How high should I mow my lawn

One of the most common mowing questions is 'how high should I cut my lawn'. In fact there is no one answer to this question as it can depend on may factors:

Quality of the lawn - If you are maintaining a luxury lawn you will want to mow it shorter than someone who is maintaining a general purpose lawn. A luxury lawn would contain a high proportion of bents and fescues, these grasses are very fine, produce a tight sward and tolerate close mowing. It should also be noted if you are going to mow you lawn short, it will require a lot more maintainance and work to keep it in tip top condition.

Weather conditions - As the weather can be very unpredictable, you have to adjust your height of cut accordingly. E.g During periods of drought the lawn will come under a lot more stress and the height of cut may have to be raised to help the lawn cope.

Wear and tear on the lawn - A lawn that receives a vast amount of wear and tear would suffer if it was mown very short, so the height would have to adjusted accordingly to help the lawn retain grass cover.

Soil type - Although the soil type would not have direct affect on the mowing height, soils of a sandy nature would suffer more in dry conditions. Lifting the height of the mower would help relieve some of stress on the grass caused by the adverse weather conditions.

Time of the year - Grass can be mown somewhat shorter during the summer moths where growth is stronger than in the winter months where growth is lacking.

Guide for lawn and grass cutting heights

Luxury lawns - During the summer months acceptable heights would vary from 10mm to 15mm raising it in the winter to 20mm.
Utility lawns - During the summer a height between 20mm - 25mm would be ideal, then during winter raise it to 30mm.