Guidelines and best practices for mowing the lawn:

#1. Don’t mow the grass too short.

“Scalping” a lawn is the number-one lawn-care mistake that home owners make. Doing this sends grass into physiological shock, which leaves the lawn prone to invasion by weeds and less able to cope with drought and other environmental stresses. Cutting height directly affects grass root growth and mass. Cutting grass at the proper height and with appropriate frequency and technique helps to maintain dense, healthy and attractive turf. A low mowing height can leave brown or bare-looking spots in the grass. If the grass is repeatedly cut too short or scalped, it can seriously deplete the grass's energy reserves, weakening or killing grass.

Mow the grass ideally 3.5 inches tall to maximize roots and shade the soil (especially in areas where the sun is beating down on it all day!) to prevent all the weed seeds on the soil from sprouting. Tall thick grass not only has few weeds but grows slower and needs less water.

Put another way: The more often we mow—and the less grass we remove with each mowing—the thicker and healthier our lawn is likely to become.

Also, a note on mowing the ‘hillock.’ It’s easy if you follow the contour lines. Just imagine the lines on a topo map — mow along the sides, not up and over.

Keep lawnmower set at mulching height.

Many thanks, mowers!

Kim