If you want to keep a neat, beautiful lawn, then you’ll need to make sure that you’re regularly mowing it. After all, a regular mowing schedule is a surefire way to get a healthy lawn!
However, there is such a thing as too much mowing, and if you mow your lawn too regularly then you can risk damaging it.
If your lawn is mowed so regularly that the blades of grass are far too short, then they’ll begin to turn yellow and look dry.
As a result, it’s important that you mow your lawn regularly throughout the year, but never too much and too often.
In our handy guide below, we’re going to explain how often you should mow your lawn all through the year: in spring, summer, fall, and winter!
With the proper amount of mowing being done through the seasons, you should have a healthy lawn that’s thriving all year round.
When Has A Lawn Been Over-Mown?
As we said in the intro, it’s possible to over-mow your lawn, which can cause the grass to look ill and old.
Nobody wants their lawn looking like this, and so it’s important to recognize when your lawn has been cut too much, so that you can immediately make changes and start getting it healthy again.
When a lawn has been over-mown, you’ll find that it looks dried out and yellow.
A great way to avoid this is to make sure that you’re only cutting your grass about one-third of its length every time you mow it, because this is the recommended amount.
With that being said, this recommended amount changes throughout the year, because each season differs.
Thankfully, we’re going to explain the best way to mow your lawn during each season, with tips on regularity and length.
How Often Should You Mow Your Lawn In Spring?
We’re starting off the seasonal year with spring, a time when the golden sun is out and you’ll be wanting your lawn to look glorious and fresh underneath it.
However, you don’t want to dive into things immediately, because you need to thoroughly check your lawn over and think about a few elements – which will then allow you to make a spring mowing schedule.
Length
To start with, inspect the length of your lawn’s grass.
You’ll want to ensure that the blades of grass are a minimum of two inches tall before you start mowing, and then you need to make sure that you only cut a third of the length each time.
Weather
Additionally, you need to think about the kind of weather that you’ve been having, and what your lawn has just been through.
This will be different for everybody! Since spring is coming right after winter, it may be the case that your lawn is still thawing from those frosty times, and so it needs to be kept longer rather than mown short.
Fertilizer
You’ll also need to think about whether you’ve recently used fertilizer. Many people use fertilizer as a way to keep their lawn healthy and encourage it to grow dense, strong grass.
However, these things will only happen if the fertilizer is used properly. If you’ve used fertilizer on the lawn recently, then you’ll need to ensure it’s been fully absorbed before you start mowing.
Overseeding
On top of that, you might be overseeding. This is the process of sowing new seeds into your pre-existing lawn, which can help to thicken the lawn, as well as get rid of weeds.
If you’ve been overseeding the lawn in spring, wait until late into the season to start mowing, because otherwise the mowing might displace or wreck the seedlings, rendering them useless.
Regularity
Finally, once you’ve accounted for all these factors, you can think about your spring mowing schedule.
Of course, the schedule can depend on other factors, such as your type of grass and your location, so keep them in mind too.
Generally speaking, you’ll want to be mowing your lawn (only by one-third of its length!) about every 3-5 days. Spring brings plenty of rain, so frequent mowing is useful for a healthy lawn.
How Often Should You Mow Your Lawn In Summer?
After spring comes summer, and you’ll need a different mowing routine to keep your lawn healthy!
For a start, the weather will be a lot warmer now, and warmer weather means your grass will be growing more quickly.
Naturally, if your grass is growing more quickly, then it will need to be cut more regularly, otherwise it will become long and disorganized.
Assessing Your Lawn Care
However, it isn’t only hotter weather that will cause your grass to grow more quickly, because your lawn care routine influences growth too.
So, once again you will need to think about the lawn care factors that we covered during spring.
For a start, you’ll need to think about how tall your grass was at the start of the season.
On top of that, you need to think about the type of weather that summer will bring – it’s going to be hotter than spring!
However, there’s also likely to be less rain than in spring, which means that your lawn may need an alternative supply of water to keep it hydrated and healthy.
As a result, you need to perhaps think about getting an irrigation system to help water the grass during these hot months.
Additionally, it’s recommended that you keep your grass longer in the summer, and this will actually help the lawn during these drought periods.
After that, you also need to consider your use of fertilizer. If you’re going to be using it, again make sure that it has been fully absorbed before you begin mowing.
Similarly, if you’re overseeing your grass, then you will want to wait before mowing, otherwise the lawn mowing will mess up the overseeing process.
Regularity
Once you’ve taken all of these factors into account, it’s time to think about how often you should be mowing your lawn in the summer.
Obviously, everybody’s lawn is different, and people in one part of the world will be cutting it more regularly than people in some other locations. Similarly, the type of grass that’s being used will also influence regularity.
However, our general recommendation would be that you mow your lawn every 4 days during summer, keeping to the rule about only mowing it to one-third each time.
During summer, grass will typically grow an inch in roughly 3-5 days, so keep this in mind when choosing to mow your lawn and ensure that you don’t end up over-mowing it.
On top of that, you’ll want to keep your lawn longer during summer than it was during spring. As we mentioned earlier, this is because longer grass helps the lawn cope during drought periods where there’s little water available to the grass.
Summer is the time when your lawn is going to most-commonly encounter this issue, so keep it longer!
How Often Should You Mow Your Lawn In Fall And Winter?
Now that we’ve reached the cooler periods of the year, we’re grouping fall and winter together, because they share some similarities in how you can maintain your lawn and regulate your mowing.
Since these are the colder seasons, you’ll find that your lawn is not growing as quickly as it did during the preceding two seasons. As you can imagine, this is because of the overall temperature.
More specifically, when the temperature goes lower than 40 degrees Fahrenheit, you’ll find that the grass grows much slower than it did during the spring and summer.
As a result, you’ll be able to mow it less regularly! However, you still need to understand certain tips and tricks, and make sure that you’re careful and considerate about your mowing routine.
Ignore The Heat
For a start, since these two seasons are so cold, it’s easy to get fooled by a brief instance of hot weather. As a result, some lawn-owners might see the sun one day, as well as notice the temperatures rising, and rush out to mow their lawn.
However, you should refrain from doing this, because that short spell of heat isn’t going to be indicative of the rest of the period. Since things are going to be cold, it’s best to actually leave the lawn longer.
This is because grass relies on its leaves to photosynthesise and take energy from the sunlight, and if they’re cut too short during the winter then they’re going to struggle to get enough food.
Keep Mowing Dry
On top of that, you’ll also need to ensure that you don’t mow your lawn when the grass is wet.
This is because mowing wet grass actually gives you an uneven mowing job, which will make it harder to keep your grass healthy and regulated.
Additionally, the grass clippings will clump up, which could strain your mower and make it block or overheat.
During fall and winter, it can be quite common that the grass would be wet.
This can be due to two factors, either the rain or melted ice. Either way, you need to make sure your grass has fully dried before you attempt mowing it.
Regularity
So, how often should you mow during these cold periods? Well, you could get away with mowing your lawn perhaps once every 3-4 weeks. This is a big difference from spring and summer, because the weather is so much colder.
In fact, if you live somewhere with very cold winters, you might be able to avoid mowing it at all. After all, it should grow little anyway, thanks to the reduced heat.
Knowing Your Lawn
We’ve looked at the mowing guidelines that you should follow for each season of the year, with the kinds of factors that you need to be keeping in mind each time.
On top of that, we’ve also suggested a general regularity for each season, giving you something rough to aim for. Finally, we also gave you a rule to stick to: only mow the grass by one-third each time!
If you keep everything we’ve covered in mind, then you and your lawn should have a pretty successful, healthy year.
However, there’s one final tip we need to give you, because lawn care is a very personal thing and it’s entirely different with each person.
As a result, you need to trust your judgments! After all,nobody else has your lawn.
Everybody’s lawn is different, thanks to the location in which they live, the type of grass they use, the different lawn care procedures they apply, and more.
As a result, nobody is going to know what’s truly best for your lawn except you.
So, if you’re following some of our suggestions and you’ve found that your lawn isn’t quite reflecting what it should, then switch your routine up.
For example, if your grass is shorter than it should be, try to give it more moisture.
Keep an eye on your lawn throughout the year and give it what it needs, when it needs it. Follow our guidelines, but adapt when you need to.
Final Thoughts
It takes effort to properly care for your lawn throughout the year, but it’s worth it! Follow our guidelines for each season, and you’ll be able to have a happy and healthy lawn all year round.