Mowing before or after Rain??

[yardguy28]

personally none of the rules stated I this thread are relevant to me.

my mon people are generally mowed on mon, tues on tues and so forth. they are all cut at the same 3" height until drier conditions when I move them up to 3.5". no matter how much or little they grow from week to week.

I won't mow in the rain but as soon as I see pavement starting to dry I go out and cut.

out of all the wet grass I've cut whether from morning dew or rain fall I haven't harmed a single lawn.

as for dry conditions. I mow only if the mower will cut something at the 3.5 height.

all those "rules to follow when cutting grass" might be helpful but they aren't words to live by IMO.

[Duekster]

Originally Posted by yardguy28

personally none of the rules stated I this thread are relevant to me.

my mon people are generally mowed on mon, tues on tues and so forth. they are all cut at the same 3" height until drier conditions when I move them up to 3.5". no matter how much or little they grow from week to week.

I won't mow in the rain but as soon as I see pavement starting to dry I go out and cut.

out of all the wet grass I've cut whether from morning dew or rain fall I haven't harmed a single lawn.

as for dry conditions. I mow only if the mower will cut something at the 3.5 height.

all those "rules to follow when cutting grass" might be helpful but they aren't words to live by IMO.

Rules are made to be broken right. I admit that if the client does not care and all they want is mow blow and go or bi-weekly service then you do it. Everyone does.

However as professional we need to know what Best Practices are and why.

You are mowing on your schedule, everyone has to maintain a schedule. If you post pone too long because of rain then you are stuck with the 1/3 rule. The grass will often survive. However if your repeatedly do this then the turf will suffer over time.

[yardguy28]

Originally Posted by Duekster

Rules are made to be broken right. I admit that if the client does not care and all they want is mow blow and go or bi-weekly service then you do it. Everyone does.

However as professional we need to know what Best Practices are and why.

You are mowing on your schedule, everyone has to maintain a schedule. If you post pone too long because of rain then you are stuck with the 1/3 rule. The grass will often survive. However if your repeatedly do this then the turf will suffer over time.

I have never followed the 1/3 rule and I've never had a lawn suffer from it.

my clientele is everything from mow blow and go all the way to full service. I have always serviced each and every client on a weekly basis. sometimes they go longer due to rain. but I've never cut more often than once a week for anyone, not even myself.

[Scott Barnes]

Cutting a lawn on a Friday then again on a Monday every 3 to four days sure does make it look well kept. Just sayin.

[Duekster]

Originally Posted by yardguy28

I have never followed the 1/3 rule and I've never had a lawn suffer from it.

my clientele is everything from mow blow and go all the way to full service. I have always serviced each and every client on a weekly basis. sometimes they go longer due to rain. but I've never cut more often than once a week for anyone, not even myself.

Perhaps with your grass you do not have a 1/3 rule issue mowing weekly but I assure you removing more than 1/3 will damage the turf when done consistantly.

[Scott Barnes]

Last Spring round here had lot's of rain. So much that you had to cut in the rain. Pretty sure that the yards that where cut while a consistent rain was dropping stimulated excessive growth on the lawn.

Think it is called the double whammy effect. Cutting the lawn stimulates growth and so does rain. Does not happen very often but when it does watch out!

[Duekster]

Originally Posted by Scott Barnes

Last Spring round here had lot's of rain. So much that you had to cut in the rain. Pretty sure that the yards that where cut while a consistent rain was dropping stimulated excessive growth on the lawn.

Think it is called the double whammy effect. Cutting the lawn stimulates growth and so does rain. Does not happen very often but when it does watch out!

There are times when it can not be avoided.

[dhardin53]

The best you can do for dried out grass is to make sure you have very sharp blade. Plus don't mow it to low, if you do mow best to mow it a bit hight than usual and fresh sharp blades.

The sharp blade will make a cleaner cut on the top edge of the grass. Bull blades have a tendency to fray the end of the grass. This will accelerator the loss of moisture in a dry spell.

For me I don't worry about mowing when wet. But It has been my experience that after this long of a dry spell like we are having it will take a several days for the grass to come back. Mostly the weeds will jump first. During a real dry spell it is trumpeting to spray for weeds. But I hesitate in spraying when it is so dry. You have a greater chance of damaging (possible killing) the grass in a super hot and dry spell.

[Zero Turn Fanatic]

Do not mow in any wet conditions, it won't cut as good and grass will smell inside tractor deck. Trust me.

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[32vld]

Originally Posted by MrUPS

What are your opinions on mowing before or after Rain?? Especially in dry and hot conditions!!
Does it really matter at all??
Thanks for any input!!

If a lawn is due to be mowed then mow it. Doing a day early or a day later to cut the grass before or after a rain does not matter. We are only talking about one day.

The second part of question no one has been able to give a concise answer. That is when the grass has been stressed due to lack of water is it better to mow the lawn a day earlier before the rain or to wait for a day after the rain.

Will the lawn be further stressed by mowing a day earlier or not?

Will the lawn recover faster/better being it is longer/taller if waiting to mow the lawn the day after the rain?

We are not talking about the best height to cut at but whether leaving the lawn uncut will allow the lawn to recover faster.