If you’re up on the latest lawn care advice, you know that most experts recommend mowing your lawn higher – less buzz cut, more pompadour – to keep your grass and its ecosystem healthiest.
Generally speaking, keeping it at about 3 inches, and cutting no more than 1/3 of the grass at a time is best.
But what about that last mow, right before winter? Perhaps a helpful neighbour, father-in-law, or friend has suggested that you mow low in the autumn for one reason or another. Is that actually beneficial, or could it hurt your grass just when it needs its leaves the most?
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To get answers, we reached out to Jason Lanier, an Extension Specialist specialising in Turf Management at the UMass Amherst.
Jason offered a number of helpful tips for end-of-season mowing, including weighing in on lawn height. Here’s what we learned:
You should keep mowing longer than you might think
“As long as you’re mowing your lawn at the recommended height, (and not employing a minimal mowing regime, which have some popularity these days),” says Jason, “mowing should continue until grass growth stops in the late autumn.”
And that might be longer than you expect. “It’s surprising how late that the grass can keep growing,” says Jason.
Why so late, if the lawn is growing more slowly, or doesn’t seem to need it as much? “Mowing has many benefits including promotion of stand density and maintenance of desired surface characteristics,” say Jason. “I know many people let their mowing schedule slide later in the season, but you miss out on these benefits and may put yourself slightly behind for the start of the next season.”
Mowing low is fine – not essential – depending on grass
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When it comes to that final grass height, Jason acknowledges there can be some benefits, especially if you live in a colder area. “Mowing slightly lower at the last mowing is widely accepted as helping to maintain a tidy appearance. It also leaves a little less leaf area for snow moulds or other winter issues to grab on to,” he says.
But there are other reasons that mowing your lawn very short for the winter isn’t necessary. “That late in the season the plants are on their way to dormancy,” says Jason. “Most of the existing shoot tissue will die back over winter anyway.”
During winter: Keep off the lawn
But more important than that final grass height, says Jason, is what you do (or don’t do) after the frosts arrive.
“One should never mow, or really even walk on frosted or frozen turf,” he says. At best it will injure the lawn in ways that will be visible until growth resumes in spring. At worst, you could end up killing some of the plants.”
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Christopher Michel has been the Senior Food and Gardens Editor at Country Living Magazine since March of 2021. Chris has over ten years of experience writing and editing for national magazines and websites, mostly in the food space, such as Cooking Light, The Kitchn, Rodale’s Organic Life, and Bon Appetit. Prior to that, Chris worked in a variety of food spaces in New York City. In 2022, Chris completed the Alabama Master Gardener’s Program hosted by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
Chris lives in Birmingham, AL, where he enjoys running, reading, and cooking for his wife and two girls.
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