When to Start Mowing in Mid Michigan

Every spring somebody asks us the same question. When should I start mowing? The honest answer is that the calendar does not decide it. The grass does.

Watch the grass, not the date

Cool season grass around Laingsburg starts growing once soil temperatures settle in around 50 degrees and stay there. Some years that lands in early April. Other years the ground stays cold and wet well into the month. If you mow on a fixed date you will either scalp a lawn that has not woken up yet or fall a week behind one that already has.

The simplest test is height. When the grass reaches about four inches, it is ready. Take the top third off and no more.

Stay off soggy ground

Mid Michigan soil holds water well into spring. Running a mower across saturated ground compacts it, and compaction is a lot harder to fix than a shaggy lawn is to cut. If your shoes sink in, give it a few more days.

Cleanup comes before the first cut

Sticks, leaf piles that blew into corners, and whatever the plow pushed onto the turf all need to come off before a mower goes over them. A cleanup pass first means the first mow is actually a mow and not a shredding of debris. That is most of what a spring cleanup is for.

The first few cuts set up the whole season

Keep the blade sharp. A dull blade tears the leaf tip instead of slicing it, and torn tips brown out and let disease in. Bag the first cut or two if there is still matted material sitting in the lawn, then go back to mulching clippings once things dry out.

If you would rather not track any of this, weekly mowing is what we do. Call or text JR at (517) 993-8393, or see how lawn maintenance works.