How To Mow Your Buffalo Grass Lawn Correctly

Maintaining a lush green buffalo grass lawn requires timely and effective care throughout the seasons. Whether mowing, fertilizing, watering, or disease control, a nearly perfect home lawn requires care and attention to remain in the best condition possible.

Regular mowing is one of the most prominent lawn maintenance practices your buffalo grass requires. But how do you mow your buffalo grass lawn? This article explores what you need to do when mowing buffalo grass lawn to keep it lush and healthy.

The Recommended Mowing Height

Taking care of your buffalo grass height is a great way to keep it healthy, green, and attractive. The best way to keep it beautiful and healthy is to determine the right balance, depending on the type of buffalo grass on your lawn.

Your grass type will also determine how often you mow it. The three types of buffalo grass are:

• Palmetto buffalo: This is the most famous and preferred grass due to its low maintenance characteristics.
• Prestige buffalo: The newest in the market and loved due to its excellent recovery, drought resistance, and consistent deep green color.
• Sapphire buffalo: Has thinner leaves, recovers fast, and has a low thatch.

When your grass is well-established and ready for mowing, cut the soft green grass between 1.5-4 inches or not more than one-third of the buffalo grass blade.

Remember to use a mower with a sharp blade to keep your lawn neat and healthy. Bagging buffalo grass clipping is recommended to prevent the spread of weeds/pests.

Why You Shouldn’t Mow Your Buffalo Grass Too Short

Here are the reasons you shouldn’t cut your buffalo grass at lower heights than recommended:

Mowing buffalo grass too short can turn your lawn brown or yellow. You may be required to use more water and fertilizer to revive it.

Cutting too short exposes your turf to direct heat. With much heat, especially during the summer, you must water your lawn more regularly to keep your turf moist.

Cutting the grass too short encourages the thatch layer to grow thicker. Thick thatch can prevent water and air from getting to the roots.

When cut too low, your buffalo grass might become susceptible to pests and diseases.

Mowing too low removes the green grass, which is essential for shade tolerance and making food. Without enough leaves, your grass relies on its roots as a source of food, thus weakening your lawn. Such grass might not endure droughts or heavy rains.

Why You Shouldn’t Allow Your Grass To Grow Too Long

Below are the reasons you shouldn’t allow your buffalo grass to grow too long:

• Allowing your buffalo grass to grow too long makes it look less attractive. The blades grow with irregular heights, making your lawn have an inconsistent appearance.
• As the grass grows long, it competes for light, and as a result, it grows weak. Allowing weak grass to grow makes it difficult to remain firm and falls off, suffocating the surrounding grass.
• Long buffalo grass provides a suitable place for fungus to thrive.
• Long grass makes it challenging to mow as it overwhelms your mower.
• Allowing your buffalo grass to grow too long blocks sunlight to your turf, making your grass thin out and turn brown or yellowish.

When To Mow Your Buffalo Grass

After learning how to mow your buffalo grass, it’s advisable to figure out the appropriate time for mowing. Buffalo grass, unlike most traditional lawn grass, is a low-maintenance grass. Once established, it will survive extreme heat and cold.

Most homeowners prefer buffalo grass because it’s less aggressive, unlike Bermuda grass. But should you overlook buffalo grass care because it’s less aggressive?

If left unchecked, buffalo grass can grow tall, impairing the beauty of your landscape. Additionally, its runners can spread rapidly and encroach on your sidewalks and garden beds.

You can mow your buffalo grass throughout the four seasons, but how often you mow it can vary from season to season. Here’s how often you’ll mow your buffalo grass in different seasons:

Summer

Buffalo grass proliferates during the summer because it’s warm-season grass. That means you should mow your buffalo grass lawn more often during this period. It’s advisable to mow healthy buffalo grass every 8-14 days during summer.

Failing to mow your buffalo grass frequently during its high growth rate will force you to increase mowing time and effort. Its large and dense clipping can strain your lawnmower, and the job might not be impressive.

Summer is also the best time to dethatch your buffalo grass. As warm-season grass, buffalo grass produces a thick thatch faster, preventing water and air from getting to the roots.

Dethatching causes plenty of damage to your buffalo grass. When you dethatch during the summer months, your grass has enough time to fix the damage caused.

Fall, Winter, and Spring

Buffalo grass may not grow much during colder months. You may think your grass is not growing during the late fall through winter and early spring. During these months, the grass uses much energy to strengthen its thatch layer and less for growing leaves.

The thick thatch layer protects your buffalo grass from temperature fluctuations in the soil. Although its growth rate might fluctuate from one season to another, mowing your buffalo grass every four weeks during these colder months is advisable.

Benefits of Mowing Buffalo Grass Lawn

Why mow your buffalo grass lawn? Here are the pros of regularly mowing buffalo lawns.

• Regular mowing allows your lawn to stay lush and healthy. Mowing forces your buffalo grass to use more energy to repair the damaged leaves. As a result, the blades remain green and healthy.
• Mowing is an effective way to prevent grass from growing aggressively. The grass uses its energy to repair the damaged leaves; thus, less grass can invade your pathways or garden beds.
• Regular mowing gets rid of small weeds before they can grow up and start spreading.
• Mowing is a great way to control thatch build-up on your lawn.
• Mowing prevents fungus and pest invasion.

Final Thoughts

When mowing buffalo grass lawn, cut the grass between 1.5-4 inches or about one-third of the blades. Cutting too low or allowing the grass to grow too long might encourage an unhealthy and unappealing lawn. Mow your buffalo grass every 8-14 days during summer and after every four weeks during fall, winter, and spring.