Lawn Mowing and Maintenance in Fort Worth

Fort Worth has something to make everyone smile – plentiful sunshine, a square-jawed Western heritage, taco and barbecue joints everywhere and museums and universities galore. 

And lawns. Lots of lawns that need mowing watering and trimming. Here’s a guide to how to keep your Fort Worth lawn happy so you can spend more time on it, and more time enjoying the 13th-largest city in the United States.

City Rules for High Grass and Weeds

Fort Worth likes you to keep up the appearance of your lawn. In fact, it insists, in the form of a code compliance office that will issue you a notice if your grass is taller than 12 inches. Properties overgrown with high grass and weeds are not just unsightly, the city says, but “they pose a fire hazard, block visibility for driers, harbor rodents and snakes and contribute to pests like mosquitoes and chiggers.”

Ignore the notice for more than 10 days and the city will send out a crew to cut it for you. The cost: $250, payable within 30 days. Failure to pay can result in a lien being placed against the property. 

If your neighbor’s grass gets too high, the city makes it easy to file a complaint online.

Bermudagrass and St. Augustinegrass are the most common grasses for lawns in Fort Worth.  Zoysia varieties are also making their mark. 

Varieties of Grass

In the mood for something more exotic? Texas-bred native grasses based on buffalograss have great drought tolerance, though the appearance is scruffily untraditional. The Botanical Research Institute of Texas in Fort Worth is one of many buildings experimenting with a buffalograss blend.

Mowing

Warm-season grasses such as the ones that thrive in Fort Worth have their heaviest growth in the summer, so you’ll want to keep to a regular mowing schedule then. If you’re doing the job yourself in the 90+ degree heat, keep your mower blades sharp to prevent shredding that could injure your lawn. 

Mowing heights for different grass varieties are as follows:

• Augustine – 3.5 to 4 inches
• Bermuda Grass – 0.5 to 2 inches
• Buffalo Grass – 1.5 to 3 inches
• Zoysia – 1 to 2 inches

Leave the Clippings

In the past, the typical practice was to remove lawn clippings and have them hauled to the landfill. That’s no longer the case, as lawn clippings are now seen as an important source of fertilizer for the lawn. On a typical lawn, leaving the clippings in place to decompose and return nitrogen to the soil for a full season added enough nutrients for you to skip one round of fertilization.

Watering

Fort Worth’s climate is on the hot side, with average highs in the mid-90s in July and August. Expect about 40 inches of rain, with May, June and October the wettest months. That leaves a lot of hot, dry days in the mid to late summer in between, when your lawn will want a deep drink of water. But you’ll need to follow the city’s watering restrictions, imposed year-round to conserve the resource. Lawn irrigation by sprinkler or irrigation system is banned from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Penalties are stiff for violation: up to $2,000 for each offense.

Be polite and don’t mow too early or too late. The city has a noise ordinance. While it does not mention lawn mowers or leaf blowers specifically, it does bar “unreasonable noise,” especially at night.  

Have more questions about lawn mowing and maintenance in Fort Worth? We got you covered! Go to our Fort Worth, TX lawn care page for more information.