Mowing Guidelines

Check out our Mowing Guidelines for a healthy and high-definition lawn! Turf HD is here to help with any of your lawn care needs!

Use a 3.5" - 4" Mowing Height

Tall fescue prefers a mowing height of 3.5″ – 4″.  This mowing height is ideal for reducing weed pressure within the turf-stand.  Lower mowing heights can severely stress a lawn, causing it to burn out, and will cause your turf to thin over time.  Higher mowing heights will cause the leaf blades to flop over, which reduces the aesthetic appeal of the lawn.

Never Mow More Than 1/3 of The Leaf Blade At Any One Mowing

Mowing more than 1/3 of the leaf blade during a mowing event is likely to cause scalping injury to the turf and reduce turf vigor.  A common sign of turf scalping is a white to yellow-brown discoloration of the affected turf.  A white sheen near the tips of the leaf blades may also be seen right after mowing occurs.

Make Sure Your Mower Blades Are Sharpened

Dull mower blades can cause significant physical injury to your turf, causing a multitude of issues ranging from discoloration to increased pest/disease activity in your lawn.  It is important to mow your blades at least once annually, or more if needed.

To Mulch Or Not To Mulch?

When possible, we recommend mulching your grass blades back into the lawn.  However, please be very careful to follow the 1/3 rule mentioned above.  Short clippings will break down quickly, helping to recycle nutrients back into your lawn.  Longer clippings take longer to break down and speed up thatch build-up.  Thatch layers in excess of 1/2″ will likely increase levels of pest and disease activity, reduce the ability of water and nutrients being able to reach the soil layer, and increase the risk of drought and cold stress.

Reviews
5 Star Review

Turf HD is a class-act service. They are prompt in communication and very effective at what they do! We built a home in albemarle county and were left with red clay dirt around our house even after multiple attempts to seed myself. I should have called Turf HD from the beginning. Now we have green grass in the middle of winter!

Jason Kelts
Main Office
5 Star Review

Turf HD has done an excellent job since taking over our lawn care at the start of 2020. The lawn is now, in early Fall, much thicker and greener. Bare spots and brown spots have been eliminated along with weeds. Richard has provided very personalized service and works to make sure lawn problems are corrected. Turf HD is a big improvement over previous lawn care services we have had.

Palmyra UMC
Main Office
5 Star Review

I have used two other well-known lawn services in Charlottesville, and TurfHD is better in every way: more knowledgeable and more responsive to my questions. They do offer aeration as a service. I recommend them highly.

chuck suter
Main Office
5 Star Review

I have used two different companies in Charlottesville for this service and it's not even funny how much better Turf HD is all of them. I have always had trouble growing consistent grass and whatever they have put down and completely changed-over my lawn and WAY faster than I would have thought. They are also really nice people which I like.

Doug Trout
Main Office
5 Star Review

My first few years in Charlottesville I went through a couple of the standard lawn service companies but none of them compared well to my previous experiences before moving here. I talked to the owner of Turf HD to determine whether we had the same philosophies. I sensed that we did so I decided give him a year. Here we are 3 years later with a lawn that has improved greatly. If I have a question I send an email and they get back to me with an honest and thorough answer. What more could ask from a company? Very satisfied .

N
Main Office
5 Star Review

I have been a customer of HDTurf for numerous years and they taken care of my pesky weed problem. I plan to use them in 2023.

Gerrit DeGraaf
Main Office
5 Star Review

TurfHD services turned our builder-grade grass into green lush carpet-like grass. We could not be happier with the changes we have seen in our lawn since TurfHD came to the rescue. Richard is professional, friendly, dependable, and very knowledgeable.

Susan DePumpo
Main Office
5 Star Review

TurfHD is fantastic. They have been treating my lawn for 3 years. They are immediately responsive to any concerns. Excellent customer service. Proud to support a local small business!!

Sandra Hannah
Main Office
5 Star Review

I’ve been a customer of TurfHD for a number of years. I started out struggling to grow a decent lawn on a slope and now, with TurfHD, all my neighbors comment on how nice my lawn looks throughout the growing season. I like the TurfHD philosophy that a thick lawn with a deep root system will alleviate most typical lawn problems and control growth of weeds. If I do notice a problem or have a question about the lawn, a simple email to TurfHD is all that’s required. I have recommended TurfHD to a number of my neighbors who are also happy with their results.

Alan S
Main Office
5 Star Review

Thanks to Turf Hd we literally have the best looking lawn on the block! Our grass is so soft and very very green! Thanks so much we’ll definitely be signing up again this year. Highly recommend!

L K
Main Office
5 Star Review

They did what they contracted to do and sent an email detailing what had been done, what product(s) were applied, for what reason, and who did the job; for each and every application. Second, they made sure that various lawn fungi were controlled and did not destroy my lawn. Third, my lawn looks fabulous - Spring, Summer, Fall. Fourth - aeration was done with a deep penetrating machine, followed up with through seeding. Lastly - the price was more than fair!! All in all - highly recommend Turf HD.

Tom Worosz
Main Office
5 Star Review

We have used a few other lawn services over the past 10 years and are having the best results with TurfHD, even after just a partial season of treatment. Pricing is basically the same as the other providers, but the service from TurfHD seems more customized to individual lawn needs, or the workers give more attention to details (or both!). The only negative is that TurfHD does not notify you of the upcoming treatment date. I'm sure that can be a challenge, logistically, but it is nice to be able to mow the lawn in preparation beforehand.

Bryan Smith
Main Office