Mowing is a destructive process.  It is a violent act that is carried out by a gasoline-powered engine that is spinning a metal blade at great speeds.  The purpose of mowing is to literally attempt to harm a growing living organism.  It should go without saying that the act of mowing your lawn should cause it to look worse than it did before you mowed it and this is a very difficult message to convey.  In fact, it is flat out impossible.  What we can do, however, is create a message that conveys every single thing that a homeowner can do to minimize the shock to their lawns when they mow.  Here are a few issues that you should be familiar with when it comes to mowing.

 

Height

Like all things lawn care there are many different opinions when it comes to how high to mow your lawn.  In a perfect world everybody who is responsible for mowing lawns would set the mowing height on their mowers to the highest possible setting and leave it there. (of course this doesnt apply to all turf types either.)  When the grass is tall it literally shades the soil it grows from thus reducing soil temperatures.  Lower soil temperatures simply mean less crabgrass germination.  Not only does the cooler soil temperature keep annual weeds from flourishing but also a tall stand of turf grass will crowd out many broad leaf weeds before they ever become a problem.  We don’t live in a perfect world. 

Because of this it is your responsibility to always convey a message  that longer is better when it comes to your lawn.  Many homeowners and landscapers like to mow short because it gives a much neater appearance.  Very simply put, mowing short any time of year will create problems including more weeds, more crabgrass, more disease activity and a shorter root system. Often time’s customers will bring up things like golf courses and professional baseball stadiums.  Why is it that the grass is very short on the fairways and in the infield?  These turf grass systems are literally baby sat by highly paid superintendents and grounds keepers on a twenty-four hour a day basis.  With a budget that far exceeds a standard lawn care program the professional turf manager has a lot more to work with.    Our point here isn’t that having short grass is impossible but that it is a very difficult environment to achieve.