The Best Lawn Mower Setting For Each Grass Type (& More Care Tips)

When spring rolls around and your grass shows those tantalizing signs of new growth, do you find yourself wondering which height you should actually mow your lawn? If not (and assuming that you don't already know), then can we ask: do you ever find your grass struggling to find its "get up and go," even when the neighbors' lawns are starting to flourish? If so, then there's potentially a very good reason.

Unfortunately, plenty of gardeners focus far too heavily on how often grass should be mowed, or the frequency with which they should feed it. But the height to which you cut your grass can also have a surprisingly big impact on its long-term health. Some types, like Kentucky bluegrass, are best left with a few inches intact in order to keep lending luster to your lawn. Others, like creeping bentgrass, need to be constantly managed to ensure they don't grow too long. In all cases, the only way to effectively mow the lawn is to understand which type of grass you're dealing with and the way it prefers to be cut. It's this that we're here to help with.

In the sections below, you'll find mowing recommendations, in inches, for 12 common grasses grown here in North America. You'll need to equate these tips to the settings on your specific lawn mower, and remember that just because your trusty steed has numbers next to the adjustment handle, those numbers don't necessarily translate into inches. Nevertheless, with this guide to hand — plus your mower's manufacturer instructions — it should be easier than ever to ensure you trim your grass to the height at which it's most happy.

An excellent grass choice in hardiness zones 3 to 7, Kentucky bluegrass is one of the softest cool-season grasses for those who like to walk across their lawns barefoot. It's popular in the northern states since it's adapted to grow best in cooler climates, and it's highly regarded for its ability to form a dense, luscious lawn with a deep green color. Not only is it popular in residential gardens, but it's also widely used on golf courses, which speaks to its hardiness against wear and tear. In fact, provided that it's given plenty of sunlight — and that it's mowed to an appropriate height — it'll quite happily repair itself.

As for what that height is, it changes slightly depending on the season. In the spring and fall, when it's most active, it's best to cut Kentucky bluegrass to between 2.5 and 3 inches. In the summer, cut it to between 3 and 3.5 inches. This helps cool the grass blades' crowns and encourages deeper rooting. It also affords your lawn more surface area per leaf for photosynthesis, which is important not only for self-repair during the hot and stressful months of summer but also for suppressing weeds.

Tall fescue is both heat and drought tolerant, and it's also highly resistant to wear — all traits that make it a popular lawn grass. It's especially popular in what's known as the "transition zone," which is a strip running roughly across the center of the country, with a climatic range that's often too cold for warm-season grasses and too warm for those adapted to cooler climes. This tolerance to various conditions, plus its ability to put up with and recover from heavy use, makes tall fescue one of the best grasses for areas that receive lots of traffic.

Per the name, it prefers a little more to be left on the top than other types of grass. It usually requires the highest setting on your mower, which makes things nice and easy. To be safe, though, it's worth checking that your highest setting ranges between 3 and 4 inches. This is especially important in the hottest part of the summer. Despite its suitability for gardens in the transition zone, tall fescue remains a cool-season grass type, which means that it's least active (and therefore most vulnerable to damage) during the warmest months of the year.

Another of the popular types of grass you can grow from seed, fine fescue is actually a collection of grasses, encompassing creeping red fescue, chewings fescue, and hard fescue. All are known for their fine foliage (hence the name), and they're all fairly tolerant of both shade and drought. This makes them excellent in sun-starved yards, as well as those in cooler, more temperate climates, particularly between zones 3 and 8.

If your lawn is filled with fine fescue, then, like tall fescue, you should avoid mowing it too frequently in the height of summer, since this is when it's most likely to be least active and therefore most vulnerable. When you do, aim to mow it to around 3 or 4 inches. Again, it's worth double-checking your mower manufacturer's instructions, but this is likely to be the highest setting on your lawn mower.

A relative newcomer to the fescue family, turf-type fescue is designed specifically for use in lawns and landscaping. It features a lush, fine texture that tends to form a glorious, tight carpet, and since it's resistant to drought, shade, and various diseases, it's an excellent choice for homeowners looking to lay a brand-new lawn. It's especially well suited to cooler climates, like those between zones 3 and 8.

If you have turf-type fescue, or you plan to lay it in your garden, then try to follow the same height guidelines as its tall and fine cousins. Between 3 and 4 inches is usually best, and you should avoid cutting it in the height of summer. Like other fescues, this is a cool-season type of grass, which means it's best mown during the slightly cooler climes of spring and fall when it's most active. Even then, like most fescues, it typically requires less mowing than other grass types, and while it benefits occasionally from soil aeration, it generally requires little maintenance. 

Perennial ryegrass is widely used in lawns around the country in different ways depending on the local climate. In cooler regions, it's popular as a year-round lawn and tends to grow most actively during the cooler months. In warmer climates, it's often used as a temporary "winter grass" — a way to bring color to gardens in winter weather that is conducive to perennial ryegrass growth. Wherever you grow it, it has high tolerance to wear and tear, which is a boon to gardeners who need their lawns to cope with family traffic. It doesn't mind drought as much as other cool-season types, either, and it usually fares well when exposed to cold and partial shade.

As for how long you should mow it, stick to between 2 and 3 inches, and make sure that you keep an eye out for signs of poor health. Certain cultivars of this grass type are prone to growth-impacting fungal diseases, like red thread and pythium blight, and can struggle more than other types to recuperate from damage. The best way to determine whether perennial ryegrass is right for your lawn is to assess your local climate. It's best suited in hardiness zones 3 through 7, outside of which you might find it more prone to such afflictions.

If you're wondering which species of grass you should plant and which you should avoid, creeping bentgrass is often considered one of the latter. But it's not without its uses. It's a cool-season grass type that's best grown between hardiness zones 3 and 6, and thanks to its dense, fine, hard-wearing growth pattern, it's a great choice for sports pitches and other high-traffic areas. The problem with creeping bentgrass is that it can be sensitive to pests, making it more high-maintenance than other grass types for home use.

It tends to grow horizontally, which makes it a reliable partner in areas where you need speedy coverage. The downside is that it can spread quite aggressively if not kept on top of. It needs to be kept to around half an inch high in order to keep it looking neat and tidy, meaning you need to keep a close eye on growth to ensure it doesn't get out of hand. Even then, it requires frequent feeding and watering to ensure it remains healthy, and it's rather prone to fungal diseases like brown patch and dollar spot. These diseases tend to occur when warm and highly humid days are frequently followed by cooler evening temperatures. This makes your local climate a key consideration when weighing up whether to plant creeping bentgrass.

Ideal in cooler climates (between hardiness zones 5 and 9, where the winters aren't extremely cold), annual ryegrass is widely used for its fast-growing tendencies and dense growth habit. It's especially popular as a lawn grass, and since it's a cool-season type, it's most suited to the climates found across the northern half of the country. One of the main downsides to growing annual ryegrass in your garden is that it tends not to last as long as other grass types. It is, after all, an "annual" grass! Having said that, if you need a temporary lawn choice (one that promises not to aggressively spread and overtake your garden), then it's usually quite easy to grow and requires little in the way of maintenance.

If you do decide to grow this grass type, try to cut it to between 1 ½ and 2 inches. Especially if you've planted it as an interim lawn, you'll want to avoid it growing too long and setting seeds. Don't let it grow any longer than three inches before cutting it, and keep mowing it through the season until it starts to die back of its own accord.

If you want a drought-tolerant grass seed that promises to have your lawn both soft and lush come summer, then zoysia grass may be for you. It's a warm-season grass type. However, it's capable of withstanding periods of both drought and high heat. Technically speaking, it'll grow just about anywhere between USDA growing zones 5 and 11. That said, it's best reserved for gardens in the warmer, southern states. It's comparatively slow growing versus other types of grass, which means you won't have to worry about dusting off the mower as often. And since it's capable of withstanding heavy wear and tear, it's a superb choice in high-traffic family gardens.

Having said all of that, you should still keep an eye on zoysia grass to ensure it's nice and healthy. Don't let it surpass 1 ½ inches in length, and when you mow it, adjust your settings so that your mower chops it to between half an inch and an inch in height. Finally, try to ensure you feed your zoysia grass frequently, and that during the warmer months, you give it a thorough soaking once per week. Yes, it's tolerant of drought, but that doesn't mean that it prefers it.

Native to the Great Plains and named for growing beneath the feet of the region's wild cattle, buffalo grass is one of the hardiest types you can get. It's capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions (including heat, drought, and cold), and while it grows quite low, it forms a dense, fine-textured turf that's ideal in lawns and on other high-traffic landscapes. All of this sounds great, and it is. However, there are some downsides to having a buffalo grass lawn that you ought to be aware of.

For the most part, it doesn't take much to care for buffalo grass, which is another tick in its favor. That said, it needs a spot with plenty of sun (imagine how much sunshine it's used to getting on the Great Plains) and free-draining soil, and it requires minimal watering, which might render it unsuitable in wet climates or gardens with clay-based, moisture-retaining soil. 

If you live in hardiness zones 4-8 and have an open expanse of garden that needs planting, you'll usually find that buffalo grass will happily keep it covered in green. Aim to cut it between 1 and 2 inches weekly during the growing season, and be sure to dethatch it from time to time. Buffalo grass grows perennially with stolons (roots that spread horizontally beneath the soil), and old growth can build up over time and lead to spongy, lackluster grass.

Despite being popular in both gardens and golf courses across the warmer parts of the country, Bermuda grass is actually considered invasive in many parts of North America. It grows incredibly quickly — often aggressively — and absolutely thrives in hot, humid, salty, and even drought-prone areas, particularly in those found in hardiness zones 7 through 10. That might sound scary, but then again, it may also sound like just what you need, depending on the aridity of your area. Also in its favor is the fact that it's highly resistant to wear and tear, hence its popularity on golf courses.

The best way to grow and care for Bermuda grass depends largely on which cultivar you have in your garden. Generally speaking, this type of grass is categorized as either "common" (meaning it's grown from seed) or "hybrid" (which is established via sod plugs). If you sowed your Bermuda lawn from seed, then it's best to mow the resulting grass to between 1 and 2 inches. Alternatively, the best way to maintain a hybrid Bermuda lawn is to keep it short — between 1 and 1 ½ inches. This forces your hybrid lawn to spread, form a dense mat, and suppress any weeds that might be tempted to try and join the party.

Tolerant of shady conditions and displaying excellent resistance to pests and diseases, St. Augustine is a popular warm-season grass among homeowners in the southern United States. It offers dense coverage that's excellent for lawns, and it's generally well suited to areas with warm, humid climates, especially those in hardiness zones 8 to 10. As with other grass types, the secret to healthy St. Augustine grass lies in a combination of maintenance requirements.

Firstly, you want to ensure it has the right conditions for good growth. Aside from a warm, humid climate, a sunny spot is ideal. You should also be unafraid of regularly watering and fertilizing this grass type. In fact, if you can't manage those things, you might be better off opting for a lower-maintenance type of grass.

Finally, aim to mow it to between 2.5 and 3 inches tall. Don't be tempted to cut it too short. Otherwise known as "scalping," this risks damaging the stolons (or runners) that help the grass to spread and grow. This is especially important to remember if you're planting a new lawn. Since St. Augustine grass is grown from plugs, it needs those runners to grow unimpeded in order for the plugs to weave together.

While it's native to Asia, centipede grass is now a popular warm-season grass in the United States. It's an excellent choice in areas with sandy, acidic soils, and while it favors warmer climates, it also favors those with high annual rainfall. Unlike other grasses, it doesn't usually enter a period of dormancy. In fact, in milder climates, it may remain green and grow all the way through the winter. This sounds like a good thing, and in many cases, it is. But it should be grown with caution. In areas that sometimes experience bitter winter temperatures, centipede grass' tendency to soldier on into the colder months can leave it highly vulnerable to damage should the mercury suddenly fall. In general, it's best grown in hardiness zones 7 through 10.

To maintain it, try to keep it frequently mowed to a length of between 1.5 and 2 inches. Any taller and excessive thatch can start to build up. That can eventually stifle the roots and lead to several health issues. What's more, seedheads tend to grow when the grass reaches between 3 and 5 inches, so keeping it duly trimmed prevents it from spreading too aggressively in unwanted parts of your garden, like your flower beds.