Tips to keep your lawn healthy and green

One of the unique features of turfgrasses is that, unlike most other plants in the landscape, lawn grasses tolerate regular mowing at amazingly close clipping heights. Regarding mowing, there is nothing done more frequently in lawn maintenance, and also nothing done more wrong on a regular basis! Here are some mowing tips that will improve the quality of your lawn.

n Keep mower blades sharp, as mowing with a sharp blade is one of the best ways to improve lawn quality and turf health, and also save fuel and extend your mower’s engine life.

Homeowners should sharpen blades at least three times during the growing season.

n Matching mowing height according to species and situation is easy, as most mowers have adjustments for cutting height. Set blade height to match the appropriate height of cut for your particular grass. If the lawn has a light green to white hue after cutting, it is a good bet it was cut too low. While there are some differences in cutting heights between the various species of warm and cool-season turf grasses , a general rule of thumb is that most grasses do well in the two to three inch range.  For cool-season turfgrasses, frequent mowing on the lower side of the recommended height is fine in the fall and early spring months, and this height actually promotes better turf density.

However, by early June it is recommended to raise cutting heights prior to the summer stress period to optimize rooting depth to help the plant survive the heat and drought of summer. Many of the healthiest cool-season lawns are mowed at four or more inches during the summer and some are rarely mowed at all. The key to success is to not wait until summer stress arrives to raise the cutting height — it will be too late! For warm-season grasses, they prefer regular close clipping during the summer months and for these grasses, cutting heights will be raised in late summer to early fall in preparation for winter. For either type of grass, a shorter mowing height translates into more frequent mowing requirement.

- What about turf in the shade? Mow on the high side of the recommended range in order to maximize the plant’s leaf area. The turf is already at a huge disadvantage to the trees in regard to light, water and nutrients, so it needs some special attention to maintain its best canopy possible.

Follow the one-third rule, which is based on research that clearly showed when mowing at an appropriate height for the grass, if no more than one third of the leaf blade is removed during mowing, then the grass plant will maintain a healthy balance between roots and shoots. Removing most of the foliage in a cutting event shocks the plant, forcing it to redirect its food resources from roots and stems toward new leaves.

- If the turf has gotten away from you, resist the temptation to scalp it and, instead, slowly drop the mowing height every two to three days while returning the turf to its ideal height range.

This approach takes a little patience, but it will maintain plant health and prevent you from having unsightly piles of clippings that not only look bad, but can also shade and heat the turf below, often resulting in diseased or damaged turf.

n Finally, return clippings to the turf whenever possible, and if they are collected, compost them rather than placing them in the landfill.

Clippings are simply organic fertilizer for the lawn and do not contribute to thatch build-up. Almost one third of a lawn’s seasonal fertility can be met by returning clippings to the yard. Treat clippings just like granular fertilizers —keep them on the lawn!

Need further information? For more best management practices in lawn and landscape management, contact your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office, search the VCE Web site at ext.vt.edu/ or log on to the VT Turf Team’s “Turf and Garden Tips” blog at weblogs.cals.vt.edu/.

Carl Stafford is Culpeper County Extension Agent, Animal Science. He can be reached at .