If you’re conscious about your lawn’s health, you’ve probably heard about scalping lawns. It sounds kind of weird, but it’s actually a fairly simple idea. It’s a method of mowing your lawn that can be really beneficial to the grass and which is fantastic when used in tandem with other lawn maintenance methods.
Earth Development not only helps you with scalping grass through our teams of local lawn maintenance and landscaping experts, but we also provide great information and guides right here on our website!
Let’s answer the question “what is lawn scalping?” and take a look at why you should (or shouldn’t!) do it.
What is Grass Scalping
Put simply, grass scalping is a way of mowing your lawn that takes off most of the blade and exposes the stems. You’ll need to put your mower to its lowest possible setting and clip the blades so low that the stems of each blade of grass are fully exposed.
It sounds counterintuitive, but in some situations, it’s important. You may have even done this before by accident.
There are, however, times when scalping grass will help the grass regrow – particularly after you’ve aerated the soil and fertilized the ground. It will give your grass a brand new opportunity to grow greener, healthier, and more durable for the warmer months.
Scalping is also a great way to stop the build-up of thatch in between the blades, helping you better expose the soil to water and the air. It even helps you prevent disease.
When to Scalp the Lawn
This process exposes your grass to the elements, so you’ll want to make sure that you scalp lawns in spring. By scalping a yard in spring, you’ll minimize the amount of time the stems are exposed, as the grass will immediately begin to grow again. Should you scalp the grass outside of the growing season, exposing the plant to its stem may ultimately kill the grass.
Reasons Not To Do It
Bermuda grass is one of the best kinds of grass to scalp in the spring, but should you scalp your lawn if your grass is St. Augustine? Probably not. If you have Zoysia grass, you should never scalp no matter what.
How to Mow Your Lawn Correctly in Spring
Scalping Bermuda grass, or similar kinds of grass that grow in the warmer months, be sure to change your mower settings to either one inch or one and a half inches on the height settings. When mowing, be sure to keep checking the bag to make sure it’s not too full, as you’ll be mowing much more grass than normal.
Once you’ve laid new seed and fertilized the grass, slowly increase the mowing height for your grass throughout the spring and you’ll be left with a lush, green lawn in the summer.
Conclusion
Why do you scalp your lawn? Because it works! Assuming you have the right kind of grass, this is a super-effective way of ensuring you have fresh new growth in your lawn for the summer.
But before you go ahead and scalp your lawn in early spring, we recommend that you seek advice from your local Earth Development team. We’ll help you determine whether you have the right kind of lawn and any other steps we can take to ensure your lawn looks as good as it possibly can.