Want to make your lawn the best on the block? Use our lawn tips to help identify problem areas to better understand what you're dealing with. Need more help? Just give us a call.
Fire up the mower.
The first mowing generally will remove almost all of the old brown leaves revealing a nice green lawn below. Though none of us want to do it, it's better to start mowing your lawn too early than too late. Set the mower at the highest or second highest mowing height (I'd leave it there all year), put on a sharp blade, all clippings should always be bagged and if You want to mulch, you should only mulch 1 in 4 mowings.
Five tips for maintaining a beautiful lawn.
Mow weekly. Keep your blades sharp. Remove no more than 1/4 to 1/3 of grass blades. Mow your lawn at a height of at least 3 1/2 inches and leave it there all season long. You will require less water and your lawn will not dry out, or show stress from drought, with regular watering.
Drought stress makes lawns extremely susceptible to cosmetic damage from mowers, spreaders, and human traffic (photos). Drought stress may not have been easily visible before mowing. Turf likely was at the drought-stressed stage where footprints (or mower tracks) remain in the turf and don't snap back like well-watered turf, or may have been entering the stage where it turns a bluish-gray color. The severity of the damage depends on the stage of drought stress and weight of the mower (zero-turn radius mowers and ride-on spreaders that are now so popular are much heavier than the walk-behind models). With rain or irrigation, the turf in these tracks should grow back in a couple of weeks.
The typical advice in the paper and TV is to raise the mowing height during drought to help the turf area stay green. However, this is very simplified advice which needs clarification.