorate photosynthesis , leaving less energy for expand its origin system . Cutting the lawn too short or mow too frequently also stamp down water conservation , andshorter lawnsare more prostrate to grass .
Longer skunk is in general healthier grass . Longer steel think that less sunshine hit the soil , preventing weeds from gain land . As well , grandiloquent grass tends to have longer roots , so it ’s well atdrawing nutrients from the soiland withstanding drought .
Special care should be taken when mowing after it rains or during a drought.
Avoid mowing the lawn powerful after it rains . Mowing a wet lawncan be dangerous , and it ’s also high-risk for both the lawn mower and the lawn . First of all , the operator could mistake on the wet grass and become spite ; if using a twilled mower , that person could be at risk of electrocution . The lawn lawn mower itself can be affected by water infiltration , and the wet grass can congest up the mower blades , forcing the motor to work out harder . And then there are the consequences for the lawn : Running a lawn mower over sozzled grass can wad the land , rive out shallow roots , and leave unsightly groove . Also , when forage is wet , the lawn mower blades cut unevenly , resulting in a rag - sounding lawn and locoweed that ’s more susceptible to pests and disease .
If you last in a drouth - prone area , keep cut down to a minimum . As name above , marvellous grass blade provide tad for the root and ground and help the lawn retain water , which will help thin down on irrigation . In general , it ’s a great idea to mow less and set the mower steel height a minute higher than common during a drought .
Only certain conditions warrant weekly mowing.
cut down the lawn is a flake more complicated than simply pull out the lawn lawn mower each Saturday morning . Before you start it up , regard whether your weed is a warm- or cool - time of year species — in other words , is it in its tiptop growing flow ? Also take into history the amount of rain that has fallen late and the current length of your grass . In oecumenical , coolheaded - season Gunter Grass should be hold between 2.5 and 3 inches in high spirits . If your grass is foresighted enough that you could foreshorten it back by one - third and it will still be in that sweet spot , grab that lawn mower and get to workplace !
For those who live in places with high rain , mowing may be a hebdomadary ritual if the grass typically produce in tiptop by one - third each week . For people living in drouth zones , mowing the lawn may be only a monthly chore . You might need to do a small genial gymnastic exercise to come up with your lawn - mowing schedule , but stick to these crown is helpful .
Waiting too long between each mow can also cause problems.
Waiting too long to cut the forage makes your property look quaggy and can be detrimental to the health of your grass . Overly tall blade hinder air flow , which can lead to fungous disease , and discourage the constitution of Modern shoot , which makes the lawn thinner . Because cutting tall grass can cause the lawn lawn mower to congest and overheat , it can also increase wearable and tear on the lawn mower itself .
If you ’ve have your lawn get too long , cut it drastically in one fell slide can transport the skunk into shock , which makes it more susceptible to disease and pests . Instead , edit out it gradually over several mowings until you reach the desire height .
Final Thoughts
Lawns and landscaping are a vital part of curbing appeal . But hold a lush , unripened lawn takes know - how and effort — admit regular mowing . To devise a cut down schedule , it is important to consider the dope species you have , the climate in your orbit , the prevail conditions , and the worldwide wellness of your lawn .
Mowing too frequently or mowing the lawn too short can result in sorry outcomes , admit diseased grass , green goddess increment , poor conservation of water system , yellow eatage , and weakened root systems . While there is no perfect frequency for mowing the lawn , canvas your lawn and dumbfound to theone - third ruler — fix sure that you ’re cutting off no more than one - third of the blades ’ height — will help keep your lawn looking its greenest !
Our Best Advice for Beginner Gardeners
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We ’ll help you set up your first garden — whether that ’s a few pots on your terrace , a parent bed , or an in - ground patch out back — and take the veracious plants for your dirt and region .
Photo: istockphoto.com
Photo: istockphoto.com
