Mowing higher leads to healthier turf

Mowing your lawn is 1 of the 3 factors that affect the overall health and density of your lawn, along with treatments and watering. You should strive to mow your lawn at a minimum height of 3-3.5 inches. During any one mowing, you should never cut off more than 1/3 of the leaf blades, which means you should mow regularly, especially in the spring. Always make sure your mower blade is sharpened so the leaf blades have a clean and even cut. Dull mower blades will shred the leaf blade, causing an unattractive appearance, and it will stress the turf plant and provide more opportunity for insects and diseases to damage the turfgrass plant.

When mowing, you want to recycle your clippings back into the lawn either by mulching or side discharge to promote healthy plant growth. Avoid leaving excessive clippings on the lawn and scatter piles of clippings by double cutting the lawn in two different directions. Cycling through multiple mowing patterns on a regular basis allows the turfgrass plant to stand up taller and be cut more evenly.