Final cutting height

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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micvog
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Final cutting height

Post by micvog » September 23rd, 2017, 8:29 pm

I was curious as to what end-of-season cutting height people are targeting..

I am trying to decide between 2.25" and 2.75" for my KBG.

Green
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Re: Final cutting height

Post by Green » September 23rd, 2017, 8:44 pm

I've done both. There wasn't too much difference either way. I'm more concerned abut scalping and also loss of color at 2.25 in as it gets cold. I don't know if that half inch really makes much difference in terms of snow mold (which is what I'm guessing you're concerned about).

NJDan
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Re: Final cutting height

Post by NJDan » September 24th, 2017, 9:33 am

I've always left mine at 4" and never had any mold problems as a result.

Oldschool
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Re: Final cutting height

Post by Oldschool » September 24th, 2017, 11:09 am

My lawn was left long for winter last year and spring was loaded with snow mold. I’m cutting at 2 inches this winter.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Final cutting height

Post by MorpheusPA » September 24th, 2017, 1:03 pm

I'm 3 to 3.5" winter and summer. I did get snow mold a few years ago, but that's because we had months on-end of snow cover. Even so, mine was far more minor than other lawns, including those that were scalped.

One thing I do is give it a last-minute shot of sprayed ferrous sulfate with the urea used for winterizing. I can't say if that helps, but the grass sure is dark green all winter long. I'm not complaining.


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micvog
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Re: Final cutting height

Post by micvog » September 24th, 2017, 3:06 pm

Thanks everyone. This will be my 3rd winter with this lawn, but so far I haven't had to deal with snow mold. My primary concern is aesthetics and I prefer the looks of a slightly lower cut than most. Last year, with a different mower, I ended at 2.5"; this year I think I will try 2.25" and see what happens. As that lawn matures, maybe I will prefer the higher cutting heights.

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Re: Final cutting height

Post by NJDan » September 24th, 2017, 3:57 pm

Isn't 2.5" the recommended minimum for healthy KBG?

Green
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Re: Final cutting height

Post by Green » September 24th, 2017, 11:27 pm

Recommended minimum? Most current KBG can be maintained from below an inch, all the way up to least 4 inches...with the 1.5-3 inch range being preferred in general. Think about sports fields with the relatively short grass, and then home lawns that are cut at or above 3.5 inches in the Summer.

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ken-n-nancy
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Re: Final cutting height

Post by ken-n-nancy » September 25th, 2017, 9:27 am

NJDan wrote:
September 24th, 2017, 3:57 pm
Isn't 2.5" the recommended minimum for healthy KBG?
As Green mentioned, there's a huge variation in cutting heights that most KBG cultivars will tolerate. There are a few readers here maintaining Bewitched at 0.75" or so with success. Others maintain it up near 4" with success, too.

That said, grass does adapt to the cutting height in use and can be stressed by sudden changes. In other words, even if a specific KBG cultivar can tolerate a 1" cutting height if regularly cut at that height, it's not good to regularly let it grow to 6" and then cut it to 1" every week.

The challenges / struggles / stresses to the grass are a little different at different heights. Some heights will be more susceptible to drought, others more susceptible to some fungal diseases, other heights to different fungal diseases. I don't think there's one "best answer" -- it depends upon what factors you are most prepared to deal with and which factors are most challenging for your situation.

Lastly, some grasses do not tolerate low cutting heights well. For example, tall fescue doesn't do well with short cutting heights. (Actually, that should obvious from the name -- it is called tall fescue, after all!)

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Pete1313
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Re: Final cutting height

Post by Pete1313 » September 25th, 2017, 11:52 am

^+1 ken-n-nancy

I plan on my final cutting height to be .750" - .875" on my bewitched this fall

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