Cutting Heights

[Perry]

Spring and fall I cut lawns as short as I can keep that dam yellow stuff low low.
Summer I usually cut 3 in some customers prefer closer to 4.

Do you catch the clippings when you do the short-length cuts?

 

[exotion]

Do you catch the clippings when you do the short-length cuts?

Yes I always catch clippings in lawns. There are a couple fields I take care of I don't bag but that's it

 

[Ric]

Do you catch the clippings when you do the short-length cuts?

Personally I never bag grass, it's time consuming and unnecessary if you are cutting your lawn correctly. Remember the one third rule, removing more than one-third of the grass plant when you mow leaves the grass less resistant to disease and the stress of hot summer sun and weather. Clippings left on your lawn will eventually decompose and recycle nutrients back into the soil, it also helps shade the soil, keeping the roots cooler and reducing moisture loss. Remember grass is 75 to 80% water. Leaving the clippings on the lawn also contributes to your fertilization needs. Mow your lawn more often keeping your grass clippings one inch or less in length lets the clippings decompose quickly and will be more beneficial to or for your lawn and besides you can remove one inch of grass twice a week faster than 3 or 4 inches once a week and it's easier on you and the mower.

 

[Perry]

Ric

Do you think you're in the minority or majority? Do many
contractors mow twice a week to avoid bagging all those
clippings? Can the clientele stand that cost? My lawn is
simply too big to consider bagging without a big ride-on
that has a voluminous catcher.

That said, I agree with you. I mow my own lawn twice-a-
week on average. But I'm retired and can afford the time.
Before next Spring, I hope to have a Husqvarana 260/5ACX
automower on the job. I also plan to chronicle the purchase
and installation process/experience elsewhere on this forum.

Returning clippings has - for me - carried another risk. The
incidence of brown patch. But I'm wondering if the cutting
height is implicated in that. What seems to have happened
over the last summer is that the grass has become long
enough to become 'wavy' and lay down. So the blades are
growing sideways some distance, before rising vertically.

I can see that when examining the scuff of my footprint, at
times. It's one of the reasons why I'm trying to drop the
cutting height - to get back to vertical blade development
in the lawn. The newer grass has been more susceptible
than the old part, and the fescue got nailed, but the rye
seemed to recover OK.

 

[Ric]

Ric

Do you think you're in the minority or majority? Do many
contractors mow twice a week to avoid bagging all those
clippings? Can the clientele stand that cost? My lawn is
simply too big to consider bagging without a big ride-on
that has a voluminous catcher.

That said, I agree with you. I mow my own lawn twice-a-
week on average. But I'm retired and can afford the time.
Before next Spring, I hope to have a Husqvarana 260/5ACX
automower on the job. I also plan to chronicle the purchase
and installation process/experience elsewhere on this forum.

Returning clippings has - for me - carried another risk. The
incidence of brown patch. But I'm wondering if the cutting
height is implicated in that. What seems to have happened
over the last summer is that the grass has become long
enough to become 'wavy' and lay down. So the blades are
growing sideways some distance, before rising vertically.

I can see that when examining the scuff of my footprint, at
times. It's one of the reasons why I'm trying to drop the
cutting height - to get back to vertical blade development
in the lawn. The newer grass has been more susceptible
than the old part, and the fescue got nailed, but the rye
seemed to recover OK.

Do I think I'm in the minority or majority? Probably the minority with the way I think about grass and oil and things of that nature. I guess you could say I'm old school.:smile: I can tell you that when it comes to lawns and My beliefs that I practice what I preach and do cut some of my clients lawns twice a week if it's needed and the second cut is at my expense not the client and yes in that I'm definitely in the minority. The thing is it only takes cutting the lawn every two or three days for a limited time before you get the grass under control then you can mow on a seven day schedule taking off only a third of its length the way it should be done, at that point you'll find your mowing time and finishing time will be faster and easier.

The problems with lawns are the owners a great deal of the time and there practices of up keep causing more harm than good. I have clients who think they have to water there St Augustine 6 days a week, fertilize every to months and you can't convince them that what there doing is nuts and they make the lawn maintenance guys job a whole lot harder than it should be.

Now I know that not everyone can mow lawns more than once a week or would if they could and had the time. All I can tell them is do the research, look at the studies that have been done and find out the correct way, then as my shop teacher told me many years ago you can do it your way or the right way, no skin off my behind either way.

 

[Perry]

Chilly View

Here's a glimpse of what my biggest lawn looks like on a cold and frosty morning. Two pix stitched together, hence the 'fish eye' distortion. The empty pond is obvious.

 

[lawnbarbers]

Personally I never bag grass, it's time consuming and unnecessary if you are cutting your lawn correctly. Remember the one third rule, removing more than one-third of the grass plant when you mow leaves the grass less resistant to disease and the stress of hot summer sun and weather. Clippings left on your lawn will eventually decompose and recycle nutrients back into the soil, it also helps shade the soil, keeping the roots cooler and reducing moisture loss. Remember grass is 75 to 80% water. Leaving the clippings on the lawn also contributes to your fertilization needs. Mow your lawn more often keeping your grass clippings one inch or less in length lets the clippings decompose quickly and will be more beneficial to or for your lawn and besides you can remove one inch of grass twice a week faster than 3 or 4 inches once a week and it's easier on you and the mower.

We bag all the time...up here in the north you would just help the weeds to grow by blowing them around.

 

[jimrs]

Here are a few pictures of my yard back in early March. I cut it at 3" but now at 3 1/2" due to heat.
The sprinklers are running off the waste water treatment we have. No Septic tanks are allowed this close to the lake.

 

[sgmgarden]

Try not to cut it too short, especially when it's hot outside. Cutting your grass too short will just cause more unnecessary problems for you, as it encourages the growth of moss and weeds.