To Mow or Not To Mow?...That is the Question

[JHazzardB]

Some may recall that I am trying my hardest not to mow through summer. My yard is definitely the darkest on the block as well as the tallest (around 9"). Its definitely not the thickest though. I'm having an internal struggle on if I should mow or not.

Pro List
1)Neighbors might think it looks better initially...
2)It might help reduce fungal pressure.
3)Might have enough shade that new growth would be stimulated.
4)My 4" pop up sprinklers would spray more effectively.

Con List
1)My grass will now burn in painful death.
2)Would lose its darkness.
3)Would need to irrigate more.
4)Might not have new grass growth.
5)Neighbors might complain about my grass dying.

Our temps are gonna be lo-90's with the odd chance of rain for the foreseeable future. The grass looks great from afar, but close up it is much thinner. I have a feeling if I lop off the top of the canopy I'll start drying out the soil too much. BUT! if my thinness (and BBDL) is due to fungal pressure, drying it out would be beneficial. I doubt that much grass would regrow though and I'll be left with a brownish lawn until September. My shade coverage in the front is increasing but there are still some areas that are not as dappled as others. What would you guys do? Any and all suggestions are welcome. Being over 90F for long stretches sucks.

[EddieN26]

Sorry in advance as I'm struggling with the same questions myself. My 7-10" uncut Bewitched looked thick and dark the past 3 days being 4 days out from its last mow. I chopped it down to 4" today and it's already drying out in spots. I read your post about being a fan of the KBG 70s shag and thought I may try the same thing throughout the summer, and now that it's drying out so quickly after a cut that sounds all the better.

Btw, what does BBDL stand for?

[Smolenski7]

I haven't heard of someone trying not to cut their lawn on this forum, you're a first.

Personally, I would never have let it get that long. However, I live in the northeast and don't pretend to understand the growing conditions of OK for a cool season grass. So, with that said, my gut is saying not to cut. The stress of taking that much off the top is certainly breaking the 1/3 rule (not that it's the greatest sin in lawn care to break that rule), combined with the hot temps can't be good. So, if you want to cut, I think you might want to wait for cooler temps.

[andy10917]

Grasses grown tall naturally go brown and dry at the end of July into August. I personally would be worried about a fire that spreads almost as fast as you can run, in dry grass with a breeze. I've seen them in dry dunes grasses and they are frightening.

[JHazzardB]

Eddie: BRown blades down low

Smol: I’ve thought about tapering the curb towards the house so it’s not as noticeable with my weed eater. I think I’m in too deep to mow, or wait till it rains and cools.

Andy: I feel like tall and half alive would burn slower than shorter and all dead. If I’m wrong, you’ll see me running like Usain Bolt!

[Green]

Hazzard + fire...fire Hazzard? Just kidding!

In any case, while I like the reduced mowing strategy when it's really hot and you don't irrigate, there comes a time when it still has to be cut. I think the goal is to optimize that timing as best as possible with respect to temperatures and rain forecast.

[ENVY23]

Why would it die? I’m in TN and it’s 90s all week here and will get hotter. Won’t really cool off until late August. My KBG is going into its 4th summer. Monthly Milo keeps it green and growing, and I only irrigate to supplement mother nature. That may be once a month, or once every 3-4 days, just depends on the weather. I mow at 4”. Maybe your humidity is different, but letting it get that long would be a recipe for a major fungal outbreak here.

How do you plan to cut it later on? That’s a tall ask to mulch, or even bag. You gonna bale it? lol

[JHazzardB]

Green, ideally I could wait till a little before some rain and cooler weather. We’ll see if that happens. Fingers crossed!

Envy, I’m a little jealous of your grass now. If I continued milo through summer...I feel like my fungal pressure would be through the roof. Looks like you have a little more rain in your forecast (maybe). I would assume we’d have relatively same weather though.

[Green]

If it's actually not growing anymore (or growing very slowly and not enough to notice) due to the heat, then there is no rush to mow. Also, if I were using this strategy regularly, I'd probably want one of the rare mowers that goes up a 5" cut so I could remove less. But it's very possible that it won't get any longer. You've done this before, so you better than anyone else.

Looks good in the photos right now.

Am I right that it's not irrigated at all, just natural rainfall?

[bernstem]

I grew a small ~4x5 foot patch of KBG that went unmowed in my garden to see what would happen. It got fertilizer and watered when the roses got watered, but I didn't spray to prevent disease. It died out after 2 years. It would be good in the spring, but towards the middle of summer it would start to really struggle and by the end of summer it would be terrible. It seemed that disease was a big problem once it got high enough.

It does not surprise me that your lawn isn't as thick as when cut lower. When I experimented, my KBG was not as thick when taller. I think the longer blades create more shade at the turf level which reduces density. Less density is probably good at that height as it reduces disease pressure.

I'm not saying that this will happen, Oklahoma is a lot drier than St. Louis and that might make the difference. My advice would be to keep a close eye out for diseases and consider preventive spraying.

You also need to balance the stress of cutting the grass. It will stress the lawn a lot and it will look like terrible. We are now in summer mode (it has been 90+ for the past 3 days here) and my general rule is to minimize stress as much as possible. KBG won't do much to recover until temps start to drop. If you do decide to cut the grass short, I would make the initial cut as high as you can. I would cut in the evening and consider timing it before rain and cooler temps the next day to help recovery from the cutting.

Good Luck!

[This is me]

Why do you care what your neighbor thinks? Do what's best for you and for your financial. My next door neighbor's lawn is managed by external company. They come and cut their lawn down to about 2" every week. Their sprinklers come on every morning even if it's raining. Yes, it's somewhat green but still burn out here and there. My lawn is mowed at 4" and water maybe once a week. Yes, I do have some brown spots here and there but after a good thundershower and cooler temps, it comes right back to dark green.
My concern about keeping the lawn longer than 6" is how would you mow that without taking too much and possibly do harm to it when most mower deck max height setting is 4-4.5". And also how do you get through without creating a trampled grassed look?

[JHazzardB]

Green, no it's all irrigated. Its getting about 1.25" a week unless we we get some rain showers then I turn it off.

Bern, I find your "test plot" story super interesting. I haven't had that same experience but now I'm thinking about trying it out. I have used Serenade 2 times already, but should be applying more I believe. I'm not the best at sticking to schedules (obviously!).

This is me, sometimes my neighbors will turn each other in as a "nuisance property" and the city will notify you to mow. I think it would be a long shot for them to do that, but I'd also like the yard to seem a little put together and like its been abandoned if that makes sense. Normally when I mow the shag, mower deck goes all the way up to 4" (highest) and I make a pass with the salad shooter and then hit it again mulching.

Spoiler alert: I think I'm gonna mow. Our highs are gonna be in the low 90's with a chance of thunderstorms. I got this. Kinda.

[Green]

Green, no it's all irrigated. Its getting about 1.25" a week unless we we get some rain showers then I turn it off.

If it's irrigated, why try to avoid mowing fairly regularly?

I have a family member whose lawn is not irrigated. I missed one week mowing it, and someone else stepped in and did it. That was good because I was busy with my own, trying to keep up with things like mowing, daily hand watering due to reseeded areas, Serenade and other apps, etc. But it was bad because they took it down from about 8 to 2 inches (I mow at 4), and apparently left a lot of clumps. This was just a few days before Summer heat started to hit. Since then, it's been dry with temps of mid 80s to low 90s and a lot of sun. I was considering mowing it tomorrow morning quick to get rid of the clumps, but now I'm thinking I may as well wait until Friday morning to minimize stress. There's also a chance of rain on the weekend. It'll probably be brown and crunchy which isn't the greatest thing.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

My short KBG is definitely thicker than when taller. Smaller plants with smaller root systems. Gives it that smoother tighter look.

The brown blades down low are painfully obvious though as the plant sheds and the stand thins out a little headed into summer. I am looking into the baskets for my triplex to minimize the brown tones.