Grass mowing height?

walus

I'm new to gardening and all that and was reading about proper lawn maintenance this past week. I read many websites and blogs on lawn mowing and am struggling to settle at the right height of cut. Some people recommend (for spring and summer) mowing the grass to 2-2.5 inch height others to keep it as low as 1-1.5 inch. Which is it? Any recommendations here and arguments supporting them? My lawn is rather rough and far from the nice and level lawn one can see on gardening websites and after a long time of neglect I'm trying to bring it back to life. I've scarified, de-mossed, over-seeded and fed the lawn already and it is now down to frequent mowing at the right height - thus the question.
Thanks.

Zardoz

walus wrote: »

I'm new to gardening and all that and was reading about proper lawn maintenance this past week. I read many websites and blogs on lawn mowing and am struggling to settle at the right height of cut. Some people recommend (for spring and summer) mowing the grass to 2-2.5 inch height others to keep it as low as 1-1.5 inch. Which is it? Any recommendations here and arguments supporting them? My lawn is rather rough and far from the nice and level lawn one can see on gardening websites and after a long time of neglect I'm trying to bring it back to life. I've scarified, de-mossed, over-seeded and fed the lawn already and it is now down to frequent mowing at the right height - thus the question.
Thanks.

Id cut it at around 1.75-2.25 inches ,any lower will stress it .

Certain grass types look better at a higher cut ,especially coarser grasses.
Also if you have thatch you may have to cut it slightly higher .
Avoid excessively close mowing, as although attractive, it can weaken the grass, encouraging shallow rooting and making the lawn more susceptible to drought, weeds and moss.

I know if I cut my own lawn which is pretty good at less than 1.5 inches it tends to go yellow and look poor .
At 1.5 inches it looks nice and lush.

You want to try and strengthen the lawn this year by regular cutting but not taking too much off each cut .
Remember the rule ,never take off more than one third of the height in one cut .

Next year you can cut it lower if you wish as the lawn will be better.

walus

Thanks Zardoz.
What I also should have said is that after overseeding the lawn I would like to keep the "old" grass rather on the short side to give new blades a better chance in establishing themselves. Also correct me if I'm wrong keeping the grass rather short should help in sorting out moss as well. As you say however too short is no good as it weakens the grass. I'll try cutting at 2 inch height today/tomorrow.

Zardoz

walus wrote: »

Thanks Zardoz.
What I also should have said is that after overseeding the lawn I would like to keep the "old" grass rather on the short side to give new blades a better chance in establishing themselves. Also correct me if I'm wrong keeping the grass rather short should help in sorting out moss as well. As you say however too short is no good as it weakens the grass. I'll try cutting at 2 inch height today/tomorrow.

Well you cant cut new grass low for a while ,it needs time to strengthen.

Moss actually prefers short grass ,that's why its more prevalent in lawns that are scalped or cut too low.

walus

Zardoz wrote: »

Well you cant cut new grass low for a while ,it needs time to strengthen.

Moss actually prefers short grass ,that's why its more prevalent in lawns that are scalped or cut too low.

I did not realize that. I thought that in the longer grass moss has better conditions (shade, dampness) to grow. I always thought that cutting grass shorter would get more sun and air in between the blades which would help to keep the moss off the lawn.

Zardoz

walus wrote: »

I did not realize that. I thought that in the longer grass moss has better conditions (shade, dampness) to grow. I always thought that cutting grass shorter would get more sun and air in between the blades which would help to keep the moss off the lawn.

Have a read here ,its an excellent site for lawn info

http://www.lawnsmith.co.uk/topic/moss-control-removal/moss-prevention

Shemale

I always cut my grass on the highest setting and regularly, this shades out moss, weeds and it looks like a meadow.