Are You Killing Your Lawn by Cutting it Too Short? | Spider Lawn & Landscape (2024)

FAQs

Are You Killing Your Lawn by Cutting it Too Short? | Spider Lawn & Landscape? ›

When they are too short, the grass is harmed by the heat of the sun and is exposed to too much sunlight. Additionally, the shorter grass then allots more energy toward growing the blades instead of creating a deeper root system. In turn, this weakens your grass, blades, roots, and the overall structure of the lawn.

Mowing too short (“scalping”) can have some pretty serious repercussions; it can weaken and even kill your lawn. Additionally, cutting too short will limit the grass's nutrient supply, giving weeds free reign.

Short grass blades can lead to bare patches in the lawn, leaving it more susceptible to weeds and disease. You could also be accidentally mowing the crown of the grass, which then can kill it. So how short is too short? A good rule of thumb is to mow up to 1/3 of the blade at each mowing.

Annually, gas-powered lawn mowers create about 80,000 tons of greenhouse gases and use 151 million litres (4 million gallons) of gasoline. There is fuel spillage and oil that ends up in the waterways or soil and the mowers themselves have to be replaced and maintained.

Slowly cutting your grass shorter will allow the lawn to winter well without the shock of being cut all off at once. The proper cutting technique requires that you do not take off more than one-third of the grass blade during a single mowing. People refer to this as the one-third rule.

A mowing height between 2.5 to 3 inches is best for most of the season, except during summer stresses when the lawn mowing height should be raised one-half inch to mow at 3 to 3.5 inches. Raising the mowing height provides more insulation from summer heat and reduces water loss from your soil.

Aim to mow regularly, so you only need to remove a small amount each time – never take off more than one-third of the grass height. As a general rule, aim to keep the grass at the following heights: 13–25mm (½–1in) in summer and up to 40mm (1½in) in spring and autumn for ordinary domestic lawns.

When grass isn't cut, it grows taller and begins to clump together. This causes the stems to become woody. Tallgrass consumes more nutrients from the soil and weakens the lawn. This causes patches across the lawn and eventually, it will be overrun by weeds and insects, becoming very unhealthy grass.

Height. For a typical residential Midwest lawn, maintain a height of 3 inches or higher. Taller grass shades out weed seeds and keeps soil cooler. Taller grass means longer roots and greater ability to withstand drought and reach nutrients.

Is there a wrong way to mow a lawn? ›

Don't Mow Too Low

“Scalping” a lawn – or mowing off more than the suggested ⅓ of the height – is the number one lawn care mistake that homeowners make. They do it thinking it will help them mow less often.

Side benefits of mowing less, year-round

Save water while increasing drought tolerance: Taller grass tends to have deeper roots and less water evaporates from the soil. Better conditions for other invertebrates like lacewings and fireflies. They prefer longer grass.

In reference to lawn or turf, HOC is an acronym for “height of cut”. Cool season grasses such as Heat Wave, Macho Mix, Estate Mix, Blue Wave and Stadium Special, the optimum height of cut is between 3-4 inches. During the cooler spring and fall seasons, the mowing height can be kept closer to three inches.

Although a low-cut, manicured lawn might seem ideal, turf grass actually does better in the summer heat when you let it grow a bit. Longer shoots mean deeper roots, which the lawn needs to suck up whatever moisture is in the soil. A higher lawn also shades the soil, minimizing evaporation.

The ideal grass height for winter is between 2 inches and 2.5 inches. This keeps grass short enough to resist disease spread, but not so short that it becomes overly stressed by cold temperatures.

If you mow your lawn down too low, whether it is once a month or once a day, you will destroy your lawn. There is an art to achieving a healthy lawn with each and every mow. Consider the one-third rule, used among professionals. This rule states that you should never cut more than one-third of the lawn's height.

If your lawn is just starting to turn green, you're safe to scalp. If your lawn is mostly green, you can still scalp, but just know it'll take a few weeks to recover.

The ideal length of your lawn depends on your climate, but most experts agree you should keep your grass between 2 1/2 inches to three inches long, with the last cut of the season remaining the same.

If you cut the blade off completely, you expose the grass stem, which is brown in color. A lawn is considered scalped when there are brown patches scattered throughout it, leaving large sections of your lawn without any green blade cover. Scalping your lawn makes it very hard for the grass to survive and stay healthy.