When to Start Mowing Your Lawn in Guelph Each Spring
Every April our phone starts ringing with the same question: "should the lawn be cut yet?" In Guelph the honest answer usually lands somewhere between the last week of April and the second week of May — but the calendar is the least reliable way to decide. The lawn itself tells you when it’s ready.
Two tests before the first cut
- The footprint test: walk across the lawn. If your footprints stay pressed into the ground, the soil is still saturated — mowing now ruts the lawn and compacts the soil for the whole season.
- The height test: wait until the grass is genuinely growing and has reached about 4 inches. The first cut takes it back to 3, keeping the one-third rule intact.
Why cutting too early backfires
Grass wakes up roots-first. Those first warm weeks, the plant is rebuilding its root system after winter — stripping leaf off too early forces it to abandon root growth and start over. The lawns that get buzzed in early April are reliably the ones fighting thin spots by June.
There’s also the mess factor: mowing a wet spring lawn clumps clippings, smears mud, and leaves wheel ruts that stay visible all summer.
What should happen before that first mow
A proper spring cleanup comes first — rake out the winter debris, matted leaves and dead grass so the mower isn’t mulching garbage into the turf. If the lawn needs aeration or overseeding, spring works too, though we do most of ours in fall.
Need lawn care in Guelph?
A Cut Above Yard Services has been Guelph's trusted lawn care company since 2019.
Get a Free Quote →