Tips for When to Mow Your Lawn and How to Cut Your Grass

• Don't mow your grass when it's wet, whether due to weather or watering. That damages the mower blades and your lawn alike. Plus, each time you run your mower over your lawn you compact the soil (especially wet or damp soil) impeding healthy root growth.

  It's not always best to cut your lawn on a schedule. You should take into consideration any fertilizaton, weed control applications, weather or water changes your lawn may be experiencing.

• Don't buzz cut an overgrown lawn to "get back on schedule." Instead, cut the grass back in increments, never by more than a third of its current length.
• Do cut your lawn "high," as in about three inches. That length helps limit weed growth, reduces the need for watering and promotes a strong root structures.
• Don't cut your lawn obsessively. Like any plant, grass needs time to recover from being cut.
• Have your lawn mower blades sharpened before the mowing season begins (Did you?) and check them every month. Sharp blades make a clean cut, whereas dull blades make ragged cuts that don't heal well.
• Trim before you mow. Then when you mow the grass it will clean up the trimmings!
• To establish a green lawn that's the envy of your neighbors, follow these mowing tips and follow a season-long schedule of lawn maintenance applying fertilizer and weedkillers as appropriate. Gertens 4-Step lawn fertilizer program is designed to keep your lawn healthy all season long.