How often should grass actually be cut?

There is no single right answer, but there is a right principle: never remove more than a third of the leaf in one cut. Everything else follows from that.

Through the year, roughly

• March: first cut of the year, blades high. Just tidying, not scalping.
• April to June: peak growth. Weekly if you want it immaculate, fortnightly if you want it fine.
• July and August: growth slows in dry spells. Every 10–14 days, and raise the height in hot weather.
• September and October: a second flush of growth. Back to fortnightly.
• November to February: occasional topping in a mild spell, on dry ground only.

Why cutting too short backfires

People cut short hoping to cut less often. What actually happens is:

• Short grass has short roots, so it dries out faster and browns sooner in summer.
• Scalping stresses the plant, which then grows back faster to recover.
• Bare soil between short blades is where weed seeds and moss germinate.

Longer grass shades the soil, keeps it cooler and damper, and crowds out weeds without any chemical at all. Around 3–4cm is right for most family lawns in this part of Scotland.

Little things that make a visible difference

• Sharp blades. A blunt mower tears rather than cuts, and torn leaf tips go brown and let disease in. If your lawn looks faintly beige a day after cutting, the blade is blunt.
• Change direction each cut. Always mowing the same way makes the grass lean, and creates ruts over time.
• Do not cut wet grass if you can avoid it. It clumps, it compacts the ground under the wheels, and the finish is poor.
• Edge it. A crisp edge along the borders makes an ordinary lawn look properly maintained. It is the highest-impact ten minutes in gardening.

What we do

Our grass cutting rounds run weekly and fortnightly from March to October, with sharp blades, seasonal cutting heights, edging included and all clippings taken away. Prices start at £18 a visit — the calculator will give you a figure for your own garden in under a minute.