A robot mower's schedule isn't one setting — it's a year. The height moves with the season, the rhythm speeds up and eases off with growth, and the months the lawn wants seed, feeding or aeration are the months the mower needs to know about. Here's the whole year, month by month, for the two lawns we map most: a cool-season tall fescue lawn and a warm-season Bermuda one.
Two families, opposite years. Cool-season grass (fescue, bluegrass, rye — most northern lawns) does its real growing in spring and fall and coasts through summer heat. Warm-season grass (Bermuda, zoysia, St. Augustine, centipede — the South) sleeps tan through winter, wakes in April, and does everything from May to September. If you don't know which you have, the grass guide sorts it in a minute — and the app's plan reads your grass and your latitude.
The year, month by month
Heights are the same numbers the app's Lawn Care Plan and My Schedule print for these grasses; tall fescue lives at 3–4″, Bermuda at 1–2″. "Also" is what else that month wants — the seeding, aeration, pre-emergent and feeding windows for each family. A dash means the mower stays docked.
| Month | Cool-season lawn (tall fescue) | Warm-season lawn (Bermuda) |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | — · paused Dormant. Nothing is growing, and a cut removes stored energy and opens the plant to winter damage. Docked — fresh blades now, so spring starts sharp. | — · paused Bermuda is likely tan and dormant now — mowing mostly pauses until spring green-up. |
| Feb | — · paused Dormant. Nothing is growing, and a cut removes stored energy and opens the plant to winter damage. Docked — fresh blades now, so spring starts sharp. | — · paused Bermuda is likely tan and dormant now — mowing mostly pauses until spring green-up. Also: pre-emergent |
| Mar | 3.5″ · every day or two Strong spring growth — anywhere in the 3–4″ range works; the robot's frequent light cuts keep it even. Also: seed (second-best) · pre-emergent | — · paused Bermuda is likely tan and dormant now — mowing mostly pauses until spring green-up. Also: pre-emergent |
| Apr | 3.5″ · every day or two Strong spring growth — anywhere in the 3–4″ range works; the robot's frequent light cuts keep it even. Also: seed (second-best) · aerate (second-best) · dethatch (second-best) · pre-emergent | 1″ · two or three times a week as it greens Green-up: easing down toward 1″ clears winter blades as fresh growth comes in. |
| May | 3.5″ · every day or two Strong spring growth — anywhere in the 3–4″ range works; the robot's frequent light cuts keep it even. Also: aerate (second-best) · feed | 1.5″ · every day or two Peak season for Bermuda — 1.5″, cut little and often. Also: seed · aerate · dethatch · feed |
| Jun | 4″ · every other day, top of the range Summer heat: ride the top of Tall Fescue's range (4″) — taller blades shade the roots and hold moisture. | 1.5″ · every day or two Peak season for Bermuda — 1.5″, cut little and often. Also: seed · aerate · dethatch · feed |
| Jul | 4″ · every other day, top of the range Summer heat: ride the top of Tall Fescue's range (4″) — taller blades shade the roots and hold moisture. | 1.5″ · every day or two Peak season for Bermuda — 1.5″, cut little and often. In a drought stretch, raise a notch to protect it. Also: seed (second-best) · feed |
| Aug | 4″ · every other day, top of the range Summer heat: ride the top of Tall Fescue's range (4″) — taller blades shade the roots and hold moisture. Also: seed | 1.5″ · every day or two Peak season for Bermuda — 1.5″, cut little and often. In a drought stretch, raise a notch to protect it. Also: feed |
| Sep | 3.5″ · every day or two Prime cool-season growing months — 3.5″ is the sweet spot while it recovers and thickens. Also: seed · aerate · dethatch · feed | 1.5″ · every day or two Peak season for Bermuda — 1.5″, cut little and often. |
| Oct | 3.5″ · every day or two Prime cool-season growing months — 3.5″ is the sweet spot while it recovers and thickens. Also: seed · aerate | 2″ · every two or three days, easing off Last growth before dormancy — carry a little extra height (2″) into winter. |
| Nov | 3″ · every two or three days, easing off Growth is slow now — finishing the season nearer 3″ helps prevent matting and snow mold under leaves and snow. Also: feed (winterizer) | — · paused Bermuda is likely tan and dormant now — mowing mostly pauses until spring green-up. |
| Dec | — · paused Dormant. Nothing is growing, and a cut removes stored energy and opens the plant to winter damage. Docked — fresh blades now, so spring starts sharp. | — · paused Bermuda is likely tan and dormant now — mowing mostly pauses until spring green-up. |
Windows are for the North (cool-season) and the South (warm-season). In the transition zone — Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas' Piedmont — a cool-season lawn's fall window opens in September rather than August. Feedings shown are tall fescue's three (May, September, November) and Bermuda's four (May, June, July, August); other grasses feed more or less — the feeding guide has the whole list. Your state may cap or black out feeding; the app prints your state's rule.
The cool-season year
Spring (March–May). Growth returns in April and the robot goes to every day or two at the middle of the range. March is pre-emergent month if crabgrass is a problem — and the reason not to seed in spring. Blades were changed over winter; if not, now.
Summer (June–August). The lawn is coasting. Height up to the top of the range (4″ for fescue), every other day, morning-only watering, no nitrogen. In a drought, let it go dormant and pause the mower — see watering. This is also fungus season: mow dry, sharp, and set the running window to daytime in a humid stretch.
Fall (September–November). The lawn's best weeks. Every day or two at the middle of the range through October; this is when it's seeded, aerated and fed (September, then the November winterizer). New seed means the robot stays off those zones until the first mow — the new-grass guide has the dates. November tapers: every two or three days, finishing nearer the bottom of the range so leaves and snow don't mat it.
Winter (December–February). Docked. Fresh blades before it goes away, so spring starts sharp.
The warm-season year
Winter into spring (November–March). Tan and dormant; the mower is docked. February–March is pre-emergent month.
Green-up (April). Two or three passes a week, easing the height down to the bottom of the range to clear the winter blades as fresh growth comes in.
Peak (May–September). Everything happens now: every day or two at the middle of the range, seeding and aeration in May–June, feeding from May through August, and a notch of extra height in a July drought. The daily cut is what keeps a runner grass tight and level instead of thatchy.
The taper (October). Every two or three days at the top of the range, carrying a little extra height into dormancy for insulation, and stop when it goes tan.
The running window, by season
- Spring and fall: any window works; turn rain insurance on in the app so a washed-out day gets made up.
- Summer: daytime once the dew has dried, or evening — not through a running sprinkler, and not at dawn through heavy dew in a fungus summer. Grass under heat stress is happier cut when it isn't wilting at 2 p.m.
- Seeding weeks: the seeded zones are paused; the rest of the lawn keeps its rhythm.
- Winter: off. Blades changed, battery stored per the manual.
Want this as your lawn's calendar? Map it once and the Lawn Care Plan prints the year for your grass, your latitude and your state — the seed, the feedings, the windows, and the mowing plan — and My Schedule turns the rhythm into a week: which days, what window, rain insurance, and what it does to battery life.
Map my lawn — free Already mapped? Open My Schedule →
Browse the whole subject at the lawn-care hub · just want the seed number? The free calculator, no login →
Keep reading
- How often should a robot mower mow? — the same year by growth stage, with an in-page tool for every grass.
- Mowing new grass and sod with a robot mower
- Feeding by season · aeration and dethatching · crabgrass and the pre-emergent date
- The ⅓ rule and blade care
- Robot mowers by grass type