Q: We moved to another area of the country, and the lawn grass is totally different. The grass variety here would be a weed in my former lawn. It is also being mowed much lower than our old lawn, but the company doing the mowing says it is the proper height. Is it OK to mow a lawn higher?
Q: There are several reasons that lawn grasses should be mowed higher than many people actually mow their grass. The taller the lawn grass is allowed to grow, the fewer chemical products will be required to keep it healthy. Taller plants shade the soil around themselves, which conserves water and saves money. Shade can also prevent the sprouting of weed seeds, which means less weed killer is needed. A well-rooted grass plant also inhibits weed growth. A larger root system draws water from a larger volume of soil, so the plant is less stressed by drought and needs to be watered less often.
The grass species that we use for lawns would all want to grow 1-2 feet tall if they were not mowed. (Just look at all the unmowed properties during the recent economic downturn.) We keep most lawns mowed to around 1.5-3 inches tall and golf course greens to just 1/4 inch tall.
Cutting any plant down to one-tenth its normal height means they need more care to compensate for the harm being done to the plant. Any plant cut down to such a comparatively small size is more susceptible to insects and diseases and needs more careful watering to help compensate for the smaller root system that goes hand in hand with the smaller leaf area. By continually mowing a lawn, we are creating a bonsai landscape.
The amazing thing about grass is that it not only tolerates this reduction in size year after year, but at the same time, it can also handle some wear and tear from people and pets. If we do not feed, weed and water, the lawn will slowly succumb to competition from landscape plants for water, shade from trees and wear and tear from activities.
As my regular readers know, there is a biological balance between the top and bottom of all plants. Longer grass leaves produce more food to grow more roots. More roots supply more water to the top. Mowing reduces the leaves at the top of the plant, which reduces the amount of food the plant can produce. Less food means fewer roots can be supported. Fewer and smaller roots means less water will be available to the top of the plant when the weather is drier.
Mowing too low can damage the crown of the plant where the leaves sprout from. It can be killed outright, and it is more susceptible to insect and disease problems. Scalping can happen along an edge of the flower bed where one wheel drops into the bed and one stays on the lawn. Scalping is often seen through the improper use of string trimmers. String trimmers should not be held horizontally along the edges of walks and drives or around fence posts and trees. They need to be held so the string only cuts a thin line along the edge and not so that it mows a wide, scalped path.
Cool season grasses in the northern states, such as bluegrasses, fescues and ryegrasses, should be mowed 3-4 inches tall. Bluegrass and Chewing Fescue could be mowed at two inches, but much more care will be required to keep them healthy.
Warm season grasses, such as Bahia, Centipede, St. Augustine and Zoysia can all be mowed at 2-3 inches. Bermuda grass can be kept 1-2 inches tall, and Seashore Paspalum can be mowed at 3/4-1 inch, while Bent grass is used on golf greens at under 1/2 inch.
Mowing at the highest height in the listed range will be the healthiest setting.
DIST. BY CREATORS.COM
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