Mowing & Watering Guides

Don’t be afraid to use one of the highest settings. Mower manufacturers put them on the deck for our zone and grasses, Blue, Rye, and Fescue.

*When a lawn is cut too short it will put all of its energy into blade growth at the expense of its roots, making it surge in blade growth in favorable conditions compared to a lawn that is cut right. 

• Mow often enough to avoid removing more than one-third of the grass blade height per cutting.
• Mow your lawn high.
• Keep the blades sharp enough to prevent a ragged appearance.
• Return clippings.
• Mow in a different pattern each time to reduce wear, compaction, and grain.
• If you get behind in mowing, raise the mowing height so as not to remove more than one-third of the leaf blade, then gradually reduce the mowing height in subsequent weeks.
  • Lawn growth regulation program available ▶ 

• Avoid mowing the lawn during extreme heat. The optimum time is in cooler temperatures in the evening.
• Over the hottest summer months, you should be able to get away with minimal lawn mowing just nipping the tops.
• Keeping the blades of grass as longer creates a microclimate by shading the soil beneath them and slowing down the loss of any moisture trapped in the root or the soil.

Water your lawn in the AM HOURS (12 A.M. TO 12 P.M.), 60 minutes or more per zone. 1 to 1-1/2 inches a week is needed during periods of no rain. Do not wait until the lawn looks like it needs water. Do not water in the afternoon/evening (specifically 3-7 p.m.). This will help promote fungus by extending the time the lawn stays damp.  If you don’t have time in the morning hours, then you can pick up a timer that attaches to your garden hose. If you can’t water in the A.M. watering after dark is acceptable. Just don't prolong the time the lawn would naturally sit dewy and damp by starting too early.

Watering lightly in shorter intervals weakens the grass because the roots do not search out water, enabling the grass to better deal with extreme periods of weather. Watering after your lawn looks like it needs it will take much more water and effort to get it back to normal because it has already been damaged. Your lawn, just like all organisms, is doing a balancing act. It has to resist diseases and insects that are attacking constantly. By watering in the afternoon/evening, you extend the time your lawn sits damp. This gives disease pathogens (fungus) already in your lawn an ideal environment, and when hot you will lose a measurable amount to evaporation.