There is nothing like the loud purr of a lawn mower engine in the morning. Teenagers may hate it, but everybody appreciates a well-maintained green lawn whether they know it or not. But, those teenagers, although moody, may be on to something – should we listen to them for once?
Perhaps, just this once, since mowing a lawn too often is an issue but thankfully not a pain in the grass to fix.
First, we need to figure out how often is too often. Well, it depends on a few factors like how you like your grass, short or long? Try to decide on that. However, the general range of time for mowing your lawn should be around three to seven days. But keep in mind, no one lawn grows the same, and that’s why it is important to go over some standard ground rules to help ensure you have the grass you want.
The ground rules
Rule number one, mowing the lawn should not be scheduled, look at your grass, get close, whisper to it, and it will tell you when it’s ready. Seriously though, the length of the grass is what indicates if a cut is needed. In most cases, only once your grass is over 2.5 inches can you start looking at your lawn mower. For those who like their grass a little longer, you can wait until about 4.5 inches.
Rule number two is crucial to the growth and condition of your lawn — have you ever heard of “scalping”? Scalping is when you cut your lawn down more than one-third of its length. Say your grass is 4 inches, and you want to give it a nice trim so you don’t have to worry about it for the next two weeks, cutting it down to 2 inches would be considered scalping and harmful to your lawn.
The problem with scalping is that now the plant must shift all of its attention to regrowing itself rather than properly nourishing its roots and overall plant structure. The result is a less durable lawn and more weeds. This should only be done at the beginning of each growing season to clear any winter damage, as well as at the end of the season, for long grass can be pressed down by the snow and become damaged.
Take a more hands-off approach
Whether short grass or long, the key to maintaining and growing a beautiful green lawn is attentive care. So long as you let your grass grow 1/3 longer than what you’re desired length, you can give it that trim (exactly 1/3 of the blade) and be right on the mark.
It can be tempting to do your famous lawn mowing routine and work on the tan lines while basking in that smell of fresh-cut grass, but if you care about your lawn, you’re going to have to give it some space to grow.
This kind of goes back to teenagers, you don’t want to stress them out every day; otherwise, they won’t grow up so nice. Pay attention to your grass, know the length you want it at, and when it needs something, it will tell you. Otherwise, let it grow and try not to scalp it.
