Fertilizing is an essential part of lawn care. The nutrients supplied form an effective basis for a healthy, dense lawn that remains attractive even after prolonged use. The main question many newcomers to lawn care ask is when the earliest mowing should occur. Mowing too early or too late can have negative effects on grass germination and growth. You can find out when to mow the lawn here.
In order to determine the right time to mow the lawn, you first need to know how often you should fertilize the lawn. Fertilizing time is a crucial point, because it disturbs the actual rhythm of mowing the lawn, as there are significantly longer pauses between each operation. There are two typical fertilizing times, which occur mainly in lawns that receive little wear and tear:
- Mid-March to early April
- mid-August to mid-September
These two dates are the basic dates when fertilizer is applied. Keep in mind, however, that they can shift due to weather and seasons, especially fertilization in the spring. If you have heavily used lawns, such as a playground or sports turf, you will need to make additional fertilizations at approximately eight-week intervals starting with the first fertilization. These areas need more nutrients to continue to be used effectively.
Note: If you don’t want to rely on chemicals for fertilization, you can easily make your own fertilizer at little cost. To do this, simply work well-matured compost with small amounts of animal matter into the lawn to provide adequate nutrients for the grasses.
Mowing the lawn after fertilizing
The earliest time you can mow the lawn is not solely dependent on the above time frames for fertilization. You must not just grab the lawn mower and mow the lawn following fertilization. In itself, the date to trim the lawn is determined only by the fertilizer itself. To do this, follow this procedure:
- Fertilizer is distributed
- Fertilizer passes into the soil
- fertilizer dissolves with time
- dissolved nutrients enrich the soil
- serve as a food supply for the plants
Mow based on this list starting at point 3. Just pay attention to whether you see fertilizer or if it has completely dissolved. Only at this point is it advisable to use the lawn mower, as you no longer run the risk of the process having a negative impact on the growing conditions of the plants.
Note: If you are liming the soil in addition to fertilizing, you must also wait until all the components have been absorbed by the soil. The best time to do this is based precisely on the aspects mentioned so far, which also concern the subsequent mowing with fertilization.
Mowing when reseeding or reseeding.
The deadline for mowing the lawn after fertilizing shifts significantly if you had to repair sections of the lawn or completely reseed it. Since fresh seed needs to germinate and become established over time, you would put a lot of pressure on the area if you grab the lawn mower right away.
Fortunately, you can determine exactly when you can mow the newly seeded lawn. This depends on the type of lawn you choose, as it will need to reach a certain growth height due to the potential stress it will be under in order to avoid suffering from lawn clippings. You should consider the following growth heights:
- Ornamental lawn: 8 to 9 centimeters.
- Play or sports lawn: 7 to 7.5 centimeters
- Shade lawn: 10 centimeters
These heights can grow much faster, depending on the seed chosen, and for this reason they need to be mowed earlier. After that, you will need to regularly trim the newly established lawn to stimulate growth and effectively address unevenness. Over time, a dense lawn should present itself that is easy to walk on and has no gaps. Also, always look for excess fertilizer when trimming the lawn. If this is still visible, you should definitely wait a little longer.