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| | Adjusting your mower's height to the right level for your type of grass makes all the difference in the world for a beautiful lawn |
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| | Example of a well-maintained lawn |
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Mowing the lawn correctly improves the health and appearance of any lawn. Even older grass varieties growing in less than ideal soil respond to modern mowing practices.
Follow these mowing tips to help achieve a beautiful lawn :
- Sharpen the mower blade at least twice a season. Dull Blades increase plant stress by butchering the foilage rather than cleanly cutting it. The frayed tips turn brown, losing moisture and inviting disease.
- Don't mow wet grass. It doesn't cut evenly, and the clippings clump in the mower bell and on the turf. Walking on wet grass bruises it and spreads fungal disease to healthy grass. Note: Mowing wet grass also dulls the blade.
- Mow lightly and often. Reduce stress on the grass plants by cutting only 1/3 of each blade with each mowing. Although this requires more frequent mowing, you're not forcing it to constantly regrow so much of its energy-collecting foilage.
- Mow tall. Tall grass shades and cools the soil, discourages weeds and shelters beneficial ants and ground spiders that prey on pest insect eggs in the turf.
- Leave the clippings. A season's grass clippings slowly and consistently contribute as much nitrogen as a typical applicaton of fertilizer.
- Vary the mowing pattern. Repeated walking over the same area promotes soil compaction. Prevent wear patterns by mowing horizontally one week, vertically the next, then diagonally.
Recommended mower heights for home lawns
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Warm Season Grass |
Spring/Fall Height |
Summer Height |
| Bermudagrass |
1 1/2 " |
2" |
| Centipede grass |
1" |
2" |
| St. Augustine grass |
1" |
3" |
| Zoyia grass |
1- 1 1/2 " |
1 1/2 - 2" |
Follow these tips and your lawn will look greener, stay thicker, resist weeds more effectively and hold up better in adverse weather.
For more information on your lawn, contact your horticulture agent in Rapides Parish - Terry Washington at (318) 767-3968 or twashington@agcenter.lsu.edu
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