When gardeners should give lawns a ‘final mow’ before winter or risk a dead lawn

When gardeners should give lawns a ‘final mow’ before winter or risk dead lawn (Image: Getty)

According to the gardening experts at Yell, one of the most common mistakes made by homeowners is when they stop mowing their lawns.

Some may stop too early, while some may stop too late, ruining their lawn's growth the following spring.

The experts at Yell said: “The final mow should align with the grass stopping its growth, typically between October and November, as temperatures drop.

“However, with the fluctuating seasons and warmer winter sun now common in the UK, this can sometimes extend growth into December.

“If your grass continues growing during winter, cut it once it excess three inches in height.

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“When mowing, avoid removing more than one-third of the grass at a time to maintain healthy growth.”

Cutting your grass too short weakens the roots and leaves the lawn vulnerable to damage during the winter months.

“For the healthiest and most sustainable lawn, a mowing height of 3.5 to four inches is ideal," the experts added.

“Lawns cut at this height are better at outcompeting weeds and this will help insulate the grass and protect it from the cold.”

Lawn care calendar (Image: EXPRESS)

In addition to reducing its mowing, it’s also important to ensure other maintenance jobs are performed.

This includes feeding and aerating the lawn which play “key roles” in promoting healthy growth.

Simon Akeroyd, head of estates and landscapes at Painshill Park noted: “One of the most effective ways of improving the quality of the lawn in autumn and part of the autumn lawn care maintenance programme, is to aerate it.

“Aeration helps to relieve compaction, increases drainage, which will reduce moss problems and increases airflow in the soil, which promotes healthier root system and therefore a better and denser sward of lawn on the surface.

“You can then brush top dressing into the holes left by the fork to improve the quality of the soil in the root zone of the lawn.”

Scarifying is also a useful lawn maintenance job to increase the health of the lawn.

It involves using a rake and pulling it across the surface of the lawn, removing thatch which is dead material at the base of the lawn.