Mowing your grass at the right height and frequency is crucial to maintaining its pristine appearance throughout the year here in New Mexico. When you sign up for a lawn mowing service and your lawn care provider mentions a 1/3 rule, they are talking about a mowing practice rule that says that you should never cut more than 1/3 off the top of the grass blades at once. This rule is crucial because cutting your grass at the right height will help promote a healthy root zone, and can even help encourage deeper root growth, bolstering your lawn's resilience against stressors. If you skip a week of mowing and your grass has grown longer than usual, don't fret. You'll want to continue with the 1/3 rule so you don't cut too much from your grass. The following week, continue following the 1/3 rule until you get back down to your lawn's ideal height!

What is the 1/3 rule in lawn mowing?

When mowing your lawn, you need to follow certain rules to maintain its prime condition! The golden rule in lawn mowing is the 1/3 rule. This rule states that you should never cut more than 1/3 off the top of the grass blades at once. This means that if you maintain your lawn at a height of 6 centimeters, your lawn mower should be set at 4 cm, so you only remove 2 cm from the grass blades. When mowing your grass, you want to know how tall your lawn is and ensure your lawn mower is set at the right height to get the best results.

Rotating mowing patterns each mow can help keep lawns in good health by preventing ruts from forming and also preventing them from leaning in one direction.

How does the 1/3 rule help your grass stay healthy?

The 1/3 rule in lawn mowing was created to help keep your lawn in good health. Cutting your grass at the right height promotes lateral grass growth, so your lawn will become denser and develop deeper roots. With a more robust and deeper root system, your lawn will become more resilient and can fight off different stressors. Additionally, when you cut off too much of a grass blade at once, it can cause a lot of stress to the blade and it will need to focus its resources on healing instead of growing. By following the 1/3 rule, you can prevent this from happening so your grass can stay nice and strong.

What happens if you skip a week of mowing and your grass becomes longer than normal?

Lawn mowing should be done regularly throughout the year to keep your grass looking its best. However, life can sometimes happen, and you might skip a week of lawn mowing. Don't fret! When this happens, you still need to follow the 1/3 rule! Your grass will still be a bit long after you get back to mowing your grass again because of the time it had to grow during the missed week. Next week, you'll want to continue cutting 1/3 off the top of your grass again, and eventually, you will get back down to the ideal height. You risk stressing out your lawn when you cut your grass too much to make up for the missed mowing session!

Call us today to sign up for our lawn mowing service!

Our team at Extreme Landscaping offers a lawn mowing service to commercial and residential properties, as well as HOAs, in Las Cruces, Mesilla, Sunland Park, NM, and nearby areas in Texas like El Paso. We offer weekly and bi-weekly schedules to keep your grass's growth under control. When you sign up for this service, we will also perform string-trimming, edging, and blowing debris off the hard surfaces on your property. Let our team take the hassle out of mowing your grass. Sign up for our lawn mowing service by calling us at (575) 652-3605 today!