Cut too low, now I'll have to pay

[toddco]

Okay, all spring long I been cuttin it super short cause it looked so neat. About 2" tall, smooth as a babies butt, and green as could be.

But now I know I've been sinnin and it's gonna burn up in August. The rain is already slowing to a trickle here (maybe an inch this month). How do I pay for my sin? Do I raise the mower slowly each week? Do I leave it uncut until it hits 4 inches?

Forgive me lawn, for I have sinned. Help!

[Brickman]

My mower raises in half inch spacing. I am sure if you raise it a half (one notch) a week every thing will be fine and the customers will hardly notice. I mow until about this time of year (first of June) at 2 inches, then start raising. I havn't had any problems doing that.

[KirbysLawn]

What kind of grass? Makes all the difference.

[awm]

if u lucky enough that its growin. just
cut the tip even and let it grow to desired hgt. only problem is ,now u got to explain what u are doing to each customer.just act like its pt o your game plan.u knew what u was doing all the time.:D

[toddco]

Kirby, I'm up here in the greater Seattle area so it's all cool-season grasses. Everything is a mix. I keep thinkin I need to overseed with fescue to deal with the low rain summers but all the sod companies here use rye, and they must know something (?).

[KirbysLawn]

Not sure about that area. Rye is a temp grass here, we plant it in fall to give warm season grasses color thru winter. Late spring the Rye is toast, if I get a chance I will take a photo of a Rye lawn in a local community.:eek:

I would suggest doing as others said, raise the deck and let it grow. Also check out the 2 Primo Maxx threads in the Pest forum.

[Albemarle Lawn]

Never cut it short.:angel:

[proline32]

Just bring it up incrementally..... 3 inches is a good height for many lawns, this way they retain more moisture and stay greener longer, Around here alot of the lco's have kids working for them and they just butcher the grass by cutting it as low as they can to a point of the lawns are brown and they have green lines running thru them where they don't bother to over lap the cut, I generally cut them at 2.5 to 3 inches and I have had customers ***** at me that they want them lower..... I just tell them to hire someone else.

[johnhenry]

Never cut short it will kill your checkbook and the lawn. I cut all my lawns at 3 to 4 inches I have one estate that I cut at 5. The only grass to be cut below 2.5 is bent grass

[toddco]

When you let it grow up to 3-1/2 or 4 inches (or even 5) does the lawn look trampled when kids, and dogs play on it? The tall grass always seems to look so much more fragile, and then messy -- but boy it sure stays green.

[MOW ED]

Seattle and you are worried about rain?????

[TLS]

Any lower and I'd be scalping, and hitting rocks, etc.!!! A lawn needs to re-establish its "height" memory! It'll look shabby for a while if you just jump up to 3". Slowly bring it up, but don't expect it to survive better in the drought (Seattle - Drought....Something doesn't seem right here?), for the roots are already shallow, and aren't going to go deep overnight!

2" Geeezzze :rolleyes:

[AielLandscaping]

just thought i'd through this out here.. i have a customer who already is having her yard cut at 1/2 inch and asked me if i could go any lower :rolleyes: she's extremely over wieght and doesn't want to risk falling down because she couldn't get up if she did...

[FrankenScagMachines]

I'm cutting two clients at about 2.5" and one looks great and green and the other looks like ****, i'm gonna work them upto 3" soon. I mow mine at 3" and want it higher but that's the highest setting on the mower (Wheel Horse tractor). I could raise it a tad with the lift but it wouldn't float properly and might give an uneven cut so i'm not gonna risk it.... Another customer has it at maybe 3.5"? It's a weirdo type grass that grows fast and doesn't look like other kinds of grass. But it looks fine... You just have to experiment with it to get what you want. I am going to see what I can do to change the height on the Wheel Horse for my lawn, I want greener grass with better stripes. It's getting hot out now and I can't get away with 3" and have it great like it was in springtime:( :rolleyes:
Happy Mowing!
Eric

[WashMoBrink]

Cutting primarily fescue / rye mix in Missouri @ 3.5", but tall fescue has such a wide blade it stands up great.

[toddco]

Mow ED - Yeah, Seattle is really weird. We don't get rain anything like you guys in the east and midwest. It's rained at my place 4 nights this week and my gage has a total of .4 inches (that's point 4!). A typical June brings us 1.5 inches. Isn't that like one day of rain for you?

[Just Turned Pro]

Don't forget about our Seattle area summer.... you know from about July 15 to Aug. 15 or so....:rolleyes:

We also have drought conditions during that time too... but its not from lack of rain, its because of water restrictions and conservaion efforts so our state can sell all the water to CA!

[Miller Mowing]

I generally try to cut the grass fairly high. I know that perhaps you have to mow a bit more often in the Spring, but it seems to keep the grass looking good even into the dryer Summer months that way.

[proline32]

beleive it or not, It can get very dry here in the seattle area during the summers and I really have to gripe at my customers to make sure they water the lawns weekly, so far we have had very little rain in the last month or so and it is starting to show...... I've even watered the lawns while working on them just to keep them green, I'd mow the back yard first then turn on a sprinkler while I was mowing the front, In some neighborhoods where I have accounts close enough I would run the sprinklers after the yard was done and go work on another yard then come back to shut off the water. I really don't like to do this but sometimes I have no choice, I don't want my customers not watering the yard because they are lazy, and I want to keep the yards looking good.