Turf Maintenance With Proper Mowing
Maintaining a healthy, Florida-friendly lawn includes a weekly walk around the yard with a mower. Whether you enjoy the luxury of a lawn care professional or find pleasure in mowing your lawn yourself, everyone knows the smell of fresh-cut grass is one of life’s true joys. When choosing a lawn care professional to take care of your turf, or maintaining it on your own, it’s important to understand these facts about maintenance and mowing.
- Each variety of sod has its own growing and trimming requirements. Your lawn care professional should understand these requirements and adjust their mowers to properly accommodate. If you’re vetting several different contractors, make sure they are knowledgeable about your particular variety of turf. If you are unsure of your turf’s requirements, refer to the Turf Maintenance Section of our website.
- It’s important to maintain a schedule when mowing your turf. Removing more than 1/3 of the leaf blade can cause undue stress to your grass and leave it susceptible to disease and insect infestation. During the growing season, make sure that your turf is mowed at least once each week to prevent any stress.
- Keeping your turfgrass at the recommended height not only keeps your lawn looking beautiful, it promotes a deep root system. Deep, established root systems are essential for keeping your lawn stress tolerant.
- Keeping the blades of your mower sharp is also very important. With dull blades, the leaf blade is torn instead of shorn. This makes your lawn look bad, and invites insect pests and disease.
- Do not mow your turfgrass when it is wet. According to the University of Florida, “This is dangerous for you, tough on the mower, and bad for the grass.”
Sod is a living, perishable amenity to your home and deserves expert care. Properly mowing your lawn is one of the most important things you can do to encourage your lawn to thrive. It can help establish a healthy, Florida-friendly bed of turf with a solid root system. If you have questions about how to best care for your variety of Florida turf, give your lawn care professional a call.