Extensive discussion filled with knowledge!

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3280

Happy mowing!

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Everything in Moderation

That is a great article but I also need the answer to the original question as we are also trying to lower the height of our lawn and as we do so we end up with portions that are brown because they are being cut further down. Should we put compost tea on these areas or any other nutrients to encourage green up?

Nina

I guess my first question would be - Is your lawn completely even and it has no low spots? If it is you can ignore this response. I have a newer bermuda lawn that was put it by sod. The only time it looks like it has been scalped in areas is when I mow over the higher spots in the yard. I've been filling in the low spots with compost and it has improved the "evenness" and it cuts more uniformly. I hope this helps.

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Jeff

In my case, I do know that it is not low spots causing the problem but just the general lowering of the height of the grass. It was three and half inches tall when returned from vacation and we have been lowering it a half an inch every five days. The brown spots are just yucky.

If you read closely the article says that mowing height is a direct result of prior mowing height in the spring. To have a realtively short lawn throughtout the summer you must start at a low height in the spring. Now, you must get used to the fact that in the summer under the extreme heat you must raise the mower height to avoid browning, which is caused by an inabilty of the soil to retain needed moisture in the top 6". The grass acts as mulch for the soil and shields the soil from the elements.

Unless you water as golf courses do, everyday, it would be hard to keep a bermuda lawn under an 1 1/2" during the summer. Keep in mind also that certain hybrids of bermuda are better adapted to short heights in mowing, common bermuda is not one of them. The type of bermuda used on golf greens is very sensitive, fragile hybrid. It is watered everyday, aerated once a month, and is cut 2 times a week with freshly sharpened blades.

To answer the question, the browning after decreasing the height is the stems of the bermuda (the part the sun was not reaching) so your yard will look a bit messy for a couple weeks until the base height is reached and you stop lowering. To try an avoid the browning during the decrease, keep the lawn well watered and mow the grass every 3-4 days decreasing slowly like a half an inch every 2 weeks.

This is what I have come to learn through internet research! Hope it clarifies the issue.

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Everything in Moderation