The Perfect Length To Cut Your Grass To Keep Your Lawn Healthy All Winter Long

If you're new to yard work, keeping your lawn healthy all year long can be quite the difficult task — especially since there are so many lawn care myths to fall for. Of these myths, one of the biggest ones is that you should be mowing your lawn short and often. In reality, you should always follow the one-third mowing rule to achieve a beautiful, healthy lawn. The only exception to this rule is during your last mow of the year before the first freeze of winter. During this mow, you should cut your grass a little shorter than normal — to a height of two to two-and-a-half inches, to be exact.

This is important because grass goes into dormancy in winter and having shorter grass can help keep it healthier and prevent diseases during this time. However, while it is important to cut your lawn shorter before winter, you don't want to do it all at once and go from tall to short in one mow. Instead, you should gradually start cutting your lawn shorter and shorter in autumn so that you don't stress out your lawn with a big haircut right before a cold snap. Because the first freeze of the year is not always very predictable, a good general rule is to start the process of cutting your lawn down to two or two-and-a-half inches once daytime temperatures consistently stay around 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now, you may be thinking that adjusting the height of your mower is kind of a pain, so is it really necessary to cut your grass shorter before winter? While it is not required, doing so will help your lawn stay healthy through the winter and grow back better in spring. This is because cutting your grass down to around two or two-and-a-half inches ensures that there is enough grass to still successfully take in sunlight and produce nutrients for the plant, but not so much that the grass will become stressed or matted. In fact, leaving your grass too long over winter can cause spring diseases like snow mold (which you can also help prevent by raking in the spring) and can encourage pests like voles to stick around.

This system of cutting short before winter is particularly beneficial for cold season grasses — like Kentucky Bluegrass — that typically grow in the northern regions of the U.S. However, for warm season grasses — like Bermuda, Buffalo, and St. Augustine — which are grown in the more-tropical southern regions of the country, the rule is actually the opposite and you should let your grass grow longer in winter to help insulate the roots of the plant. In fact, for these warm-weather tallgrass varieties, a winter length of three to four inches is what's recommended.