When mowing your lawn, there are a few golden rules to follow to get the best cut. In this blog, we will specifically focus on what height your lawn should be mown at and look at some helpful tools to help you measure your current height.
What are the Golden Rules?
- Don’t cut your lawn too short for your variety. Measuring your lawn’s height of cut (HOC) will help you know if you are cutting either too high or too short for your turf type.
- Measure how much you cut each time you mow. By doing this, it will help you stop removing too much of the leaf in one go. We recommend removing no more than one-third of the leaf with each pass.
- Adjust your inputs to accommodate your HOC. The shorter you go, the more inputs your lawn will require. Measuring your HOC will help you adjust this appropriately.
How Do I Measure My Lawns Mowing Height?
There are a few different tools that you can use to help measure your lawn mowing height. Some mowers already have their mowing heights labelled for each adjustable height notch, but if your mower doesn’t have this, don’t fret!
Measuring Your Lawn Height of Cut with the Allett Grass Gauge
If you want an accurate way of measuring your lawn’s HOC, one of the best and most precise ways to do this is with the Allett Grass Gauge. This premium product provides accurate measurements while being easy to use. Push the prism firmly down onto the ground and look at the grass’s height against the scale.
The grass gauge also allows you to inspect the quality of your grass blade up close as if you were at a bug’s level on the turf. This will also help you inspect the quality of your cut and see if any your mower blades need to be sharpened or changed. The scale provides measurements up to 50mm high and has a 100mm wide viewing width.
Measure HOC on Your Lawn Mower
Another way to measure your HOC is to measure the distance between your mower’s blades and the bottom of the wheels. To do this, we first recommend disconnecting the spark plug from your mower to ensure that it won’t turn on. Then, turn the mower upside down on a flat surface. After this, use a tape measure and look at the distance from your mower’s blades to the bottom of the wheel. This will give you your lawn mowing height.
If you are using this method, we recommend taking note of all of the mower’s HOC at each notch, so you don’t need to repeat this process if you are changing your lawn’s mowing height in the future.
What Height Should I Mow My Lawn At?
Each turf type has a preferred range of mowing heights at which it can grow its best. So, let’s take a look at what height your turf type should be mown at:
Guideline for ideal mowing heights:
(General rule of thumb: shorter for summer, longer for winter)
- Buffalo grass (Sir Walter DNA Certified): 30 to 50mm
- Hybrid Bermuda (TifTuf): 5 to 30mm
- Zoysia matrella (Sir Grange): 5 to unmown
- Zoysia japonica (Zoysia Australis): 10 to ummown
- Kikuyu: 30 to 50mm
- Green couch: 5 to 30mm
- Queensland blue couch: 5 to 30mm
- Broadleaf carpet grass: 30 to 50m
- Fescue: 30 to 50mm
For more lawn care and mowing tips and advice, make sure you check out our other blogs here.
