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State highway maintenance crews are waiting a little longer this summer before mowing grass in medians and along roads.

The state Highway Administration has cut back mowing to preserve natural greenery around the state and to save money, said spokesman Chuck Gischlar.

SHA put the new mowing policy in place in April, Gischlar said. Grass is cut once it reaches 10 inches high, Gischlar said.

"It's crazy," Gischlar said. "Some days you can hear the grass growing."

From April 1 through June 25, more than 19 inches of rain has fallen in Maryland, according to meteorologist Steve Prinzivalli of the Germantown-based WeatherBug. Those totals are four inches more than the same time last year, he said.

Saturated grounds can prevent some landscapers from cutting grass.

Sam Bebawy, general manager of Emerald Landscaping Corporation in Gaithersburg, said heavy rains have both helped and hindered his business.

"For the type of work, when we get a continuous amount of rain, it saturates the ground and we can't get out and cut grass or plant flowers and plants," Bebawy said.

In fiscal 2008, SHA spent $10.6M cutting grass, with more than $716,000 going toward mowing in Montgomery County, Gischlar said. The Montgomery County Council budgeted $660,000 for cutting grass in fiscal 2009 and will have the same amount budgeted in fiscal 2010, said Keith Compton, Chief of the Division of Highway Services in Montgomery County. Grass in areas owned by Montgomery County is cut on a regular basis, which could be every one to two weeks.

With SHA cutting back on the times a season they cut grass, Gischlar said they "should spend less than was spent in 2008."

"Hopefully it will be a lot less," Gischlar said. "We'll just have to see how things work out the rest of the summer."