Mowing isn’t hard, you simply make sure your mower is gassed up and start cutting away, right? Well. not quite. We hear from homeowners all the time that they are not happy with the way that their grass is growing and then immediately jump to the chemicals being applied to it as the problem, too many, too little, too often, not often enough, the wrong concoction, etc. While that might be the case in some instances, the way that you mow your grass often will have a greater effect on your lawn’s health than anything else.

Your Mower

When was the last time you sharpened your mower’s blades? If you are currently thinking, “I’m supposed to sharpen those?” You’re not alone. Many people find it shocking that you should sharpen your mower blades two times a season. Once before you mow for the first time of the season and about halfway through the season. This ensures that your grass is evenly cut and your lawn is beautiful until it’s time to cut it again. You wouldn’t shave with a dull razor or cut your hair with dull scissors, so why would you treat your lawn any differently?

Grass Height

During the Spring, your grass length should be 3.5 inches. During the Summer, your grass should be 4 inches tall. Leaving your grass a little longer to ensure that you don’t scalp your yard. If you cut your grass too short you might end up drying it out too much and instead of looking out a a beautiful green lawn, you’ll just see brown, brown, and more brown. If you need to cut more than 1/3 of the total grass height off your lawn, cut it multiple times, lowering the mower deck each time until you are at the proper length for the season.

Bagging Your Grass Clippings

It is important to bag your grass clippings after you mow so that your grass can continue to receive the proper amount of sunlight, rain/water, and oxygen. Alternatively you can mow with a composting mower that will cut the grass clippings into small enough pieces that it won’t harm your grass, in fact it will continue to fertilize it.

Improve Your Grass Health

Mowing isn’t enough on it’s own, but it is a great start to a healthy lawn.

Aerate & Overseed

It is important to aerate your lawn to break up the thatch and allow nutrients to get to the grass roots. You can do this in the Spring or the Fall, but not in the Summer. When you aerate, you also want to overseed so that you can encourage new, healthy growth. You can overseed in the the Fall and the grass seed will stay on the grown and germinate in the Spring when the ground temperature reaches 50 degrees.

Watering

Sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate and the grass starts to dry out. If it hasn’t rained for a week, you might consider watering. If you walk across your lawn and your footprints don’t disappear because the grass doesn’t spring back, it’s time to water. Most lawns need about an inch of rain a week, which results in wetting the top 6-8 inches of top soil beneath the grass. You can break up the waterings in to two 1/2 waterings throughout the week. It is important to check your top soil after every 15 minutes of watering to see what your progress is. This will help you determine how long to water in the future. The best time to water is before 10am when the wind is the calmest and the sun isn’t drying up the grass yet, allowing the water to soak into the soil.

Fertilization

It is important to fertilize your lawn throughout the season to prevent weed growth and encourage grass growth throughout the season. Choose a fertilizer that is right for your grass and the time of year and be sure to apply regularly.

Need Help?

Norwalk Seasonal Services offers mowing, aeration and overseeeding, and fertilization services throughout the Des Moines Metro. Give us a call or fill out a form for a free quote!