According to experts, you should never cut more than 30% of the height of your lawnmower blade when mowing your grass. Removing more than this leads to a scalped lawn. This is a condition where your lawn becomes stressed.
It can turn brown, weeds proliferate and the overall health of your lawn is decreased. So how can you mow taller grass without scalping your lawn? You need to know how to keep an overgrown lawn healthy.
The answer to turning your tall grass into a healthy lawn involves a mowing schedule, cutting height awareness, and other important lawn maintenance tools. Read on to find out the best way to deal with tall grass.
How Tall Is Your Grass?
This is the first question you need to ask yourself. While you don’t need to go out there with a measuring stick, you should have a general idea of its height. For grass over head-high, you may need specialized tools.
A mower alone may not cut it if you are tackling grass taller than your waist. Gauge the height of your overgrown lawn first, before making a plan to cut it.
Get the Right Equipment for Taller Grass
Now that you know how tall your grass is, you can choose the equipment to cut it. For grass that is taller than your waist, you may want to bust out a weed-eater. Make sure to gather or mow over the fallen grass tops.
You need to remove them from the lawn to promote its health and integrity. Other equipment you will need include a mower of some type, and appropriate safety gear like eye protection, gloves, long pants, and long sleeves.
Weed Eat the Grass First
For very tall grass you need to make a pass with a weed eater. This can be time-consuming so plan your day accordingly. Next, you need to either bag up the lawn trimmings or make a pass with your mower to remove them.
Bust Out the Mower
Now that you have taken out that extremely high grass, it is time to focus on getting your lawn to a pleasing and healthy height. Use your mower to make the first pass.
Don’t take more than 30% of the height of its blade. You may need to do a few passes to get your lawn down to a height between 1 and 3 inches.
Set a Mowing and Maintenance Schedule
You want to avoid your grass getting that overgrown again. When your grass gets 1/3 above your target height (based on grass species), you need to bust out the mower. Keeping regular intervals is best.
Base your intervals around the seasons and factors like rainfall, temperature, and daylight. You should also seek out some professional services. Perfect for a green lawn, fertilization services will keep your lawn on target.
Tame the Jungle Your Lawn Has Become
Lawn mowing is an essential part of keeping your grass from becoming an unruly jungle. Knowing how to take care of taller grass is your key to maintaining the vitality of your lawn’s ecosystem.
Use the information in this guide when tackling tall grass or an overgrown lawn on your property. For all your other important home tips and information make sure to check out the rest of our blog.