Mowing is a necessity, of course, when it comes to having a beautiful lawn. But many homeowners wonder, how often should you mow your lawn? Mow your lawn too often, and the lawn looks bare and scalped. Mow too infrequently, and the lawn looks overgrown and messy. Not to mention the possibility of weeds taking over an overgrown lawn – mowing does not just keep your lawn looking tidy; it can also keep your lawn healthy. In addition, since mowing cuts the top part of the grass — the oldest part – it can help show off the youngest and freshest part of your lawn. You may have heard of the ‘one-third rule’ in reference to lawn mowing.  This rule says that you should never remove more than one-third of the leaf blade during any one lawn mowing.  For example, if you are maintaining Kentucky Bluegrass at 3 inches mow the lawn when it grows to slightly more than 4 inches.

However, there is no one size fits all schedule when it comes to mowing your lawn, which can complicate things. So, how often should you mow your lawn? Here are the most useful lawn mowing tips you need to consider to keep your lawn beautiful and healthy.

Time of year

In the winter, especially if you live in a cold climate, your lawn will not be growing very much, if at all. During this dormant time, you generally will not need to be worrying about mowing, especially when there may be snow on your lawn! However, if you live in a milder or warmer climate, you may still need to mow your lawn in the winter, albeit most likely less often than in other times of the year.

Type of grass

There are warm season and cool season grasses, and you will need to mow more often during the grasses’ growing seasons. Cool season grasses grow the most in spring and fall, while warm season grasses grow the most in the summer.

In addition, the specific type of grass you have will affect how often you have to mow your lawn.  Generally speaking, we recommend trimming cool season grasses when they reach the height of three and a half inches, while warm season grasses should be mowed when they reach a two inch height.  Of course, the specific type of grass may make even more of a difference. While Lawn Doctor does not offer mowing as part of our extensive lawn care services, our lawn care professionals can give you lawn mowing tips like: how often should you mow your lawn.

Amount of sun the lawn receives

If you have a large lawn, with some of it under direct sunlight, with other parts under shade due to numerous trees or your house itself, you may notice that some areas of the lawn need to be mowed more often than other parts. That is because the more sunlight the grass gets, the quicker it will grow, and the more you will need to mow.

Amount of water and nutrients the lawn receives

If you are facing drought conditions in your area, your lawn will not grow as much. On the other hand, if you are able to regularly water your lawn, or you are in a rainier climate, your lawn will grow quicker. In addition, using fertilizer on your lawn will spur its growth, which means more mowing.

While mowing regularly can be a pain, it will result in a healthier, lusher lawn, and you can’t beat those benefits.