A healthy lawn is a big green welcome mat for your commercial property.
It welcomes visitors, encourages tenants to move in, boosts your curb appeal and complements the rest of your landscaping.
Expert commercial lawn mowing is key to all of that, including mowing at the right height.
Why does professional lawn mowing matter so much?
Proper mowing encourages new growth, creating a thicker, healthier lawn. Mowing at the proper tall height helps to shade out weed seeds and keep the soil cooler, making it tougher for weeds to invade your lawn. Even the grass clippings are valuable. When they get chopped into tiny bits then dropped back into the lawn, they decompose, adding helpful nutrients to the lawn.
Your commercial property’s lawn is a big investment. Skilled, consistent mowing protects it, and your budget. A healthy lawn won’t need replacing. And lawns mowed at a taller height need less water, which also helps your bottom line.
Keep reading for more about how proper lawn mowing height leads to a healthy, thriving lawn, including:
What Does Professional Lawn Mowing Do For Your Lawn?
Why Proper Lawn Mowing Height Matters
Different Grasses Have Different Needs
The Best Mowing Height for Commercial Lawns and the One-Third Rule
How the Proper Lawn Mowing Height Helps Prevent Weeds
Mowing Taller Saves Water
Please Don’t Starve The Grass
No Scalping Allowed
Proper Lawn Mowing Height: When Shorter is Better
But Don’t Let Grass Get Too Tall
Obviously, mowing makes your grass shorter, so it looks tidy and well maintained. But it does so much more:
The simple act of how tall or short your grass is mowed makes a huge difference. It’s key to a healthy, thriving lawn.
Joey Schneider, regional manager at Level Green Landscaping and a long/time turf expert, explains:
Level Green Landscaping crews mow at a height between 3.5 and 4 inches, Schneider says.
The height is tailored to the type of grass in this area — tall fescue.
“When a customer says their grass isn’t cut short enough, I ask them where they’re from,” Schneider says. “If they’re from Atlanta, where they have warm season grasses, they’re used to mowing it to two inches. Once I explain the different needs of our cool season grass, they understand.”
You might have heard the rule that you shouldn’t mow more than one-third off the top of your grass at any one time. What’s the big deal?
Cutting more than a third of the blade causes your grass to put all its energy into growing more grass instead of toward the roots, Schneider says. The stronger the roots, the healthier the grass, making it more able to resist pests and diseases.
This is especially important in the spring, as newly awakened grass needs to deepen its roots in preparation for summer.
While some landscaping companies mow at a lower height so they don’t need to mow as often, Level Green crews stick to the best mowing height for commercial lawns — 3.5 to 4-inches — for the healthiest grass. If you request a lower height, we’ll fill you in on the risks of mowing too low.
“When you have taller grass, it’s harder for weeds to grow,” Schneider says. Taller grass provides shade, and weeds hate shade. They need sun to sprout and thrive, so keeping grass taller discourages weeds from moving in.
Taller grass develops a deeper, healthier root system, which means your lawn will need less watering. That’s good for your budget.
Mowing removes the top growth of your grass, and that’s where photosynthesis — your lawn’s food production — takes place. Cut too much off, and the rest of your grass will be hungry. Food from the roots will be diverted to feed the hungry blades of grass, making for a weaker, more shallow root system.
Professional lawn mowing crews are careful not to scalp the grass — cutting your grass so low that you expose the stems of your grass blades, weakening the lawn.
On cold spring mornings, mower tires lose some air pressure, Schneider says, putting the mower blade closer to the ground. That can damage grass if you’re mowing it too short. Level Green maintenance experts do routine mower maintenance twice a week to help ensure mowers are correctly adjusted to avoid problems, including scalping.
Level Green commercial lawn mowing crews do mow at a shorter height for the last mowing of the season in autumn. It helps to chop up any remaining leaves, which provide nourishment and protection for the turf over the winter. This also keeps properties looking nice and tidy for the winter months.
Too short is bad. Too tall isn’t great, either. Think Goldilocks — you want your grass height just right.
If you wait until the grass is too tall before mowing, Schneider says, you get clumps of dead grass after mowing that will smother and kill the grass underneath.
If grass is too tall, Level Green crews will make two passes with the mower, he says, so not too much is taken off in one mowing.
Maybe you didn’t realize mowing height was so tricky — and so important.
We’ve got you covered. Our crews are mowing pros, and we time your property’s mowing for the healthiest, happiest lawns.
If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers.
Our focus is on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities and institutions in Maryland, Washington DC, and parts of Virginia.
Contact us at 202-544-0968. You can also request a free consultation online to meet with us one-on-one.
We’d love to hear from you.