A clean, healthy lawn is a desirable and enjoyable feature of your home and property. Mowing the lawn at the right times is critical to keeping your lawn healthy and vigorous. Healthy lawns typically display a deep lush green color, no weeds or bare spots, and thick grass blades about 2 inches in height.

A general rule of thumb is to mow your lawn when the grass blades reach around 3 inches in height. Fast-growing lawns need to be mowed more frequently.

The best time to mow depends primarily on the weather and your lawn's condition.

Work Around Weather and Water Conditions

Water plays an important role in determining the best times to mow your grass. A lawn that is wet from sprinklers, rain or morning or evening dew is not ideal. Wet grass is harder to cut clean, and wet mower blades tear grass blades, leaving a ragged edge. Torn grass blades easily turn brown and are the perfect entry point for fungi and diseases.

Mowing before a rainfall is an excellent time to mow the grass, as the new moisture input penetrates deeper and helps the grass to recover. Mid-morning is usually a good time — some even say this is the best time — to mow. Cutting is easier, since the morning dew has evaporated or been absorbed by the lawn and soil, and yet the day is not too hot so you minimize drying out, sun burning and otherwise stressing your grass. Your lawn has time to heal and recover from mowing before nightfall.

Later in the mid-afternoon may also be a good time to mow, depending again on the weather. Cutting grass in the evening is not usually recommended. Night often brings more dew moisture and potentially increases the risk of fungi and disease finding and infecting your newly cut lawn. 

Consider Your Lawn's Health

The best time to mow your lawn also revolves around your lawn's condition and treatments you're planning. If you're aerating or fertilizing, for example, your mowing schedule needs to be coordinated. Mowing before other lawn treatments are applied is generally good practice.

Waiting at least 48 hours to mow after fertilizing a lawn is a good idea. The nutrients need time to be absorbed into the soil. Similarly, it's best to wait until aeration treatments are fully complete before mowing — often, it takes a week or more to realize all the benefits of soil aeration. Seeding, overseeding and reseeding processes also require time to work, and so you should always wait before going ahead and mowing the lawn. 

When your lawn goes dormant, it's still alive but no longer growing. Essentially, this can help save water and time since you'll no longer have to maintain your yard as much. However, if this is your first time, you may wonder how to go about it. While there's not one solution that works in all cases since different grass types, soil and your lawn's health affect this process, a few general tips can help. 

Know Everything About Your Yard 

Before you attempt this process, understand everything about your lawn, such as the soil type, kind of grass and its overall condition. These variables will affect how successfully your yard will go dormant and recover. You may need to do research based on your lawn specifications. 

Choose Drought-tolerant Grass

Opt for drought-tolerant grass and make sure it thrives well in your climate. You want drought-resistant grass, so when you decrease the watering schedule, the grass goes dormant and doesn't die off. Examples of drought-tolerant grass include:

• Kentucky bluegrass
• Fine fescue
• Pennsylvania sedge
• Japanese blood grass

Avoid Flip-flop Watering Habits 

A common mistake is altering the watering habits immensely to bring a plant in and out of dormancy. You give it extra water to revive the grass and no water for it to go brown. This stresses the grass. You'll end up with a sparse lawn, not to mention that it increases your risk of pests and disease. 

Instead, decrease how much water you give it when you want the grass to go dormant. While it varies based on the type of grass, as a general rule, you only want to give it 1/2" of water every other week. This is enough hydration to keep the grass alive but not enough to maintain its green appearance. 

When it's time to wake the grass, thoroughly water it for several days and then return to a normal deep watering schedule. Ideally, water your lawn every day for about five or six days in a row. Your yard should receive between 1/2" and 3/4" of water each day. Then, water your yard once or twice a week. Give your lawn about one to 1-1/2" of water each time. 

Other Tips
 
Cut your grass rather high before the last cut of the season. Don't apply any fertilizer to it. You don't want to give it any nutrients to stay lush, and since you're watering less, you also don't want to apply fertilizer without adequate hydration. Stay off the lawn as much as possible because you could risk damaging it when it's dormant. 

It's possible to get your yard to go into dormancy with the right watering and maintenance schedule. You'll then be able to enjoy the summer without worrying about your yard or the added expense of using all that water for your grass.