How to get rid of the "matted down" look

[jonspolaris]

in my moms Condo subdivision, they have a Lawn Contractor that uses Exmark Lazers. After he is done cutting the lawns they all look "mated down", like it was ran over and never sprang back up. The people are complaing about it because they say the grass doesent get cut.

The lawns are Irrigated and fertalized by TrueGreen( ya they are bad).
I am sorry if this has been discused before, but i dident know what to search for.

thanks
jon

[Eric ELM]

It sounds like the blades they are using don't have enough lift to them. Double blades would probably fix this problem. Another way would be to use a JRco tine rake while mowing. Also I would guess they are cutting it tall and their blades won't lift it up enough to cut it right.

[lawnboy82]

I am with Eric on this one, however do you know what they are fertilizing with? Also, is this area heavily shaded? Pretty soon they should be able to drop their cutting height, if they are cutting high now they should go to a normal height, and then later on drop to an even lower height to account for changing growing forms.

[65hoss]

I does sound like they are cutting high without getting lift. Are they side discharging or mulching? If mulching, it could be the airflow pushing the grass down also.

[Runner]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jonspolaris

The lawns are Irrigated and fertalized by TrueGreen( ya they are bad).

After he is done cutting the lawns they all look "mated down", like it was ran over and never sprang back up. The people are complaing about it because they say the grass doesent get cut.

There's the problem, and there's the answer. If TG is fertilizing, it is burned out on nitrogen. The turf just gets weak and wimpy. It also gets thinner as time passes by while they are "taking care" of a lawn. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Tru Green is NOT a lawn care company! The title of this thread: How to get rid of that "matted down" look. Well, they need to get rid of TruGreen and their problem will be solved. A lawn with NO fertilizer will will appear healthier than one with too much N put to it. If the right ferts were to be applied, within one season, they would see a much heartier, thicker, (dense) and all around healthier turf - GUARANTEED!

Also, you said irrigated by TG?:confused:

[Flex-Deck]

Your TG people in your area may possibly put too much N down, but in our area it probably is 1/2 of what they promise and 1/2 of what is needed. The only grass that lays down in our area is that that is run over by the front wheel, AND THIS APPLIES TO FTMOUNTS, ZTRS & TRACTORS.

[MATTHEW]

The problem may be the grass varieties. Some grasses grow in a "creeping" fashion. The problem is accelerated with flush growth and infrequent mowing. You can easily find out if this is the problem by raking the lawn. If you get long strands of turf to lift up, exposing bare dirt and/or grass roots, then that is the problem. The way to prevent this look is to frequently rake the lawn-(just before mowing also) and seed areas that are thin with a better grass type like K bluegrass that grows in clumps and will fill in thin spots.

[MowForReal]

So far people have mentioned things such as not enough lift and poor fertalizer practices. I have some more theories.

1 Super-Dull blades--can't cut grass with a little league bat.

2 Weak belt tension(yes spring-loaded, but it can get stuck in a position)

3 Mowing the same stripe pattern over and over at mach one with any combination of the above.

[1grnlwn]

Put me down for that stripe direction thing. When I mow around a house I always blow out , this lays the grass down in the direction I am moving. So every once in a while I will do normal ccw then do a cw to stand up the grass and cut it. Oh and fine fescues have no legs.