Mowing your lawn may seem like a low-effort necessity, but there are times when you should leave the blades alone. Cutting grass too soon can harm important root growth and waste valuable energy reserves, leaving your lawn dry and sparse.
Avoid mowing during drought conditions. Grass shuts down during prolonged dry spells to conserve energy, leading to slower growth rates. From the time that temperatures start to drop in autumn until they rise again in the spring, it’s best to wait and let nature take its course.
When possible, delay mowing after heavy rain or irrigation. Optimal growth happens with damp soil that isn’t saturated from run off. Avoid mowing on sloped or hilly yards where additional water can trickle away and compromise the quality of cuttings for compost or erosion control treatments.
Check for shallow roots before setting out; freshly seeded areas will require extra care when trimming green shoots or newly planted flowers for aesthetics. Turfgrass broken due to snapping at ground level won’t establish uniform thickness and depth until a few seasons have passed.
Leave your weeds alone if you want healthy clover coverage while your grass matures; more than an annoyance, these broadleaf plants help aerate soil and boost nitrogen levels which means strong root systems later on down the line.