If your lawn was laid or seeded last autumn, the first spring cut matters more than most. Cut too early and you tear out roots that haven’t fully knit. Cut too late and the grass goes leggy, the rosette base weakens, and you spend the next month chasing it back into shape. The window is narrower than people think.
Watch the grass, not the calendar
The textbook answer says March or April — and that’s broadly right for South Herefordshire and Bristol. But the better signal is the grass itself:
- Tip-height around 75–100mm. New lawns held back over winter sit short. Once the tips are reaching ~10cm, the plant has enough leaf to spare a trim.
- Frosts mostly behind you. Look at the seven-day forecast. If overnight temperatures are still dipping below freezing, wait. Frosted blades shatter under the mower’s pressure plate.
- Soil isn’t waterlogged. Walk across it. If your boots leave a sole-deep print, the ground’s too wet — the wheels of even a light mower compact a sodden lawn into ruts that take weeks to recover.
In a normal year, that combination lines up sometime between mid-March and mid-April. Some years it’s the first week of March; some it’s the last week of April. Watch the grass.
Set the blade high
The first cut of the season is never a short one. On a new lawn, never anything below 50mm — and ideally closer to 60–65mm.
The reason: the grass plant has been storing energy in its base over winter. Cut too short and you remove the photosynthesising surface area before the roots are ready to push new growth. The plant burns through reserves trying to recover. Two more weeks of pale, stressed lawn.
A high first cut keeps the leaf area working. The plant uses the warming weeks to re-establish itself; you can drop the height a notch on the second pass two weeks later.
What to do before the mower comes out
Two small jobs first, in order:
- Walk it over and pick up sticks, stones, and any winter debris. Anything that hides in long grass and chips a blade.
- Lightly roll if the ground has heaved. Frost lifts soil; a single pass with a light roller (or a flat board you walk on) settles it back without compacting.
Then mow. Sharp blade. Slow pace. Bag the clippings on the first cut — the leaf is tougher than later in the year and a mulching blade will leave clumps.
Bottom line
Wait for the grass to ask. Cut high. Sharp blade, dry ground. The first cut isn’t the start of the season’s work — it’s the test that tells you the lawn is ready for it.
If you’re not sure, give us a call — happy to walk down and have a look before you start.