How Often To Cut The Grass? [My Plan For A Lush Lawn]
Every homeowner wants their lawn to be green and lush. But it is not always the easiest task. Having a proper mowing schedule is the key to success.
You may already know that normal growth is one of the most significant factors that determine the color of your grass. Your grass may turn yellow or brown over time unless it is growing.
Therefore, it is essential to mow your lawn according to its growth rate. Hence, if your grass grows quickly, you need to cut it more often. The faster your lawn grows, the more cutting it needs to stay green.
How often should you cut your grass? Cutting your lawn once per week is enough for most varieties of grass, some fast-growing varieties will need to be cut more often. If your lawn grows slowly you may get away with mowing it only once every 10 days or 2 weeks.
The main thing to remember is that you should never cut off more than 1/3 of the grass blade.
Check out the mowing techniques I actually use for a lush lawn.
How Often Do You Need To Cut The Grass?
There are no restrictions on how often you may cut your grass, and it is difficult to determine the correct frequency. It varies depending on the region you live, the variety of grass, and it changes from year to year.
For example, if you live in the south, due to the climate differences, your lawn will probably need to be cut more often than that in the north.
The mowing frequency also depends on your personal preference. So you may cut your grass more often if you want it to be short. This means it will vary from person to person and lawn to lawn.
The grass needs three vital elements for its normal growth: water, heat, and nutrients. They determine the speed of grass growth, and they are different in different regions.
How Long Should You Cut Your Grass?
When mowing your lawn, you need to follow the one-third rule. It says that you should not cut off more than 1/3 of the grass blade. Still, every grass type has its perfect height at which it stays healthiest and looks best, and you need to try to maintain it as closely as possible.
Both cutting the grass too short and letting it grow too tall can damage your lawn. That’s why following the one-third rule is so important. Usually, it means you should cut your grass about once a week.
Otherwise, mowing can be harmful to your lawn, especially if you cut it too short within too short of a time frame. For this reason, you need to be consistent about cutting your grass. So if you get it too long, change the height of your lawnmower’ blades so as not to cut off more than 1/3 of the grass blade.
The type of grass also plays a role in estimating the optimal height of your lawn. You will only make the situation worse if you choose to cut the grass less frequently because of the browning you see.
You will cut off the healthiest part of the grass blade if you let your grass grow longer than needed, as it is greenest at the top. It is not the act of mowing that damages your lawn – it is cutting too much of the grass blade.
Does Cutting Grass Encourage Growth?
Although the act of mowing can be stressful for any type of grass, it encourages grass growth as long as you perform the mowing correctly.
When you cut the grass, you reduce the surface area on its blades. Therefore, to maximize the photosynthesis processes, the plant must produce more growth after it’s been cut. As a consequence, the grass focuses its energy on runner and blade growth.
However, during stressful periods, it may be better to let your lawn grow slightly longer. It enhances energy production, so the grass can withstand drought or high temperature.
Is It Bad To Cut The Grass Every Week?
Most homeowners cut their grass every week. Mowing your lawn once a week will make the turf much denser than when cutting every two weeks. A dense turf looks better and prevents weed appearance as the weed seeds do not come into contact with the soil.
That is why you should follow the below guidelines when creating a lawn mowing schedule:
- In spring and fall, when grass growth is good, mow at least every three to five days if using a cylinder mower and at least every seven to ten days if using a rotary mower
- In dry summers, cut the grass at least once a week if using a cylinder mower and at least every two weeks if using a rotary mower
- Never cut off more than one-third of the grass blade.
Check out my article on fun solar lawn decoration ideas.
Should You Leave Grass Cuttings On The Lawn?
Grass clippings are a natural fertilizer for your lawn between routine fertilizer applications. So leaving them on the lawn is an excellent idea.
Clippings contain identical elements as the rest of your grass. They contain essential nutrients such as nitrogen and water needed for your lawn to stay healthy.
By leaving grass cuttings on the lawn, you make them decompose, releasing nutrients and moisture back into the lawn’s soil like a natural organic fertilizer. It allows your grass to stay green and healthy and grow thicker.
Does Frequent Mowing Thicken Grass?
Grass has a balance between the length of its blades and the size of its root systems. When the grass blades and the roots are in balance, the plants can handle any type of stress and stays healthier.
The tips of grass blades contain hormones that slow down the horizontal growth. For this reason, frequent mowing can help thicken your lawn. By cutting the grass, you remove these tips letting the plants grow thicker near the roots.
Can You Cut Your Grass Too Often?
You will not damage your lawn if you mow it often. More harm can be done by cutting it too infrequently. The reason for that is that many homeowners often forget to mow the lawn, letting their grass grow too long. And instead of reducing the grass height gradually, they cut off the biggest part of the grass blade.
If you have a cool-season lawn, you may need to cut it more than once a week only in spring. Once the spring growth is over, there is no need to cut it so often.
And if your grass grows so fast that you have to mow it two times a week even in summer, it means you are over-watering or over-fertilizing your lawn. Cool-season grasses typically slow down during the hottest months.
Check out my article on how often to water the grass with a sprinkler.
Can You Cut Your Grass Too Short?
Cutting grass with the appropriate frequency and at the proper height helps to maintain beautiful, healthy, and dense turf. Too low of a mowing height often leaves bare-looking spots or brown patches in the grass.
If you repeatedly cut your grass too short or scalp it, you can dangerously deplete the energy reserves of your lawn, making it vulnerable to weed invasion.
Can You Damage Your Lawn By Mowing it Too Short?
The minimum cutting height depends on the grass species, for most turf grasses, it is two to three inches. When mowing, you remove a part of the grass blades’ surface responsible for the food production through photosynthesis.
Cutting off too much of the blade surface decreases root growth, draws on stored energy in the roots, and weakens the grass. Moreover, by mowing your lawn too short, you may damage the stem tissue, giving your grass a yellow or brown appearance.
What Factors Should You Consider When Cutting Grass?
Too low cutting height is not the only factor responsible for any shearing of the turf.
You should also consider the following things:
- Make sure your mower blades are sharp enough to cleanly cut through grass blades. Dull mower blades, instead of cutting the grass, tend to tear it, leaving brownish edges vulnerable to disease.
- Grass that grows in the shade may benefit from the taller mowing height, as it receives less energy from the sunlight.
- Environmental conditions and the time of the yeas also affect the ability of your lawn to recover from short mowing. It is more resistant to stress from low mowing height in early spring or fall when the grass grows quickly.
- Before mowing, remove any excessively thick thatch formed of dead leaves, stems, or other plant parts that builds up between the soil surface and the green grass blades, as it leads to scalping.
Check out my article on lawn care for dummies.
How To Encourage Grass Recovery?
To encourage grass recovery, follow the next steps:
- Water your lawn deeply and occasionally if rainfall is inadequate.
- Adjust the cutting height to the level recommended for your grass species to prevent further damage.
- Apply a chelated iron supplement to the sheared, yellow grass.
- Re-seed the area where grass dies or fails to perk up.
Will Cutting Grass Short Kill Weeds?
Following a regular lawn care routine is an important factor in controlling lawn weeds that can take over a lawn if you follow the wrong routine and schedule. Check out my personal lawn care calendar.
Whilst it may seem like a good idea to mow your lawn more often and keep it short to fight weeds this is actually a bad idea.
When you mow your grass too short the seeds from weeds will find it easier to make their way down to the surface soil then it will be easier for them to get the sunshine they require to germinate and turn into weeds.
When you properly maintain your lawn and the grass grows nice and thick this is by far the best way to fight lawn weeds, when you grow a lush and dense lawn there will be no room for weeds to start growing as they tend to take over areas of lawns that are thin and unhealthy.
Should I Water Lawn After Mowing?
You can absolutely water your grass after you cut it and there will be no problems but this question here is should you?
It all depends on the time you mow your lawn because if you mow your lawn in the middle of the day it’s probably not a great idea to water your lawn immediately after you mow it.
This is not because it will do any harm to your lawn but because there is a good chance that most of the water will evaporate before it gets absorbed into the soil and down to the root system where it will be most beneficial to your grass.
If you mow your lawn in the middle of the day it’s probably a good idea to hold off watering for a few hours and then give it a deep water when it starts to cool down in the evening. Of course, how much this actually matters depends a whole lot on where you live and the local climate.
Conclusion
Every lawn is different, but they all need proper care and timely cutting. A well-maintained lawn makes your yard cozy and elegant. So use our tips as a guideline and create a personal lawn mowing schedule to keep your grass green and healthy!
