Set Your Mower Higher Than You Think
Most lawns in mid Michigan get cut too short. It is the single easiest thing to fix, and it costs nothing.
Three and a half inches
MSU Extension recommends mowing cool season lawns at about three and a half inches. That is higher than most people set their deck, and higher than most lawns you drive past. The reason is simple. Leaf blade length and root depth track each other. A taller lawn has deeper roots, and deeper roots reach water a short lawn cannot.
What the extra height buys you
- Shade at the soil line, which keeps crabgrass seed from germinating
- Deeper roots, so the lawn holds its color longer through a dry July
- More tolerance for grub feeding, because there is more root system to lose
- Less water lost to evaporation off bare soil
The one third rule
Never take more than a third of the blade in one pass. Cutting a six inch lawn down to three and a half is a shock, and a shocked lawn puts its energy into regrowing leaf instead of holding roots. If the lawn got away from you, cut it high, wait a few days, then bring it down a little further.
Sharp blades, dry grass
A dull blade tears rather than cuts, and every torn tip is an open wound that browns out and lets disease in. If your lawn looks faintly tan the day after mowing, the blade is dull. Mowing wet grass makes it worse, because wet blades bend away from the cut and get shredded instead.
If weekly mowing at the right height is something you would rather hand off, that is what lawn maintenance covers. Call or text JR at (517) 993-8393.
