Help mowing a new lawn when its raining all the time.

[robind]

Hi this is my first post here and I am a total novice. I planted a lawn from seed at the end of August and now the grass is about 2-3inches high. The problem is its been raining in buckets where I live and I want to mow it sometime as I believe it will grow better if I cut it when it reaches about 3-4 inches high.

My questions are,

1. If it carries on raining will it be ok just to leave it til next Spring?
2. Should the grass be cut only if its dry?
3. To prepare a new lawn for the Winter what is the best height to leave the grass, my father in law suggested 3 inches?

4.Should I fertilise it before the Winter, ie after the last cut?

Sorry in advance if these questions seem a bit novice like. I am a bit frustrated as I spent a lot of time preparing the ground over the Summer as the previous owner preferred the distressed look!!! Plus buying a new lawnmower recently means I am good to go...

[boo & me]

I have always heard that you shouldn't cut the grass while it is wet because it could kill it; but you see lawn companies do it all the time. I don't think fertilizing it at this time is necessary because you just planted the grass but in the spring if you pull the yard then put the fertilizer down it will help for next year. I don't know how high you should leave it but the next time you see a contracted lawn person cutting a lawn of a business ask him/her, since they are more than likely to have beautiful lawns themselves.

[JimR]

It'll be easier to answer if you tell us where you are and what type of grass you planted --

[swoopydo51]

Yes. Preferably the grass should be dry when mowed.

[Don Phillipson]

This is normal for an established lawn -- not for a new one. Newly seeded lawns are first mowed when the grass reaches at least 3 inches.

While this is generally true, Robind's grass is wet.

Compaction of the soil must be avoided, and this is the main reason (in England) to defer cutting newly-seeded grass: the seedbed needs months to pack down so as to resist ruts and similar damage. A light hand mower will probably do no damage, even cutting wet grass: you will just need to clear the mower more often, and perhaps resharpen too.

In most parts of the UK it seems easy to get expert advice about lawns in local conditions, e.g. when first to roll and level a new lawn.

[Cosmith_Gardening]

The grass should be dry before you cut it. Also the grass should be 3 or 4 inches before cutting it.

[Lady A]

My friend and I planted some grass seeds over the summer as well, it was alot of work, but we were amazed at how quickly the grass grew.

[sampvasant]

can get easy method to maintain your Garden

[robind]

Thanks I am in Germany near Frankfurt. I am not joking when I say it ha rained every day since the beginning of September. Any how the grass planted is an Autumn lawn seed

-50% Lolium perenne

15%-Festuca rubra rubra 5%-Festuca rubra trichophylla 25%-Festuca rubra commutata 5% Proa pratensis

I hope this info helps Thanks for your help everyone

-- robind

[Steven Wayne]

That's for new grass, once it's been around for a while you can cut it when it's shorter.

Don't remove more than one third of the grass height.

They'll be some dry days before then, don't worry.

Ideally, yes.

Wet grass clogs the mower, tends to tear more, and you shouldn't be walking on wet lawns anyway.

I have a besom broom in my van that I use to remove surface dew when I can, but my customers are paying me to keep their grass short so I have been known to mow wet grass, though I prefer to just strim it.

That depends on the grass type. I take it we're not talking about an ornamental lawn?

Around now (late Sept/early Oct) I raise the height to 1 or 1.5 inches depending on the grass and the ground conditions.

Then depending on the weather during the winter I tend to leave the height at 1.5 inches. Two cuts in October, then one each in November and December if the weather has been mild.

January and February are "play it by ear" but if it's snowing then I tend to not cut anything.

Did you fertilise the new lawn?

An *established* lawn should have an autumn/winter feed, take a look in your local garden centre or online (I can recommend garden-goodies.co.uk).

No problem, we all started somewhere, and it's wet out so I'm not mowing anything today (^_^)

Steven

[trader4]

As someone already pointed out, to get the right answer you need to tell us where you are and what kind of grass. If it's cool season grasss, at 3" you should mow it, but I would wait until it stops raining and it's reasonably dry. Mowing it actually helps it develop as taking off part of the blade causes it to grow faster and spread out more. Hopefully you put down starter fertilizer when you seeded last month. I'd put down a fall fertilizer after you mow it. As for winter height, I'd just continue to mow it normally. After the last cut, whatever height it winds up being when growth finally stops, will be OK.

[robind]

If you read post no9 above I have already said where I am etc