Proper mowing will greatly improve the appearance and condition of your
lawn. Likewise, improper mowing can quickly cause damage and reverse
efforts to improve the lawn. The most common mowing error is mowing too
closely. Scalping can weaken, thin, or even kill areas, especially if
done repeatedly. Following are the recommended mowing heights for our
local turfgrasses:
Centipede 1.5 to
2.0 inches
St. Augustine 2.0 to 3.0
inches
Bermuda
.5 to 1.0 inches
Zoysia .75 to 1.0 inches
Ryegrass 2.0
inches
Do not allow the grass to grow too high between cuttings. The rule of
thumb is to not remove more than one third of the length of the grass at
one time. In other words, if you are maintaining your Centipede lawn at
two inches, don't let it grow higher than three inches before you mow. St.
Augustine grows very fast and requires more frequent mowings. During the
height of the growing season, it is best to mow weekly if possible.
Avoid mowing when the grass is wet. This can spread fungus throughout the
lawn if any is present, and makes a mess of the undersides of your mower.
Keeping a sharp blade on the mower will give a cleaner cut and can also help
discourage attacks from lawn diseases, which can more easily infect blades
through "ragged cuts" caused by dull mower blades.
To bag or not to bag?
Dropping or mulching your grass clippings back into your lawn is fine, and
re-cycles some nutrients back to the lawn. However, there are some times
when bagging the clippings is recommended. These include situations where there
are many weeds which are seeding in the lawn (you don't want to re-seed the
weeds) and when there is a heavy cover of leaves or pine straw on the lawn (they
do not contribute nutritionally and can add to thatch problems). Other
than in those situations, dropping clippings is fine, and less time consuming
for you.
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