What length should you cut your grass before winter? Lawn care specialist for Online Turf Angelika Zaber has some practical advice. She recommends leaving your grass around four to five inches tall before the first frost. That simple step helps insulate the soil, protect roots from freezing, and prevent erosion during heavy rain.
Angelika has spent years helping homeowners and gardeners maintain healthy lawns through every season. Her approach blends expert technique with down-to-earth maintenance habits—small tasks that make a big difference once winter sets in. In this guide, she shares how to handle that final mow, when it’s too late to cut, and how to prepare both your lawn and mower for the colder months ahead.
What length should you cut your grass before winter?
You should cut your pasture grass to a length of around 4-5 inches during the final mow before winter. The longer grass blades will help protect your pasture from cold temperatures and frost by insulating the roots of the plants. They also create a shield against heavy rainfall, reducing the likelihood of soil washing away, preventing soil erosion.
How late is too late to mow?
There is no exact timeframe for when it’s too late to mow as this depends on whether you have a warm-season or cool-season grass and the temperature that your region experiences.
Most warm-season grass varieties stop growing once temperatures consistently fall below 50°F to 60°F. As a result, the last mow for this type of grass is generally carried out around September. However, certain areas, such as Florida, which tend to experience warmer winters, may need to continue mowing until October.
Cool-season grasses, on the other hand, usually stop growing once temperatures drop below 40°F. In most cases, the last mow for these should be carried out around October or November.
The final mow should align with the grass stopping its growth. So, if your grass has already stopped growing completely, it is too late to mow, and you should wait until it starts growing again in the spring before mowing.
Should you do any other prep on your lawn before winter?
Yes, make sure to aerate, overseed, and then fertilize it to make sure that it is strong enough to get through the colder months.
Your pasture has likely experienced heavy traffic and possibly even some overgrazing over the last few months, likely resulting in the soil becoming compacted. Not only does this prevent your pasture from getting the water and nutrients it needs, causing your grass to struggle, but it also encourages weeds, creating the perfect conditions for them to spread.
Aeration is a great way to tackle this issue. This maintenance technique requires you to make holes in your lawn to loosen the soil and can be done either with a manual aerator or a garden fork for a smaller area, or a mechanical or electrical aerator for a larger one.
Once aerated, you should then overseed the area as this will thicken the grass and make it more resistant to damage. The recommended sowing rate for this method is 25 grams per square meter, and it should only be done using high-quality, winter-hardy grass seed that’s suitable for pasture.
Fertilizing is important too and should be done once the new grass seed fully establishes, usually within 6-8 weeks. This will give your pasture all of the nutrients it needs to survive the wet and cold winter weather.
What kind of maintenance should I do over the colder months?
To make sure that there is enough pasture left for grazing in spring, make sure to limit your animals from eating sward that’s shorter than 3 inches as this can damage plants and encourage pests and diseases. Instead, divide your space into different areas and rotate these so that the animals do not feed on the same section all the time, allowing the other areas to rest and slightly recover in the meantime.
Animals also tend to stand by the gate in winter, wearing the grass out. If possible, choose a paddock with two gates as this will reduce the footfall that each gate experiences.
Winter-proofing a mower
To winter-proof your mower, it is best to carry out a full lawn mower maintenance routine. Depending on the model you have, this could include inspecting the spark plugs, oil and fuel change, air filter inspection, cleaning the underside of your mower, sharpening its blades, and wiping mower exterior.
Once this is done, choose the right location to store your mower in. Many people assume that as long as you store your mower in a shed or a garage it’s going to be completely fine, but this isn’t always true. The location you choose needs to be damp-free and well-ventilated. Otherwise, the mower is still going to be exposed to trapped moisture, causing corrosion and rust to your machine, just as if it were stored outside.
When inspecting a location that you want to store your mower in, whether an electric or petrol one, look out for any signs of high humidity and dampness. Make sure that your garage or shed doesn’t get flooded too as sitting in water may cause many problems for your machine that may be difficult and costly to fix later. In the worst-case scenario, you may even have to get a new mower.
Make sure that the location is safe too. If your shed or garage is easily accessible to others and frequently left unlocked, the chance of your mower being stolen is much bigger.
If this is not an option and you have to store your mower outside, make sure to invest in a waterproof cover and put it in an elevated location to avoid it sitting in a pool of water in case of heavy rainfall. That way it will still be protected from UV rays and direct sunlight, protecting its plastic and metal parts.
Need more on winter homesteading? Learn how to extend your growing season.
