WHEN SHOULD YOU START MOWING YOUR LAWN?

Knowing when to start seasonal lawn care can be critical to the long-term health of your grass. If you start mowing too early, you’re risking compacting the grass or killing new roots before they have a chance to mature and cultivate. If your lawn doesn’t have a chance to mature and cultivate it may cause the grass to grow in patched or to not fully turn green.Giving a concrete date on when to start mowing the grass is almost impossible. Climate, types of grass, ground conditions, and rain fall are all huge factors that have to be taken into consideration. Below are a few rule of thumbs on when to dust off the old mower.For the spring season a good indicator is when the Magnolia trees start to bloom. This is because these trees only bloom when the soil reaches ideal growth and temperature (42 degrees Fahrenheit), typically in February or March. Seeing this beautiful tree in bloom will certainly confirm that your lawn has woken itself up and is stable enough to have the initial first trimming. So if you’re out driving around and see this tree in bloom it’s time to dust off the mower and get ready for the season. A good question to ask yourself when the snow finally decides it’s spring is ‘Was the lawn left too long last fall?’. It’s time to start mowing immediately in March/April if the lawns final mow last season was not below 3 inches.  Leaving the grass too long in the winter can cause the grass to become matted and encourage winter diseases, such as pink and grey snow mold. Only remove the top 1/3 of the grass on this initial mow as this will rejuvenate the turf and wake it up faster when the sun hits.