Lawn Guide

What does the turf industry phrase “good cultural practices help the look of your lawn” mean? “Cultural practices” is a catch-all phrase used to describe maintenance procedures performed on a lawn. The four main cultural practices in lawn care are mowing, watering, fertilizing and aerating. Cultural practices are intended to improve turf health and vigor by reducing weeds and disease pressure. Homeowners have direct control over the first two practices; watering and mowing. The last two practices, fertilizing and aerating, can be handled by Alternative Environments (AELMI) as an extra service. Please find below some important cultural practice tips for our customers based upon our years of experience and the recommendations of the University of Georgia extension office.

MOWING

The first step to proper mowing is cutting the grass to the recommended height. This means removing no more than one third of the total leaf surface in a single mowing. For example, if the turfs’ optimal height is two inches then it should be mowed when it reaches no more than three inches. When a lawn is properly mowed it is not necessary to remove the clippings. The clippings can be allowed to naturally filter down into the turf recycles nutrients. This practice is environmentally sound, saves time, saves energy, and saves landfill space. Here are some suggested mowing heights for different turfs:

• Warm Season
  • Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) hybrid 0.5 to 1.25 inches, common 1 to 2 inches
  • Zoysiagrass (Zoysia matrella & Zoysia japonica) 0.5 to 2 inches. If cutting less than 1 inch need to cut more often i.e. 2X a week
  • Centipedegrass (Eremochloa ophiuroides) 1 to 2 inches
• Cool Season
  • Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea) 2 to 3 inches

The second step to proper mowing is ensuring your mower blades are sharp. Dull blades tear grass instead of cutting it. Lawns mowed with dull blades require 30 percent more water and the “dull blade” wounds allow disease pathogens to enter grass plants. Sharpen your blade regularly and always replace damaged blades. The final step to proper mowing is a procedure called scalping. Scalping is conducted each spring and involves cutting your grass at the lowest, or near the lowest, setting on your mower (without cutting into soil). This step helps to remove dormant grass and promote spring growth. As a general rule you should scalp your lawn only when the danger of a hard freeze has passed. Scalping is a timely process and it is important to bag all clippings in the yard. We recommend you cut the yard on the normal setting on the first pass and then lower it a notch each time until you achieve the desired scalping height. You should NEVER scalp your lawn in the fall! The remaining dormant grass acts as a “blanket” to protect your lawns root system from the harshness of winter.

Watering

All lawns need water in order to remain green and healthy. Water is provided by two different sources – natural rain fall or man-made irrigation. Though we all prefer to “let nature take its course”; this is not always a viable option. Warm season grasses have proven to be among the most drought resistant but they still need to be watered once or twice per week. When a warm season yard is thirsty its blades will bow down a little and become bluish-gray in color. By watering a warm season lawn once or twice a week you force the roots of the grass to dig down farther. As the roots go deeper the lawn will stay healthier and greener during the next drought. Rather than watering briefly several times a week, we recommend watering deeply twice a week to promote deeper root growth.