Backyard Reflections

With the summer months coming along, it’s high time to mow your lawn to ensure that it remains pristine and beautiful for the seasons to come. However, mowing isn’t a straightforward job that you can just do right off the bat. Your landscape services expert would tell you that it’s more than just running your lawnmower over the grass and getting it over with. In fact, this could be the cause of issues, such as cutting the lawn too short, or too long between the mowings. In turn, it results in an unkempt lawn, with clumps everywhere, yellow grass, and a bad start to the growing summer season. Not to mention that this reduces your home’s curb appeal as neighbors come across your curb. 

In today’s post, the top landscaping and mowing expert in your area, Backyard Reflections, shares professional summer mowing tips to get the most out of the growing season.

Mowing During the Summer

Since summer is in full swing, the temperature is starting to get warmer, and rain is starting to become a rare occurrence. During this time, you might notice your lawn drying up due to the heat, so you’re eager to take care of your lawn as soon as possible. However, you need to ensure that you don’t commit the worst mistake of summertime mowing as stated by your landscape design expert, which is cutting it short.

While it may be unfortunate, it’s understandable why homeowners tend to make this mistake. One would think that they would have to mow their lawn less frequently when they trim it close. This is still a valid approach for homeowners who don’t mind how their lawn looks. However, if you’re looking to make your lawn look the best it can be, then there are other ways to do so. Mowing short is the worst thing you can do to your lawn, cutting it from eight inches high, to two inches short. No amount of fertilizer can help your lawn recover from that.

Mowing Height

Once the heat starts to sink in, you’ll need your lawn to get to the summertime mowing height. Your landscape design expert would recommend getting it to around three to four inches tall. Not two, not 2.5, not 2.95 inches either. Your absolute minimum should be three inches. If your lawnmower can cut a four-inch hedge to three inches, then by all means, go for it.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should mow your lawn at the 3rd or 4th setting. Usually, most lawnmowers will cut near 3.5 to 4 inches at the maximum setting, which is why we generally recommend setting your lawnmower there. The best way to tell how high your lawnmower is going is to set your lawnmower on a flat surface, like the sidewalk, or your driveway, and measure the distance from the mower blades to the ground.

The reason your landscape expert will tell you that mowing your lawn short is a bad idea in all aspects is that it requires more maintenance, despite having to mow it “less frequently”. This is because it will require more fertilizer, water, more weed control, and basically twice of everything that a four-inch lawn requires to keep it healthy.

If ever you plan to cut your lawn short, don’t do it in the summer months. We personally recommend doing this during the spring and fall months. Generally, the last of the mowing season when all of the leaves have dropped, and the first mowing of the season when the lawn starts to grow is the ideal time you should mow at around 2.5 inches. It also goes without saying that you should find a lawnmower that you can use with confidence as well.

Mowing Frequency

Your landscape expert would tell you that most mowing companies recommend doing it once a week. While this isn’t optimal, it isn’t a bad rule of thumb as well. This is because mowing companies have a schedule set in stone, and it is very hard to mow with a flexible schedule, for example, five days in the spring, or ten days in the summer season. It’s just something that isn’t practical for your mowing company to do.

However, this is a totally different story if you’re mowing your lawn on your own. In this case, you should definitely go for a flexible schedule since you’re the one in full control. You wouldn’t want your lawn to grow eight inches a week in the spring and only mow it once a week. Aside from reducing your home’s curb appeal, it doesn’t bode well for your lawn as well. This is because when you trim a tall lawn, which is 10 inches for example, down to three inches, you’re cutting off 70% of the leaf tissue, which is harmful to your lawn’s health. 

The 1/3 Rule

The 1/3 rule states that the best time to mow your lawn is when you’re sure that you aren’t cutting off more than 1/3rd of the leaf tissue at any given time. This means that if you have a six-inch tall lawn, only 3.5 to four inches should be left when you’re done mowing it down. While it seems taxing and a bit excessive, this ensures that your lawn stays healthy and beautiful for the years to come.

During the springtime, you might find yourself mowing every four to five days. In the summer, you might mow every 10 days, especially if it’s hot outside. While this isn’t a rule that’s set in stone, the key thing to remember when mowing your lawn is not to chop your lawn short when it’s extremely long. The best thing to do so in this situation is to chop it off in increments. For instance, if you have a 12-inch lawn, mow it tall, then trim it down slowly as you can as the days go on to its regular height.

Do you seek professional help in improving your outdoor living space? Turn to Backyard Reflections! We offer premium landscape services that will transform your dreams into reality. We have been in the landscape design-build industry for over 20 years! Call us at  (218) 454-1065 or request a consultation via our contact form.