Even though we have yet to see brutal summer heat as of this writing, it doesn’t mean that hot weather is that far away.
And where good lawn care and mowing is concerned just three “days” of hot weather can make a significant impact on your grass. That said, right now and through the month of August is a good time to consider the way you mow your lawn before the onset of higher temperatures.
Trust it, most lawns that begin to lose color with the coming of summer do so not because of lack of ground water, but because of simple heat stress. So knowing that you need to mow accordingly.
For instance, if you typically mow at 3 inches, add at least a quarter inch of additional height to your cut. A half inch is even better. This will help maintain good color and plant vigor while actually helping conserve surface water in the top four inches of topsoil. That’s right. The higher you leave your grass the more it acts as shade and mulch, thereby conserving available moisture underneath. Check out the above photo of turf mowed at 3 3/4 inches last June, which actually carried that color well into the hottest, driest days of August…and bounced back immediately when the September rains came.
Conversely, if you mow beneath 3 inches you’re stressing the plant unduly, while allowing the sun more direct access to your topsoil, thereby evaporating available moisture.
This is considered “good mowing” by just about every resource available, including online information available from research schools of agronomy…at Purdue, Ohio State and Penn State University.
If you want a healthier, more colorful lawn come August and September, consider some good mowing practices now, ahead of the hot dry weather that’s usually sure to come. For more information, feel free to call the professionals at Ever-Green. We can tell you all you need to know, and better…we can even show you here on our website!
