Mowing My Black Beauty Desk Lawn

As you can see the Jonathan Green Black Beauty Grass I'm growing indoors in a container had gotten over 3" tall and was starting to look a bit ragged so I thought today would be a good time to trim my indoor lawn.

Obviously I can't use my lawn mower so I needed to come up with another way to get a nice, even, level cut for my indoor lawn.

I created a cutting guide and I'm using a pair of scissors to mow my indoor grass. I'll describe how I made the mowing guide and how I used it below.

Indoor Grass Cutting Guide

I wanted to cut my indoor grass at about 2.5". This would keep it at a height where it should be able to stand up on it's own, even when it starts getting thicker, and it would also be tall enough to give visual interest.

I cut 2.5" wide strips out of a hanging file folder. You could use other similar thin cardboard material. I then folded the cardboard at 90 degrees at the corners and sized it so it would rest along the rim of my container. I used staples to connect the pieces.


This gave me a guide all the way around the grass container that I could use to get a nice even cut and I could rest the scissors gently on the edge to establish my height.

Fiskars Cuts+More Scissors

Having a long pair of scissors makes it easy to get an even cut but I couldn't find an old pair of scissors I had that were long enough. Okay, maybe I just needed an excuse to by a new toy and the Fiskars Cuts+More Titanium Shear looked like a great pair of scissors that would not only be work well at cutting my indoor lawn but also be useful in the garden in many other ways.

The total length of the scissors is 9" but the cutting blades are only about 3.75" long. The titanium blades are sharp right out of the package and to help keep the blades sharp so they don't damage the grass tips there's an easy to use ceramic sharpening rod built into the plastic sheath that's included with the scissors. The scissors are backed by Fiskars Lifetime Warranty.

As the name implies, this is more than just a pair of scissors. The sheath also includes a tape cutting tool which can be used to open boxes. The back end of the scissors can be used to cut thin wire.

There is a sharp notch on the outside edge of one of the blades that is used to cut thin twine and larger rope can be cut with the scissors by placing it all the way down into the curved area near the joint.

When the scissors are closed the protruding tip is rounded over to keep you from poking things that don't want to be poked with sharp things but the other blade contains a sharp awl tip. By opening the scissors all the way you can separate the blades and use the black blade, with the awl tip, as a knife. It even has a small set of teeth (like one of those Rambo survival knives without the compass, matches, fishing line and hooks) that could be used for some very light duty sawing.

The plastic handles appear to be durable and firmly attached to the titanium blades anre are very comfortable. The scissors are designed for a right-handed person. They're usable if you're a lefty but the way the curves in the handles don't feel as comfortable. When using the scissors with my left hand my knuckles were hitting the top of the finger hole in a way that they weren't when using my right hand.

When you're done working on your landscape there's even a bottle opener to crack open a nice cold one while you relax.

Mowing The Indoor Lawn

Using my Fiskars Cuts+More scissors lightly resting on the cardboard cutting guide I worked my way around the grass to even out the height. Since the cardboard is thin I was careful to not distort it too much or push it so that it falls off the rim.


After the majority of the grass was cut I removed the guide and inspected the grass from a lawn from a low angle to see if there were any blades that were missed and I cut them freehand.

The Fiskars scissors gave a nice clean cut like a reel mower would give. Reel mowers are great for young grass and they seem to be recommended especially for tall fescue because the wider blades and stiffer plant appear to be damaged by rotary mower blades more easily. Jonathan Green claims their Black Beauty grass isn't ass susceptible as other tall fescues.

After I was done cutting I brushed the blades of the grass back and forth with my fingers to work the clipping down to the soil where it will eventually break down and return nitrogen to the grass. Fresh, new, healthy grass feels great. It almost feels like rubber.

The end result was a more uniform looking desk lawn :)