mow higher

[awm]

this for the new people in the buisiness.
u might began to cut higher to prepare for the heat of summer. a little preparation in this area will allow the lawn to hold up better,and can save the grass if u happen to get drought.this advice comes from the south east so situations may differ further north.

[chariot]

If only we could get the customers to understand!

[TGCummings]

Very good advice!

[Turf Technologies]

Funny cause we are mowing high as we can now its so hot and dry right now. WHEN WILL IT END!*reason to yell*

[darryl gesner]

Funny - I'm mowing high because the grass is growing so fast that if I cut any shorter I'd be there all day trying to clean up the clippings.

[Nelson]

I jist want it to rain for I can CUT Peroid......:angry:

[KirbysLawn]

I took a different approach in prepairing for the heat and drought in the summer, Primo. All my lawns are now thicker and healther looking, currently mowing at 3.5" with excellent results, may move non-irriagted lawns to 3.75 in a week if we have no rain.

[awm]

not familar wth that one. tell us about it ,
i i can do a search ,but would rather hear
your input.

[sheppard]

My customers will start yelling "It does not even look cut! Come back and cut the grass!"

Ma'am, this is the best hight right now for the health of the grass...

"But it is not even cut!"....

Blah, blah, blah...

Cordially,
Sheppard

[KathysLGC]

Using doubles I no longer have to double cut. I told a customer that I wanted to cut higher and he said "well let me see what it looks like". I did a few rows to show him and he said fine. After I finished he said " na I think I like it better shorter", so I had to go over again at 3.25". :angry: I tried to explain about the drout but he doesn't care. Maybe we should all petion CNN to anounce lawn height tips for water shortages.:D

[Pro-Cut Lawns]

darryl g.
I hear you. Same hear. I've never seen grass grow so fast. I did finally manage to cut one at 3.25 yesterday. I mowed one day before that had been mowed 5 days earlier and there was no way I could cut it below 3.5 and still had to go over it again to disperse clippings.

......and we've got more rain on the way......

[awm]

i know what u guys are talkin about.
its hard to take charge of the lawn care.
but if u ever do ,the customer will see
that u know what u are doing and pretty much leave u to your work.
i ask them if they would try to tell their mechanic how to keep their car running right.i dont think so.
in fact i suspect this is the point where u move from being a lawn mower person ,
to being a professional lco. didnt say it was easy. good luck and nothing derogatory meant

[Dennis E.]

I run into the same problem here. Usually with relocations or transplants. The "crackers" or people that have been here for 20 plus years know how the turf should be maintained. Never a problem with those people. The ones that have moved here recently are another story. Cut St Augustine at 2 inches. "I don't think so!"
I carry info from the County Extension office with me for those that are new to Fl. in regards to the proper way to maintain turf here. That normally takes care of the problem.

[TGCummings]

Originally posted by Dennis E.
I carry info from the County Extension office with me for those that are new to Fl. in regards to the proper way to maintain turf here. That normally takes care of the problem.

Y'know, that is an excellent idea...

Of course, you'll still inevitably run into people who say "books don't know nuthin'..." :D

[Dennis E.]

Thomas
There's one in every crowd,huh? The Co. Ex. info does shut them up for awhile. Usually after they see some nice results in the turf from proper care they ease up on the... "I want it cut as short as possible!"


All you midwest members... My heart goes out to you all.I saw some areas today that were inundated with rain. More on the way from the news reports. Be safe!:(

[ADMowing]

We've been cutting from 3 to 4.5 depending on the lawn. Bahia between 3 and 3.5 and St. Augustine between 4 and 4.5.

We cut a lawn in a mobile home park and used to cut the man's next door too! This year, he wanted to pay $5 less per month this summer, so he hired another scrub. After the old customer left to go north for the summer, his mowing man came over to his house with a little old push mower and mowed his 5" tall St. Augustine on about 1 1/2" and guess what? This week, we went out there to mow and his lawn is DEAD! Our lady (who is an annual customer) still has her pretty green lush St. Augustine. Wonder what that dude is going to say when he comes back from up north this summer and sees the mess? Also worried about his weeds spreading over into her lawn -- 'cause that is all he has coming in now.

I get SO upset with people here in Florida who cut the grass down to the yellow! They just don't want to cut as often and they end up killing the lawn. We watch these other LCO's down the road doing it every Friday! I just want to scream! I can almost hear the lawn screaming!!! Makes one sad!

Oh yeah! The stinking golf course people came into a customer's yard and mowed their St. Augustine down to about 1 1/2." I stood in his backyard and just shook my head. They now have a big stripe of yellow inside their backyard. Does that qualify for striping???? Guess the golf course people think so!

[awm]

u might want to put dn a couple of iron stakes just inside the property line.
u know property line markers .
best hght for them probably about 13/4
inch. also paint a pretty green color.:D
on second thought mabe yellow to match the grass.

[ADMowing]

Hee Hee Hee! I'll buy some yellow paint!!!

Really, the iron stakes sound like a great idea. I'll ask the customer if he wouldn't mind. WHITE PVC stakes would be a good idea too. They would stand out pretty well and are inexpensive. Maybe if I use neon flags, they'll get the point!!!

We've always mowed all the way down to the pine trees for the golf course because I know they can't get their huge bat wings between them and our customer's yard. But, why they decided to mow this day (when it is terribly dry anyway) and "stripe" the grass is beyond me.

[RLS]

We are cutting nearly all of our lawns on 5" - 5 1/2". It is really dry here. We did get an inch of rain yesterday, but it won't really help an awful lot. But we will take whatever rain we can get.
We have one lawn that the lady insist that we cut on 2 1/2", being that we only cut her lawn every other week, she doesn't want to have to mow between cuttings. When we do this yard, it seems like it takes forever because we have to go so slow to avoid scalping. And the dust that cutting this low produces really gives me a bad attitude. I know there is dust at any height we cut on, but it seems like when we cut on this low of a setting, we creat a virtual dust storm. Not good for my attitude at all. It puts my head in a knot as my husband would say. Okay, call me a sissy if ya want, lol, that's okay with me, but I HATE dust.
Here in our area, we have found that with the dry weather and all, cutting high just makes the grass look so much healthier. So far, we have had no complaints from our customers. But also, most all of our customers are every weekers. Now, we do have about 15 commercial accounts on the main drag of our little town that we cut on 4', since we only cut them every other week year round, they still look good when it is time to cut them again. And too, most of these accounts are nearly all weeds, green weeds though lol, with the exception of 2 that do have centipede grass.
It's funny now that I think back on it, but when we first started our business 5 years ago, my husband would want to cut the grass nearly to the dirt (you have to remember we were new to this) but I thought that if we cut it high, it would need to be mowed again sooner, thus making more money that way. This went on for awhile, high or low, until finally he came around to my way of thinking. Now, I like to cut it high because it seems to produce a much healthier looking lawn.
Sorry for the long reply, but now that I have found this site, it is just so cool to talk with other people that know where you are coming from.
Happy cutting all!!!!!!
PK :D

[Dennis E.]

I know how the dust thing is. It's really dry here right now too. We have the same problem when the oaks shed leaves in the fall here. I found some blades for my Viper that have literally no lift on them. They cut good without stirring up all sorts of dust.
I don't know what kind of equipment you use but it's something to look into.:)

[creative concepts]

awm,

Primo is a growth regulator that inhibits the upward growth of the grass plant but not the root growth. It helps to produce a healthier turf by allowing the grass plant to expend its energy and nutrients on the root system instead of the blade itself. It is a great product but extremely expensive. Here in NJ I pay about $150-$200 for a quart size container.

[awm]

thanks chris. pretty high ,but ill investigate it more .

[fastrunner]

yeah, to all the those Florida people who make fun of us cause we plow snow and they are mowing in december.. well now look, we have to cut grass every 4-5 days cause its growing so fast and people in florida havent cut in a month. :D

[ADMowing]

We charge by the month on an annual basis. So whether we cut or not, we get paid. Our business sustains us all year round. That is a perk of living in Florida and/or if you live elsewhere, charging annual rates instead of "by the mow."

[ADMowing]

Actually, after I read what I wrote, charging "by the mow" can sustain you all year round too when you charge enough per mow. So, sorry about that assumption. But, my point is that just because we don't have rain -- One, we don't stop mowing down the weeds and keep the grass maintained (we just mow higher). Two, we get paid every month -- whether we mow or not (whether it rains or not). Hope that clears up my blunder! :)

[ProMo]

im mowing 5" om some and cutting off 2/3 of the grass blade gotta love the nitrogen mixed with all the rain

[ADMowing]

Don't you love all the rain we've been getting? FINALLY! We've been cutting a lot of grass now too! Still cutting a little high still because the water table has not returned to normal and there are still water restrictions.

[roscioli]

I didnt read everyones posts, but heres a little story that pisses me off:
This lady I started mowing for this year has a nasty front lawn that was apparantly the result of the last landscaper (so she says), so I am fixing it up slowely through proper care, including mowing height. I am mowing it at 3.75 now to prepare for the heat, and she is witching like crazy because "i have lived here 30 years and the grass has never been this tall" and I explain to her every week that THIS is what is best for the grass at this time of year, and that if we cut it shorter, it will be easier for the heat to kill it, and she agrees. EVERY WEEK! Now this last week we went over the same thing, and she says "well, i dont care about the back yard, i want that mowed down to the moss" I was like
"well, I have spent a good deal of time making the back nice, and this will kill it" and she says "well thats fine, i dont care if the back dies, you shouldnt be mowing it every week, its never been this tall" GRRRRR I hate people like this!

[Just Turned Pro]

Originally posted by roscioli
I am mowing it at 3.75 now to prepare for the heat, and she is witching like crazy because "i have lived here 30 years and the grass has never been this tall"

I bet in 30 years its never been green this far into the summer either.... aarrggggh, some people.

[brucec32]

5 1/2 inches! My Mowers' (exmark lazer z hp, toro 36" wb) highest settings are about 4 to 4 1/2 inches. Interesting how grasses vary in different locales. "Tall Fescue" here is mowed about about 3.5" to 4" in the summer. Does something mowed at 5" qualify as a lawn?

[TheGrassGuy]

What height are you guys mowing Kentucky Blue at now? Most of my lawns are Kentucky blue with some rye and fescue in the mix as well. I am currently mowing at 2.75 - 3".

[Just Cut]

I've had cleints ask to have there grass cut at 1" to 1 1/2" they same to have the mind set that grass is supposed to be brown in July, I tell them I cut higher to keep the grass green as long as possible, The last one that called is convinced that I need to cut shorter, He is on a 10 day schedule and prepays for the month I think I'll follow his advice and butch it as to his specs and still get payed for 3 visits