Hi,

I have moved to the warn Austin climate relatively recently so I do not
have a lot of experience keeping a lawn here. My lawn has "normal grass"..
It looks like what most people around here have (sorry for not knowing
more about this), not carpet grass or anything. I have been asking around
a little as to how short to cut my grass and gotten all kinds of answers..
So now I ask he How short should I mow? My lawn gets several hours of
sun every day and I use a mulcing mower.

Advice greatly appreciated.

--
//ceed

A lot has to do with personal preference. I like to cut the areas the have
St. Augustine as high as the mower will go and cut it when you will be
taking off not more than 1/3 of the total growth or at least every week or
10 days whether it looks like it needs it or not. It is also important to
have a sharp blade so you are cutting and not just whacking it off. In the
spring, if you are fortunate enough to get average rainfall and the weather
is warm and humid, that might mean cutting every 4-5 days until we get into
the really hot dry weather. Common Bermuda grass I cut at about 1". If you
allow Bermuda to get three or four inches tall and then cut it back you will
cut off all the green and have a brown lawn for awhile. Cut it short once
a week or so and it will stay green if it gets any water. In any case the
solution to a good looking yard is proper fertilizer and as much water as
you can reasonable afford. If you have any St. Augustine (carpet) and water
it at least one inch per week it will eventually crowded out all the other
grasses and weeds. On the other hand if you don't water the Bermuda will
take over and eventually go dormant until it rains or you water it. No
matter what kind of grass you have it will not stay green without
supplemental irrigation.

GOOD LUCK
"ceed" wrote in message
newsp.s7ni8mrcqo6mj3@debob...
Hi,

I have moved to the warn Austin climate relatively recently so I do not
have a lot of experience keeping a lawn here. My lawn has "normal grass".
It looks like what most people around here have (sorry for not knowing
more about this), not carpet grass or anything. I have been asking around
a little as to how short to cut my grass and gotten all kinds of answers.
So now I ask he How short should I mow? My lawn gets several hours of
sun every day and I use a mulcing mower.

Advice greatly appreciated.

--
//ceed

"ceed" wrote in message
newsp.s7ni8mrcqo6mj3@debob...
Hi,

I have moved to the warn Austin climate relatively recently so I do not
have a lot of experience keeping a lawn here. My lawn has "normal grass".
It looks like what most people around here have (sorry for not knowing
more about this), not carpet grass or anything. I have been asking around
a little as to how short to cut my grass and gotten all kinds of answers.
So now I ask he How short should I mow? My lawn gets several hours of
sun every day and I use a mulcing mower.

Advice greatly appreciated.

Ceed,

I generally trim mine when I can't find my car. G

For the health of the lawn, the general rule is "the longer the better" -
the roots are better shaded and the soil loses less moisture. Your
tradeoffs are appearance and how often you must mow to maintain that
appearance. It's your lawn; choose the path that best suits your time and
efforts.

That said, lawns are water hogs in our climate. They're put in because
they're relatively inexpensive and they quickly give a yard a "finished"
look. To my way of thinking they're a symbol of thoughtless suburban
conformity on par with the picket fence, SUV, big box store and after school
soccer for the tots (shudder). Unless you have compelling reasons such as
children, neighborhood CC&Rs or you genuinely like the look and are willing
to put in the money and effort to maintain it, you may want to consider
reducing the area of your lawn or eliminating it altogether.

I have green stuff in the front yard that I mow periodically when the rains
cause it to get long; I wouldn't go so far as to call it a lawn. I need to
level my house and do some other major repair work which would cause
considerable damage to any plants that I might put in so I haven't made any
effort beyond this. In the future I fully intend to be lawn free with a low
maintenance xeriscape.

--
Mike Harris
Austin, TX

In article ,
"Mike Harris" wrote:

- "ceed" wrote in message
- newsp.s7ni8mrcqo6mj3@debob...
- Hi,
-
- I have moved to the warn Austin climate relatively recently so I do not
- have a lot of experience keeping a lawn here. My lawn has "normal grass".
- It looks like what most people around here have (sorry for not knowing
- more about this), not carpet grass or anything. I have been asking around
- a little as to how short to cut my grass and gotten all kinds of answers.
- So now I ask he How short should I mow? My lawn gets several hours of
- sun every day and I use a mulcing mower.
-
- Advice greatly appreciated.
-
- Ceed,
-
- I generally trim mine when I can't find my car. G

I have a dachshund. When she starts to disappear in the grass, I know
it's time to mow.

I agree: the taller the better. Raise your mower to its highest setting.
This keeps the weeds from getting any sun.
--
8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)
~~~~~~
"I reserve the absolute right to be smarter
today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson

http://www.suzanne-eckhardt.com/
http://www.intergnat.com/malebashing/
http://www.intergnat.com/pussygames/

On Tue, 11 Apr 2006 10:05:48 -0500, Suzie-Q wrote:

I have a dachshund. When she starts to disappear in the grass, I know
it's time to mow.

So what I need is a dachshund! Why didn’t I think of that?
Well, seems from the responses here that I should keep it longer than I
thought was right.

--
//ceed

Thanks, Cliff. Was wondering why my Bermuda grass finally growing in
spotted areas is browning where high (over 1"). Need to wack it down with a
mower. Its around 3" now, and sagging over due to height.

Same bermuda (sahara) in the middle of the 1" gravel driveway is green as
can be. Grass is laying down and spreading, not growing up. Never watered.
Survived last summer in fact even though never watered and very little rain.
--
Jonny
"Cliff" wrote in message
news
A lot has to do with personal preference. I like to cut the areas the have
St. Augustine as high as the mower will go and cut it when you will be
taking off not more than 1/3 of the total growth or at least every week or
10 days whether it looks like it needs it or not. It is also important to
have a sharp blade so you are cutting and not just whacking it off. In
the spring, if you are fortunate enough to get average rainfall and the
weather is warm and humid, that might mean cutting every 4-5 days until we
get into the really hot dry weather. Common Bermuda grass I cut at about
1". If you allow Bermuda to get three or four inches tall and then cut it
back you will cut off all the green and have a brown lawn for awhile. Cut
it short once a week or so and it will stay green if it gets any water.
In any case the solution to a good looking yard is proper fertilizer and as
much water as you can reasonable afford. If you have any St. Augustine
(carpet) and water it at least one inch per week it will eventually crowded
out all the other grasses and weeds. On the other hand if you don't water
the Bermuda will take over and eventually go dormant until it rains or you
water it. No matter what kind of grass you have it will not stay green
without supplemental irrigation.

GOOD LUCK
"ceed" wrote in message
newsp.s7ni8mrcqo6mj3@debob...
Hi,

I have moved to the warn Austin climate relatively recently so I do not
have a lot of experience keeping a lawn here. My lawn has "normal grass".
It looks like what most people around here have (sorry for not knowing
more about this), not carpet grass or anything. I have been asking around
a little as to how short to cut my grass and gotten all kinds of answers.
So now I ask he How short should I mow? My lawn gets several hours of
sun every day and I use a mulcing mower.

Advice greatly appreciated.

--
//ceed