HOMEOWNERS can start taking care of their yards now to get green grass by spring.
As the weather cools down this fall, there are tips for mowing to ensure your lawn stays healthy throughout the cold months.
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The golden rule of growing grass is “if it’s growing, keep mowing,” – meaning you must keep cutting it in order for it to stay maintained.
Lawn grass continues to grow throughout cold weather, even sometimes living past the first frost of the year.
Grass typically continues to grow until the soil temperature hits around 50 degrees, which could be as late as November.
Your last cut of the year should be about a week before the first frost, according to a gardening blog called the Weed Man.
Cutting your grass in the fall can help your lawn’s ability to resist disease and death in the winter.
It’s not just when you mow your lawn that matters – you need to cut your grass when it’s at the right height.
The one-third rule can help you figure out when to mow your lawn.
The rule says you should never remove more than one-third of the leaf blade when you’re mowing.
For example, if you’re mowing your grass when it’s two inches high, you shouldn’t let it get any higher than three inches tall before you mow it again.
Removing just one-third of the leaf blade every time you mow can help promote good grass growth with several benefits.
First, it helps the clippings stay small enough so that they can spread across the yard, which can work as fertilizer.
You can also collect clippings, bag them, and take them to a compost facility.
Following the one-third rule can also cause mowing that’s frequent enough that it encourages lateral growth.
Grass growing laterally can help the yard be thick and dense, which creates a healthy look and helps to prevent weeds.
What is the one-third rule?
The one-third rule is a lawn care tip that helps you know when to mow your lawn.
The guideline recommends cutting no more than one-third of the grass length at a time.
For example, if your grass is two inches tall, you should cut it when it reaches three inches tall.
The one-third rule keeps lawns healthy and creates deeper roots for the grass.
The tip also prevents excessive clippings, and allows small clippings to spread across the yard, which promotes lateral growth.
It’s important to cut your grass short before it stops growing for multiple reasons, one of which is the possibility of snow.
If snow falls on top of long grass, the grass could bend or become matted down, which creates an environment for mold and disease.
If your lawn is suffocated, your grass might not recover from the winter.
Shorter grass is more stiff, which makes the lawn more resistant to damage from ice and snow.
On top of cutting your lawn short before it gets too cold, it’s important to rake autumn leaves off the grass.
Debris like leaves, twigs, and rogue branches should be mulched or raked off lawns before winter hits because it might suffocate your grass otherwise.
