If your extracurricular interests are like mine — sitting squarely at the intersection between golf and lawn care — there’s literally no better tour player to talk to than Marc Leishman.
The six-time PGA Tour winner is always quick to offer some handy advice to help your game, and he’s an equally big lawn nut — so he’s got some advice to help with that, too.
So, with Leishman rolling through the Northeast last week, I took the opportunity to pick his brain for his takes around cool-weather grasses. When he’s not on Tour, Leishman lives down in Virginia Beach, where he tends to a warm-weather, Bermuda-grass lawn.
“Bermuda grass loves the heat,” Leishman says, “just keep cutting it short and it’ll keep growing.”
Bermuda, unlike most other grasses, grows across rather than directly up into the air. Leishman takes advantage of this by keeping his lawn at a paltry 1/4 inches — a cut most golf courses would be proud of — which involves mowing it every day he’s at home.
So if cutting it often and keeping it short is Leishman’s advice for Bermuda grass, he’s got some markedly different advice for those with cool-season grasses.
Leishman says: Keep your lawn longer in the summer
Leishman loves keeping his own lawn short, but is quick to emphasize it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.
“It really depends on what type of grass you’ve got,” he says.
For those with cooler-season grasses such as Rye, Kentucky Bluegrass and fescue found commonly in the Northeast, Midwest and Northwest, he suggests letting them go — especially in the dog days of summer.
“Up in the Northeast you’ll want to keep it long,” he says. “During the hot summer days, the longer the grass the more drought tolerant it’ll be, because it’ll retain moisture better.”
Like with all good advice, you won’t want to go overboard with it. Leishman says keeping it at about three inches should do the trick, which equates to a cut about once per week.
