Submitted by John Monzingo, Assistant County Agent
Each summer I see yards getting scalped. When cutting your lawn, you should be cutting the top one third of the grass blade. Each type of lawn turf has a specific height for best health. Not only cutting your lawn at the right height, but proper times and amount of water is critical for a healthy lawn.
There are recommended heights to properly cut and maintain your grass to have a healthy yard. Step one is knowing what type of grass you have growing in your yard. Step two is knowing the recommended mowed height your yard should be for your particular lawn grass type. Here are some recommendations for cut height of grass for a healthy yard.
Common Bermuda is one and one forth inch to one and one half inch. Hybrid Bermuda is three fourths of an inch to one inch. St. Augustine is two to three inches. Centipede is one to two inches. This last type of grass is not your typical turf grass but it is a grass we in North Louisiana have to deal with, Bahia grass. The recommended heights for Bahia is three inches. These are all recommended heights after you have cut to have a healthy yard. Just a reminder it is best to make small adjustments to mower height because you still only want to remove the upper one third of the blade of grass.
You may be asking; how do I know what height my grass is or how do I set my mower? The best way to answer is get a ruler and measure. Simply put a ruler on top of soil and see how long the grass blade is. When adjusting your mower height, place the mower on level ground, preferably concrete porch and measure from concrete to the cutting surface of the blade to get height of grass when done cutting.
Watering your yard is important for a healthy yard. Certain grasses prefer a lot of water while others do not. As stated in a previous article the average yard in North Louisiana, only needs about an inch of water per week. I failed to mention when the best time to water. Recommended best time for watering your yard is between 4am until 9am. This allows for any evaporation of excess water during the day. Watering at night can lead to fungal issues in your yard along with other diseases.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 318-927-3110.
It is the policy of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service that no person shall be subject to discrimination on the grounds of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, or disability.