When you mow, you should try not to take off more than 1/3 of the height of the grass. So, if you're mowing to 1 inch, you should mow when it gets to 1.5 inches (you're mowing off .5 inch of the total 1.5 inches). If you mow at 3 inches, you can let it get to 4.5 inches, mowing off 1.5 of the 4.5 inches.

The grass would take much longer to grow from 3 inches to 4.5 inches than it would take to go from 1 to 1.5, so when you mow higher, you can mow less often than when you mow short.

bpgreen hit the nail on the head.

You're not to remove more than 1/3 of the grass blade any time you mow, so he'd get to mow less often if he mows the lawn taller.

Good day, Dan

That's absolutely right. Growing 1.5 inches from 3 to 4.5 takes longer than growing 0.5 inches from 1 to 1.5.
I mow about every other week.

People who grow bermuda at 0.25 inches mow three times a week.

Golf courses who grow either bermuda or bentgrass greens at 1/16 inch mow every day.

All true what bpgreen said and let me add:

The shorter you mow the faster you're training your grass to grow. Turf grass like any plant has one goal: producing seed. In order to do this it needs to grow tall enough to produce the seed heads; those feathery little spritz you sometimes see at the top of grass. When you chop it down nice and low it feels it needs to hurry in order to reach its goal of seeding. When you leave it longer it will take its time thinking it will be there soon.

A good analogy might be your hair: I cut my hair almost down to the scalp on a monthly basis. It grows incredibly fast. In the days of my youth, before I realized I would never be a rock n' roll star, I let it grow and grow but it hardly passed my shoulders after a year.

Maybe that will help?

Greenjeans : )

P.S. I've never had a mullet. At least not that I'll admit to. : )

I agree with what most of you have said, however, you are making an assumption that may or may not be true. You are assuming that the OP's husband applies the maximum 1/3 cut rule. I've found that many people that make the "cut it short" arguement do not cut to 1.5" when the grass reaches 2". It's more like cut to 1.5" at 3.5" or more. If this is the case, the OP's husband is making a valid arguement.

I know a lot a guys with tractors where the "cut it short" thinking is more common than with the push mower folks (probably because a cut on acreage can take several hours or more). BTW, some guys take it to the extreme and mow large acreage at three week intervals.

If I were the OP, I would argue that her lawn would look better, be more healthy, and have fewer weeds if mowed higher using the 1/3 rule. I would concede that the improvement may require a few more mowings per season.

-Deerslayer

A VERY simple method of solving the issue would be to mow on the same day every week. Set the mower high, but mow on a schedule. (Not ideal, but realistic.) The goal is NOT to let the grass grow high and then cut it short.

Every time you drastically reduce the blade length, it puts the turf plant into a stress mode that takes quite a while for it to recover from. That,in turn, sets the plant up for disease and insect infestation and other problems.

Mowing on a schedule is important. If you're pushing your grass with lots of N, then you may have to add another mowing day in there occasionally.

keep in mind that it takes a couple of seasons before you get results.

Well, if DH wants to continue to be stubborn, my suggestion is that you purchase an easy to operate riding mower, assign him a more onerous chore, such as doing the fertilizing and cut the grass yourself. You might be surprised at how much you enjoy it.

Well, personally, being a true lawn wacko myself, I'd file for divorce.

thank you for your ideas. I really think that a push mower might be the thing for me. It sounds like fun, and a good way to get exercise and allow me TOTAL control of the lawn. This is the direction its heading anyway. Thanks again, you guys are great.

As a man, I can admit that it's not uncommon for us to do something consistently wrong in the hopes that we'll never have to do it again.

Then again, it's not unusual for something that we've done the same for years is suddenly done wrong when approached by our wives. For instance, I'm no longer "allowed" to do laundry (though I've done my own countless times with nothing harsher than pink tidy-whiteys to show for it), load the dishwasher (even though I grew up with one and have loaded more dishwashers than I can remember, even professionally for a short time in high-school), clean the floor (somehow the vacuum cleaners have changed over time as well as the mops because I apparently no longer know how to use them), operate the TV remote (this is self explanatory), make the bed (do the pillows go on top of or under the comforter?), drive a car (another one that's self explanatory), and I almost forgot I'm not allowed to fold laundry either.

I am, however, allowed to clean the bathrooms, take care of MY lawn and gardens, do maintenance on our vehicles, hide in the garage or basement, and I'm the official spider killer/liberator (depending on the size and species of the spider in question).

Does this somehow clear things up for you a bit? By the way, and I'm honestly not insinuating anything, my wife is "slightly" OCD (as am I about my lawn and gardens).

Greenjeans : )