WASHINGTON — With rain in the forecast almost every day for the past two weeks, keeping that manicured lawn look has been tough.
But WTOP Garden Editor Mike McGrath says you really shouldn’t be cutting the grass when it’s wet.
“I know the temptation is extremely high, but cutting a wet lawn is physically dangerous for you. There’s a lot of slipping and sliding around those big machines,” he said.
“It also rips the blades of the grass apart so that they won’t be able to hold water in the future.”
For cool season grasses like fescue and bluegrass, shredding them while wet could mean disaster.
“They will definitely turn brown and parts of them will die over the summer,” McGrath said. “Better to wait until we get a little bit of a dry spell.”
McGrath says mowers should be set to their highest possible rating and people should do gradual, spaced out test runs. Because, otherwise, you and your lawn will both suffer.
“If you try to get out there and take care of it while it’s sopping wet, neither one of you is going to be happy with the result,” he said.
WTOP’s Bruce Alan contributed to this report.
