Hello and welcome to the lawn hustle season number one episode number 10.
I want my podcast to be not only entertaining.
I want it to be educational and I hope that this episode is more educational
because spring is here.
Grass is growing.
Grass is turning green and it's almost time to mow.
So we need to know what is that optimal grass cutting height.
Why do we need to know that?
And the answer is simple because it's important to maintain your lawn's health.
If you mow your lawn too short, it can damage your lawn.
It can damage the root system and your grass will not grow like it should.
There are some factors to determine how short you should mow it or how long you should leave it.
Number one, your geographical location.
What state do you reside in?
Where do you run your business?
Not only geographical location, but the type of grass you have.
Do you live in a state that has warm season grasses?
Or do you live in a state that has cool season grasses?
It makes a difference.
So you need to find out the type of grass you have or the type of grass your clients have.
For me, I run professional lawn maintenance in East Central Indiana in a city of 17,000 Newcastle, Indiana.
My clients primarily have fine fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, or perino ryegrass.
Now in extreme southern Indiana, they can have a warm season grass because it doesn't get as snowy and as cold in the winter.
So they might have some zoysia grasses.
And in that case, when their grass gets three to four inches, it's time for them to mow.
But I would recommend they do not mow shorter than two inches and they should not leave it longer than two and a half inches.
And if you are in or around Newcastle, the surrounding areas, I would recommend to you when your grass gets four to six inches tall.
It's time to mow.
But you don't want to mow more than three inches short.
And you don't want to leave it more than four inches long.
So the types of grasses, warm and cold season and geographical location is a determining factor.
And when you should mow and how short you should mow.
Now, when I started my business, I had some clients that were used to mowing their own property.
And there was a few that would drop their mowing deck down to the ground and mow as short as they could.
Because they thought if I mow it short, I won't have to mow as often.
But what they found out because they mowed it short in the heat of summer in July and August when the heat is unbearable,
it burns their property and it burns their grass and it turns brown.
And they found they had more weeds.
And when I started mowing for them, they would say, oh, the property looks great for three or four days.
And then it looks like it needs to be mowed again.
Can you cut it shorter?
And my answer was no, I cannot.
And I began to educate them as to why I did not want to cut their grass short.
I explained to them the heat will burn it up.
You'll have more weeds.
Your root system will not be as healthy as it should be.
It will not be thick and lush and green like you want it when you cut it short.
And now 15 years later, they say my grass has never looked this good before.
And it's just because I educated them on the optimal grass cutting height for my region.
And now we maintain 100, 120 properties a week here in Newcastle, Indiana,
and about 23 properties in Muncie, Indiana.
And all of my customers will now tell you they understand why I mow the way I do,
why I leave their grass three inches to four inches versus cutting it two inches.
Now, in Florida, Georgia, maybe South Carolina, because it is a warm season state,
the grasses are different than what they are in Indiana.
A few years ago, my family and I were in Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
And being me, I had to go out and check out the grass.
And I was amazed at how short they mow.
And then I really got to looking at the grass and I realized this is different
than what we have in Indiana.
And that's the reason why they cut it shorter in Florida than we do in Indiana.
So there is no real blanket answer to the question, how short should you mow?
Because it's different for everybody.
What you need to do is find out what is the optimal grass cutting height for you
in your location and the type of grass that you have.
A good rule of thumb is never cut more than half of your lawn's total height.
Cutting grass is similar to pruning plants.
Cutting too much removes the leaf surface or the plant can photosynthesize.
And if there's not enough leaf surface or if there's not enough blade on the grass,
the root system will weaken because the plant or the grass uses up all of its stored nutrients trying to survive.
So how high do you cut?
For me in East Central Indiana, at the beginning of spring I cut a little shorter.
That helps get rid of all of the winter debris in the grass, which will promote growth.
After the first couple of mows, I bump my deck up to about three and a half inches.
And I try to leave it on that setting all of summer into the fall.
After I have all the leaves cleaned up, I'll drop my deck down to about three inches and go over it again.
And that helps the grass survive the winter months.
So there is no real clear answer on how short you should mow your grass.
Because it's different for you and it's different for me.
By our location and by the type of grass that we have now.
I go by the rule one out of three.
The one out of three rule means you never cut more than a third of the grass played every time you mow.
Find out what is optimal for you and cut it at that height every time.
Never cut more than a third of the blade when you mow.
For example, if your lawn has grown to three inches, do not cut more than one inch off of it.
Which is the third of the total height.
Cutting only a third of the blade keeps the grass healthy without damaging its growth, without damaging the roots.
And it will help the lawn survive the harsh heat of summer.
Now I know some guys that mow a lot shorter than I do.
And in July and August, they're not mowing a whole lot because they cut too short in April, May and June.
So in the heat of summer, the grass is burned up and it's not growing and they're skipping.
And they're checking it the next week to see if it needs mowing.
Chances are they're probably skipping it that week too because they never did figure out what is the optimal grass cutting height for them and their clients.
So never cut a third or more than a third of the blade.
Grasses in Indiana typically are cool season grasses.
Kentucky bluegrass, fine-fascue, perino, rye grasses.
They're the most common grasses in Indiana.
So I want to leave my grass three to four inches.
That is the optimal grass cutting height for me and my geographical location.
I want you to have beautiful green thick grass that when it is mowed, it stripes out like great American ballpark.
But that can only happen if you find out for you and your business and your clients what is the optimal grass cutting height for you.
I thank you for joining the lawn hustle today.
Tune in next week for another exciting but educational podcast.