Lawn Care/Basics for Homeowners-Lawn Care/Mowing
Please select among the following topics:
(Arkansas) http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/HTML/FSA 1005.asp
(Colorado) http://www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/2015.html
(Iowa) http://www.extension.iastate.edu/newsrel/2000/apr00/apr0001.html
(Kansas) http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/2001/APR01_garden2.htm
(Michigan) http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1097.pdf
(Missouri) http://outreach.missouri.edu/extensioninfoline/youth&family/mowing_safety_tips.html
(North Dakota) http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/landscap/h1034w.htm
(Ohio) http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg fact/1000/1190.html
(Pennsylvania) http://www.agronomy.psu.edu/Extension/Turf/Mowing.html
(South Carolina) http://www.clemson.edu/psapublishing/Pages/AGENG/IL78.pdf
(Virginia) http://www.ext.vt.edu/news/releases/081001/mower.html
(West Virginia) http://www.wvu.edu/~exten/infores/pubs/safety/sa9.pdf
Mowing, irrigation, and fertilization are the primary tasks required for a good turfgrass quality. And these activities are highly interrelated. Mowing is one of the most important cultural practices a homeowner can perform. Properly mowed lawns have fewer weed populations, better moisture stress tolerance and generally better quality than lawns not properly mowed.
Mowing is the most basic cultural practice, and it also probably one of the most costly and time-consuming. In most professionally maintained turf areas, 30% to 50% of the annual budget is spent either directly or indirectly on mowing.
In a strictly biological sense, mowing is quite destructive to plants, however, turfgrasses apparently evolved through the selective pressure of grazing animals to better overcome these detrimental effects than other species Therefore, mowing turfgrasses regularly to maintain top growth within specific limits can control undesirable vegetation that cannot tolerate the mowing.
The
effective mowing height is the height of the plants immediately following
mowing. Each turf species has a characteristic mowing height tolerance range.
Mowing at heights above this range result
in poor quality turf and where scalping
occurs below the desired mowing height range.
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| Image Source: Texas A&M Turfgrass Program |
As a rule, mowing at or near the bottom of its recommended range produces a plant that is aesthetically more pleasing but is less tolerant of environmental stresses and is more disease prone. The plant must manufacture sugars through photosynthesis in their leaves in order to develop into a high quality lawn. Therefore, turfgrasses mowed at very low heights have limited leaf area necessary to maintain good plant vigor.
The higher the cut, the deeper and larger the root system and a lawn mowed
too short will have a shallow root system with little total root mass, a problem
during summer stress periods. Closely mowed lawns exhibit stress first when
soil moisture becomes limiting. Higher mowing heights during hot weather also
keeps soil temperatures cooler, preserving soil moisture. Higher mowing heights
also result in fewer weeds per unit area since higher grass provides more
shading and competition to the weed seedlings
preventing them from becoming established. Typical recommended mowing heights
of cool season turfgrasses in the eastern
Midwest are:
| Mowing Heights During | ||
|---|---|---|
| Turfgrass Species | Spring and Fall | Summer Stress Periods |
| Kentucky bluegrass | 2.0 - 2.5 | 2.5 - 3.0 |
| Perennial ryegrass | 2.0 - 2.5 | 2.5 - 3.0 |
| Fine Fescues | 2.0 - 2.5 | 2.5 - 3.0 |
| Tall Fescue | 2.5 - 3.0 | 2.5 - 3.0 |
As a general guide, mowing should be frequent enough that no more than one-third of the grass shoot is removed in one mowing. For example, if Kentucky bluegrass is normally mowed at 2 inches, the height should not be allowed to grow beyond 3 inches before it is mowed back to 2 inches. During periods of active growth, lawns may require mowing more than once per week. If extended wet periods prevent timely mowing and the turfgrass gets excessively tall, mow the lawn at the highest mower setting. Lower the mower setting to the desired height once the clippings dry and then mow the lawn a second time in a different direction.
Infrequently
mowed turf is generally coarser and less dense than turf receiving more frequent
mowings. Very frequent mowing, however, can result in less rooting and reduced
rhizome growth, setting the plant up for
environmental stress. Since the orientation of the turfgrass after mowing
influences the light reflections from the turf surface, mowing direction should
be varied with each successive mowing to encourage the upright growth of shoots.
Bringing together these recommendations, let your grass stay at the recommended height (between 2 and three inches in the Midwest with recommended seasonal variations) and remove no more than one third of the growth.
Use the mower that creats the least pollution and adds the most nourishment to you lawn. This effectively changes the balance sheet for your lawn mower from a net negative to a net positive.
As to type of mower this will usually mean the following in order of desirability, depending on the size of your lawn:
Among these various types the mulching mower variant is preferable, as it minces your grass clipping so finely that they become a useful fertilizer that can supply 10 to 20 per cent of your overall needs.
