Avoiding pesky weeds and diseases from thriving on your lawn is easy if you mow the grass properly. When you cut the grass to a recommended height, you enable it to have more exposure to the essential sunlight and nutrients that it requires to become lush, bouncy and green; a pleasure to walk on in your bare feet! However, mow your lawn too short – otherwise known as ‘scalping’ – and it can have some dramatic, unwanted effects upon the grass. For starters it can weaken your lawn and even destroy it beyond recognition if you’re not careful. Scalping literally cuts short the grasses supply of nutrients and allows weeds to multiply.
Scalping and its effects on your lawn:
The natural process of photosynthesis enables grass to convert sunlight into energy, but when too much of the grass is cut – such as when scalping occurs – the lawn’s ability to use photosynthesis is greatly reduced and without the necessary nutrients, it simply withers and dies.
Are you scalping your lawn?
If the grass stems are exposed (they are brown in colour), then the answer is yes, you’re scalping your lawn.
How short should you cut your lawn?
Most warm-season grasses should be cut to at least an inch in height, while it’s recommended to leave cool-season grasses to be at least 2.5 inches in height. If your lawn mower is on the lowest setting when you usually cut your grass, then the chances are that you’re scalping your lawn.
How scalping is sometimes made worse:
Mowing your lawn with a blunted blade can damage it and cause a scalping effect; if your grass looks torn and frayed after mowing, your blade may need sharpening. One other factor involved with scalping, is mowing your lawn during the hottest summer months, which only makes your already stressed lawn, look much worse.
How to correctly mow your lawn:
Lawns are always best left too long than cut too short, and during the growing season, your grass should be around 3 inches in height. Leaving the clippings where they fall can also aid a healthy lawn, since the decomposed grass will return precious nutrients back to the soil by means of a process called ‘grass-cycling’.
How to repair a scalped lawn:
If your lawn has been scalped, you’ll need to let it grow slowly back to its correct height with infrequent deep watering. It will return to its former glory, so don’t despair, but you’ll have to be patient.
To avoid incidents of scalping, simply hire a professional lawn care company to cut your grass for you, or contact them for more advice if you’ve already scalped your lawn and want to know how to repair it and avoid it happening in the future.
