NJ Lawns Community

Hey everyone, just bought my first house in Paramus and I'm trying to figure out the right time to adjust my mower deck height. I've got a mix of tall fescue and some KBG in my front lawn. Should I be raising the deck now for summer heat or wait until September to lower it for fall? I keep getting conflicting advice from neighbors. Any guidance for Bergen County lawns would be really helpful!

Great question Nate! For your warm-season grasses here in NJ, I'd actually suggest raising your deck NOW if you haven't already. Aim for around 3.5-4 inches through July and August. The taller grass blades shade the soil, which helps with moisture retention and keeps the roots cooler during those brutal Bergen County heat waves. When September rolls around and things start cooling down, you can drop it back down to 2.5-3 inches for fall. I run a Honda HRX217 and keep mine at setting 4 all summer long.

I disagree with the whole 'raise it high' approach honestly. I've been mowing my .25 acre lot in Ridgewood for 12 years and I've found that 3 inches year-round works fine for KBG and tall fescue blend. The key is more about frequency - never remove more than 1/3 of the blade at a time. If you're letting it grow tall then cutting it short, that's way more stressful than just maintaining consistent height. I mow every 5 days during growing season and my lawn looks great. The only time I raise it is if I'm going on vacation and won't mow for 2 weeks.

You guys are overcomplicating this honestly. The best thing you can do for your lawn in Bergen County is to leave the clippings ON the lawn - they're basically free nitrogen fertilizer. I haven't bagged my grass in 8 years and my tall fescue is thick as can be. Also - if you're composting properly, you should be applying a thin layer of finished compost in spring AND fall anyway. The grass height discussion misses the point entirely - it's all about soil health. Pick up some berger's organic compost from the community garden on Linwood Ave if you need some.

@LawnLover Fair point on the every 5 days thing - consistency does matter more than the exact height. But there's actual science behind the summer height adjustment.-extension.org has some good NJ-specific research showing that turf stress increases significantly when mowed under 2.5 inches during July/August heat. Your approach works because you're mowing frequently enough that you're not removing too much leaf tissue. For beginners though, the 'higher in summer' rule is safer - less room for error.

Thanks for all the info! So sounds like I should aim for 3.5-4 inches for now through late August, then drop it to around 2.5-3 inches starting mid-September? I'm also seeing mentioned that I should be mulching the clippings - my mower came with a mulch plug but I wasn't sure if I should use it. Should I be cutting more frequently than weekly? My lawn is growing pretty fast right now with all the rain we've had.

Yep with this wet weather we've been having in Bergen County you'll probably need to mow twice a week especially in June. The rain combined with temps in the 80s makes everything explode. Just make sure you wait until the lawn is dry enough - mowing wet grass creates ruts and promotes fungus. If you're seeing water sitting on the surface after it rains, you might want to look at aerating - I used Green Machine Landscaping out of Hackensack last year and they did a solid job. But yeah definitely use that mulch plug, @CompostQueen is right about leaving the clippings - I do that too and barely use any fertilizer anymore.