How long should grass last?

Different types of grass have different lifespan. However, common lawns live between 3 and 5 years before dying. An individual blade of grass lives between 40 and 50 days. I always like to think of grass as a human body.

Eat your vegetables, exercise a lot, take vitamins, take medications when you get sick, etc., and you're likely to lead a long and healthy life. Spend your life drinking, smoking and using drugs and your body is likely to pay for it. A well-maintained lawn is expected to last between 30 and 40 years. Most lawns are likely to start showing their age around 25 and will likely need to be “renewed” at least once or twice by adding some layers of soil, seeds and aerating annually to extend their lifespan.

Ultimately, your lawn should be between 2 and 2 ½ inches tall for winter. That's the “sweet spot” because it's not too high to cause mold in the snow, but it's not too short to stress out about the cold. As you wear your winter coats to the front of your closet and temperatures start to drop, you should check the local weather to see if there is a first frost expected. Once you know the first expected frost, you can plan to mow your lawn several times before that date.

This is the best time to mow your lawn before winter. You should cut the grass slowly by reducing the height of the blade a little each time until the grass measures approximately 2 inches. It is imperative to use the last mower of the season before storing the mower for the winter. Danneberger says that the guidelines for cold and warm season grasses should be followed when it comes to the height of the mower blade, and there are some recommendations that apply to most of the United States.

This time of year is crucial for many lawns, and your efforts can now have a big impact on the state of the turf when spring comes. If possible, use a mulched lawnmower and leave grass clippings on the grass, as they can provide additional nutrients for roots to store for use during winter and early spring. And depending on where you live and the type of grass you have, you may want to do the opposite and cut the grass higher at the end of the growing season. If you really want to mow your lawn, make sure you mow it on a warmer day, when the sun is hot enough to melt the frost, the grass is dry, and you only cut 1/3 of an inch of grass.

A frost causes the moisture inside the grass leaves to freeze, so any activity on the lawn after a frost can break the grass blade and damage the grass.