Because we have been cutting grass professionally since 1997, we know our climate pretty well. Our standard mowing practices work for all clients; whether you choose to intervene with things like fertilizer, watering/irrigation, aeration, etc. or simply leave the grass at the mercy of mother nature.
Everybody has different priorities when it comes to lawn care. Some people just want the grass cut, while others go the extra mile to keep a thick and lush turf. Here are some of our summer standards that we employ to create a healthy lawn ecosystem, maybe they can work for you as well:
- Sharp Blades: We sharpen our blades DAILY. A cleanly cut blade of grass heals quickly with minimal browning. A dull mower blade tends to rip the grass instead of slicing it, leaving it more susceptible to disease and stress.
- Mulch Clippings: We let the clippings fall and stay where they lie whenever conditions allow it. This practice recycles the nutrients and water that are present in the clippings back into the lawn. The clipping provide additional shade to root zone, keeping the soil cooler and retaining more moisture.
- 3 Inch Cut Height: The root zone tends to mirror the grass plants above. A longer lawn will have deeper roots that can tap into moisture reserves longer than low lying roots. As a bonus, longer grass provides even more shade to the root/soil zone. Extra bonus: Longer grass shades out weeds and helps the lawn win that battle as well.
- Changing Mow Patterns: Changing the pattern weekly prevents excessive traffic over the same spots reducing stress.
By adopting good mowing practices early on in the growing season you will be giving your lawn the best fighting chance during periods of heat stress and drought regardless of your other lawn maintenance habits.
That having been said, heat and drought stresses can cause our cool season grasses to go dormant. This browning of the turf is a normal survival mechanism for lawns, and a lawn can survive several weeks in a dormant state. There are ways to avoid, prevent, and help a lawn to recover from stress dormancy that I will leave for another post.
We hope that if you are reading this article you can adopt some of these practices and add them into your lawn mowing routine!