When Berkshire County Should Stop Mowing

If you're mowing your lawn right now, like I did yesterday, don't put the mower away just yet. But mark your calendar, because in Massachusetts, most of us are done cutting grass by late October or early November.

Most lawns around here use cool season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, and ryegrass. Once temperatures drop below 50 degrees, that grass basically stops growing. That usually lines up with our first frost, which tends to hit somewhere between mid and late October.

Where you live in the state makes a difference too. If you're closer to the coast, you'll probably get a few extra weeks before frost shows up, so you might still be mowing into early November. Out here in the Berkshires, frost comes earlier, so our mowing season tends to wrap up sooner.

This September has been wetter than last year, so a lot of us might be mowing once a week still until we soon go to once every two weeks. Fescue in particular tends to slow down faster in cooler weather than ryegrass does, so keep an eye on your own yard rather than going by the calendar alone.

Before your last mow of the season, take care of the leaves. Leaving them piled on the grass blocks sunlight and can lead to mold or dead patches come spring. For that final cut, bring the grass down to about two inches. That height helps it survive the winter without getting matted under snow.

The simplest advice is to just watch your lawn and the weather. If the grass is still growing and there's been no frost yet, keep mowing. Once that first hard frost hits, it's time to put the mower away until spring.