The last mowing of the year is more important then you may think.

I was recently reviewing some lawns and came across a client who has left their summer home for the season.  Although things look great, the lawn has not been mown in weeks.  Not only was this a real potential problem for the normal growing season, it is especially problematic given it is now the end of October.

As a general rule, most turf in our growing area should not be any longer than 2” maximum, with an ideal cut at around 1-1.5” in November.  Why so short?  Grass actually continues to grow slowly under the snow over the winter.  In addition, if the grass is left long, 3” or more- your chances increase exponentially for incurring winter damage, ice damage, and snow mold in the spring.

Long grass will fall over, matt down, and lower the oxygen level at the ground level, an ideal environment for snow mold to take hold and to cause injury or death to the crown (living point) of your grass plant.  A small ounce of prevention can reduce, minimize, or sometimes prevent what would otherwise be dead turf come April.