Best Lawn Mowing Methods: Have the Greenest, Thickest Lawn in Town FollowingThese Tips.
 (Read 500+ times)
By Steve Habib
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How to correctly set the mower height for Healthy Lawn.
Everybody knows somebody who joyfully mows his lawn down to a mere ½ inch and keeps it that way. Unless his yard is composed of golf-course green-worthy Bermuda grass, he is making a big mistake-one that you can avoid!
Lawn mowing height has a lot to do with overall lawn health. Leave you grass too high, and risk putting undue stress on it when you mow it. Leave the grass too short, and weed and insect problems attack in full force. Mowing height does matter.
Why Mowing Height Affects Grass Health
Mowing height affects grass health in several ways. Lawns are composed of thousands of interconnected plants. Most lawn grasses are plants with stems running across the ground, and leaves growing upwards.
Mowing grass too short can actually kill the plant by chewing up the grass stem-from which the nice, leafy, green lawn sprouts. Mowing grass too short also deprives grass of the leaves that produce food for the plant, allowing it grow and stay vigorous.
The 1/3 Rule
Whenever you mow your grass, you never want to remove any more than 1/3 of the blade at a time. Removing more of the blade will put stress on the plant, and cause the root system to recede in the soil.
Grass root length and depth is directly related to the top height of the plant. If you remove more than 1/3 of the grass leaf, the plant cannot produce enough food to support the root system, and it will start to shrink.
That, in turn, will make the lawn less healthy, overall, and will open the door to pest and disease problems. It is better to keep the grass at a relatively constant height-never letting it get too tall or too short.
Mowing Height and Pests and Diseases
Depending upon the species of grass in your yard, there is an optimum constant height for the plant. Overall, maintaining the proper height helps control weeds. Grass at the right height will "shade out" weed seeds that need sunlight to sprout.
Mowing too short allows sunlight to hit the surface of the soil, and gives free reign to weed seeds. Below are some typical healthy mowing heights for grasses as reported by the Better Lawn and Turf Institute:
Bluegrass: 2 inches
Perennial ryegrass: 2 inches
Tall fescue: 2 inches
Fine fescue: 2 inches
St. Augustine: 2 inches
Buffalograss: 2 inches
Bermuda: 1.5 inches
Zoysia: 1.5 inches
Centipede: 1.5 inches
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Author Bio Box: Steve Habib
Steve Habib is an active gardener and researcher on the subject of growing and caring for a variety of plants. To receive our FREE BOOK "How Do Plants Grow" visit Plant and Gardening blog To learn more about Lawn Care Tips for a thick, green lawn visit here.
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