Grass cutting may be a dreading task to do for many homeowners, but it’s an essential maintenance chore to keep your lawn healthy, robust, and beautiful. A properly cut lawn is undoubtedly a pleasant sight to behold. By keeping the grass neat and even, you can give your garden a well-manicured appearance that can increase your home’s value.
Timing is critical in determining when to cut grass, especially if you plan to mow your newly seeded grass. You don’t want to damage the seedlings by cutting the delicate blades too soon. So before you start cutting, make sure you know when to mow new grass and understand the factors to consider before doing so.
Things to Consider Before Cutting New Grass
Whether it’s freshly laid sod or planted from sown seedbed, all new grass requires special care. Besides investing in a quality lawn fertilizer, you also need to allow the roots to develop into the surrounding soil without any disruption to establish a young, healthy lawn.
Therefore, carefully planning when to mow new grass seedlings is crucial to reduce stress on the roots and ensures a healthy development process. For your guide, here are a few things to keep in mind when cutting fresh grass for the first time:
Feed and water your new grass
Before worrying about when to cut new grass, you need first to ensure that you mist it with water frequently to remain moist, especially during the hot and dry season. Mist it at least twice a day, typically in the morning and mid-day.
Feeding is also necessary, especially for new grass plants. It will provide essential nutrients for the fresh grass to grow healthy and develop strong roots.
So, feed your new grass plants every six to eight weeks will give them the strength to withstand drought, heat, and daily wear and tear. Once the new grass is established and your lawn is green and dense, you can consider cutting the grass.
Prepare the equipment
Mowers come in a range of sizes, styles, and features. The basic types are rotary and reel mowers, but any lawn can be mowed by any mower, depending on the recommended height of cut and grass species.
However, whether you use a rotary or reel mower, ensure that the mower blades are sharp. Blunt blades will rip the grass blades instead of slicing them, leaving an open wound that will not only turn brown and unsightly but could also allow diseases to take hold. In addition, torn leaf blades can contribute to further injury and poor growth.
Follow proper lawn cutting technique
Your mowing technique can affect the overall appearance of your lawn, which is why it’s important to get it right from the start. When mowing your lawn, the most time-efficient pattern to consider is a straight cut line in a back and forth direction. Also, mow at a low to medium speed to ensure control.
Cutting height
The grass species’ leaf width and growth habit determine the optimum cutting height. If your grass has fine, narrow leaf blades that grow horizontally, it can be mowed shorter than the grass species that grow upright and with broader leaf blades.
For instance, St. Augustine grass must be mowed at height heights since it is coarse and has wider leaf blades. On the other hand, Bermuda grass must be cut at low heights due to its low growth habit and narrow leaf blades.
However, regardless of your grass species, avoid cutting more than one-third of the grass blade at any one time. You need to leave as much leaf surface as possible to allow photosynthesis to occur, especially on grass subjected to stress.
Cutting frequency
The grass’ growth rate and how it’s used determine how often you should mow your lawn. For example, low-maintenance lawn areas would require less frequent moving, whereas lawns that receive a lot of foot traffic may need more frequent moving to improve the surface. Also, if your grass grows quickly, then it would need to be cut more regularly.
However, several factors can affect the growth rate of the grass. These include the weather, management level of the grass, time of year, and the grass species. Generally, though, grass must be cut often enough that no more than one-third of the blade height is removed for every mowing.
Avoid mowing too soon
New gardeners are often too keen to get their mowers out and wonder when to cut grass after overseeding. However, it shouldn’t be your initial concern after you’ve just lain down your seedlings because they will need the proper environmental protection and time to grow.
In addition, they will need to set roots before their first mow. So it’s best not to mow a few weeks after aeration and overseeding. Note that the time varies, depending on the type of grass you planted and your area.
Conclusion
Just because your new grass has gotten tall doesn’t mean you should immediately cut them. Remember that timing is everything when cutting new grass and ensuring that your lawn remains lush, green, healthy, and beautiful. So, you don’t make the common mistake most gardeners make and wait until your fresh grass is ready to be mowed.