When grass is too dry. There's nothing wrong with mowing your turf in a drought, but there are some changes that need to be made to minimize the chance of damage. Raise your mower's deck height by a half of an inch when grass is drought stressed, as thirsty grass will grow at a slower rate.
Mowing your lawn while it is dry or dormant can cause permanent damage. It's best to let your lawn be and minimize any treatments, mowing, or foot traffic to let it survive the drought without excessive stress.
The best time to mow is when grass is dry. When moisture from rain or the morning dew weighs grass down, the blades bend, making a straight cut difficult. You also can slip on wet grass, and the clippings tend to clump and not spread evenly.
It's best to wait for wet grass to dry before mowing. Wet grass clippings can clog your mower, causing it to choke and spit out clumps of wet grass that could smother and kill your lawn if left unraked.
In fact, some cool-season grasses will go dormant during the hot summer months until early fall. During a heat wave—a period of abnormally hot weather that lasts longer than 2 days—it's recommended that you do not mow your lawn.
If the grass is too wet, you shouldn't mow and if it's too dry you shouldn't either. Remember, mowing is a stressful event for your lawn. If you mow when it's already under stress, such as during dry spell or drought, then it will become even more stressed. You don't like to be stressed and neither does your poor lawn.
The ideal temperatures to mow are between 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Does grass stop growing at a certain height? Once temperatures have become consistently warmer, it is a good idea to follow the one-third rule, which means to never clip off more than one-third of the grass' current height in one mowing session.
'As long as your blades are sharpened, and the grass isn't not soaking wet, mowing in the early morning dew is totally fine,' says Douglas Dedrick.
In addition to damaging your lawn, when you mow grass that is still wet with dew, you risk damaging your mower. Wet grass does not cut as easily as dry grass, which can strain your mower and dull the blades more quickly. Additionally, the wet clippings may stick to the mower and increase the risk of rust.
Timing is based primarily on the growth stage of the plants to be mowed and secondarily on the growth stage of the desired plants. The most effective time to mow noxious weeds is when the desired plants are dormant and weeds have reached the flowering stage.
Once grass starts to grow again, it's okay to mow with your mower set to 3 ½ inches. Do not scalp the lawn to try to remove brown blades of grass. Let new fresh grass grow around them. Leave grass clippings on the lawn to fertilize the lawn naturally.
Mowing every two weeks — instead of weekly — and not dousing grass with chemical herbicides and fertilizers, helps the environment and supports the health of bees, which are among the world's most important pollinators.
You can fix a dead patch in your lawn by cutting out the patches and adding new grass seed. To avoid future problems, it is best to water often during dry periods, fertilize with nitrogen-rich fertilizer once or twice a year, and aerate your soil periodically for root development.
Restrict Mowing.
When rain is plenty, it's best to keep your grass short. But in drought, let the grass grow a bit longer. Longer blades or grass means a deeper root system; deeper roots means the grass can get to water deeper within the soil.
Many grasses can stay in dormancy for 3-4 weeks without beginning to deteriorate to the point of plant death. When the prolonged period without rain ends, the turf is able to regenerate from rhizomes and stolons.
If the grass is dormant, then watering it regularly and properly may revive it. This is why it is important to know if the grass is dormant or just dead. Dead grass cannot be revived by simply watering—it requires reseeding, fertilization, and several other processes to restart growth.
Mowing actually helps make your grass grow thicker because the tip of each blade contains hormones that suppress horizontal growth.
However, most professional gardeners would agree that between 8 AM and 10 AM is the best time of day to cut your grass. The reason for that is that lawns need time to heal before evening. Grass needs the benefit of the day to dry and heal before dusk settles.
The best time of day to mow the lawn is in the evening when the sun goes down. This will help maintain moisture in the roots of the long grass blades. Additionally, mowing in the evening gives the grass an adequate amount of time to heal and recuperate before sunrise.
When dealing with mild morning dew or after light rain showers, you may only need to wait between 2 and 5 hours for the lawn to dry before mowing. With a heavier rainstorm, you should wait at least one day to mow safely. Shady areas of the lawn will take longer to dry than those in the sun.
The short answer: No. Mowing wet grass can be problematic for your lawn, your lawn mower and you. If you do mow wet grass, you risk leaving clumps of clippings that could smother the grass beneath. Wet grass can clog the mower, causing it to overheat, and stick to the mower's underside, which is difficult to clean.
When the sky is clear or mostly clear overnight, the ground cools, and the warm air radiates away from the ground, up toward the sky. If the ground cools enough, dew then forms on the grass. When it's cloudy overnight, the ground retains more of its heat, and not as much heat is radiated up to the sky.
A mowing height between 2.5 to 3 inches is best for most of the season, except during summer stresses when the lawn mowing height should be raised one-half inch to mow at 3 to 3.5 inches. Raising the mowing height provides more insulation from summer heat and reduces water loss from your soil.
Between irrigation and natural rainfall, your grass should receive between 1 and 1.5 inches of water each week during the summer. Water deeply every other day for the best results.
Cut your lawn to possibly the shortest height you have all season. The ideal height is around 2 1/2 inches. Cut it too low and the grass might not be long enough to photosynthesize and provide nutrients to the roots. Too high and the frost might become matted after a snowfall.