For a well-kept garden, the lawn is the figurehead. To ensure that it makes an excellent visual impression, the cutting height is an important indicator. With the right length, the lawn not only looks better, it is also healthier and more resistant to weeds.
Have you been mowing the lawn by feel and hardly worrying about the length? Then you should leave this behind. Because the length of the lawn has an important influence on how dense and healthy the green is.
Contents
Why is the optimal cutting height important?
After seeding the lawn, you expect the blades of grass to grow densely and appear a vibrant green. To ensure the best conditions for growth, not only fertilizer is important. Lawn care also has a significant impact on how successfully the green grows.
Regular lawn mowing is important to keep the garden looking neat and usable. Playing on a lawn that is too long is hardly possible and the area appears unkempt. Therefore, mow the lawn to create a better image again.
If you mow the lawn too short, it represents a drastic experience. For the lawn to grow, it must be supplied with nutrients. Only then are the cells able to divide sufficiently and achieve growth.
If the blades of grass are too short, this means extra work for the growth phase. If the grass is damaged and not in the best health, nutrients are lost in this way. The blades of grass have to recover from this, so growth suffers.
This is made worse if there is intense heat in the summer or if there is a general lack of nutrients. This can be the case, for example, if the pH of the lawn is not in the optimal range and the roots are not able to absorb the nutrients.
With the optimal cutting height, you ensure that the lawn has the best health and grows nice and thick. Then your garden will leave a better impression and lawn care will be much easier.
The right cutting height for summer
In summer, the heat poses an ever greater challenge for the care of the lawn. One heat record follows the next, so the lawn is subjected to greater stress.
During the summer, therefore, you must pay particular attention to the high temperatures. These cause the soil to dry out and make it more difficult for the blades of grass to absorb the nutrients.
Normally, the water that the lawn absorbs provides its own protection. Plants are able to respond to direct sunlight, so you should not take extra action here.
When watering the lawn, make sure that you prefer to do it in the morning or evening. Then the water does not evaporate so quickly and is better absorbed by the soil.
You can mow the lawn once a week during the summer. A length of 4 to 5cm is considered optimal. During an extended heat wave, you can also keep the lawn a little longer. Then it is more resistant and copes better with the enormous temperatures.
The lawn length in spring, autumn & winter
Less stress is placed on the lawn outside of the summer. There is less grilling or spending time outdoors. Temperatures can drop as low as less than 10°C in spring and fall, so less time is spent in the garden.
Spring
If the thermometer regularly rises above 10°C in spring, more intensive lawn care is needed. The lawn awakens from hibernation and hopefully grows up again quickly. From this temperature limit, lawn mowing is worthwhile and this activity is easily survived. The optimal cutting height is 3 to 4cm.
Autumn
Autumn is not a big challenge for the lawn. However, if the temperatures drop, you need to prepare it for the winter. Otherwise, the frosty nights will not survive and in the spring you will have to sow the lawn all over again.
The lawn should not be cut shorter than about 5cm in cold temperatures. Otherwise, there is a risk that fungi in the lawn or other weeds will spread better.
Before the onset of frost, mow the lawn one last time and remove the cuttings. In this way, you will provide optimal conditions for the lawn to survive the winter and awaken with healthy growth in the spring.
How high is the lawn with the robotic mower?
If you no longer mow the lawn yourself, but leave this task to a robotic mower, you must pay attention to the correct cutting height. The robotic lawnmower will find its way around your lawn on its own and keep the lawn at a suitable height.
The robotic mower is used much more often than the lawn mower. In the case of a larger lawn, even daily to cope with the work. In order to get a nice cut, sharp blades are necessary. You also need to adjust the cutting height so that the lawn grows optimally.
With the robotic mower, a cutting height of 4 to 5cm is recommended. Outside the summer, you can quietly keep the blades of grass a little shorter. In the warm summer, up to 5cm is a good decision.
The cutting height for a sports lawn
Do you use the lawn for sports and do you play soccer on it yourself or do children run on this surface? Then you should also make sure that the grasses are cut correctly.
The optimal cutting height is a little shorter 3 to 4cm. The lawn is robust and copes well with a lower height.
Nevertheless, you must respond to the sporting rigors and treat the lawn with care. This includes applying a fertilizer about every 2 months. This will ensure that all the nutrients are present and that it can handle the stress well.
If the area is used for sports, you should mow the lawn about once a week. During hot spells, even a shorter interval of mowing is advisable.
With the optimal cutting height, you will be able to sport the lawn without noticing any restrictions. Put emphasis on thorough maintenance and you will have a lot of pleasure.
Ensure the right cutting height
For lawn care, the optimal cutting height is an important factor. With the appropriate height, you ensure that the lawn does not dry out and absorbs the nutrients in the soil in the best possible way.
Usually a cutting height of approx. 4cm is advisable. The lawn should not lose more than about one third of its total length per mowing. A deeper cut is less well tolerated and the grasses need more nutrients to grow back.
If the grass blades are too long, it is better to mow the lawn more often and in this way achieve the desired optimum length. Mow the lawn around once a week and you will get an excellent result.
During more intense periods of heat, a longer cutting height is advantageous. Here, the optimal cutting height is about 5cm, although it can be more depending on the type of lawn.
Keep the cutting height in a range of 4 to 5cm and the lawn will appear healthy. Weeds have a harder time spreading and a strong green shines in your garden.