Hi,

I am a bit confused regarding cutting height for my hot climate. I live in
South Central Texas (Austin) and have a “normal lawn”. It’s not carpet
grass, but just ...eh......grass! :) (Sorry for not knowing more).

I had my mower serviced and asked the guy at the mower place about this.
He told me to keep the mower on the highest setting since UV radiation
kills the grass roots in this climate during summer. I also asked a guy
who’s work is to maintain golf courses, and he told me to keep the mower
on the mid setting. I am using a Snapper mulching mower.

Could someone please enlighten me? I would also like to know if I should
keep the grass shorter in the winter?

Finally I wonder where/how you measure cutting height. Is it from the
bottom of the deck and down to the ground, from the blade and down, or?

--
//ceed

"ceed" <ceed.nospam01 [at] dysthe.net> wrote in message
news:op.s684myc2s07eue [at] debob...
> Hi,
>
> I am a bit confused regarding cutting height for my hot climate. I live in
> South Central Texas (Austin) and have a "normal lawn". It's not carpet
> grass, but just ...eh......grass! :) (Sorry for not knowing more).
>
> I had my mower serviced and asked the guy at the mower place about this.
> He told me to keep the mower on the highest setting since UV radiation
> kills the grass roots in this climate during summer. I also asked a guy
> who's work is to maintain golf courses, and he told me to keep the mower
> on the mid setting. I am using a Snapper mulching mower.
>
> Could someone please enlighten me? I would also like to know if I should
> keep the grass shorter in the winter?
>
> Finally I wonder where/how you measure cutting height. Is it from the
> bottom of the deck and down to the ground, from the blade and down, or?
>
> --
> //ceed

??? Try newsgroup austin.gardening

I like 3-4 inches height. The purpose is to lessen moisture removal from
the heat for higher mower deck heights.

You most likely have St. Augustine. Else Bermuda (Sahara). If the latter
2" is okay.

If as hot as last year, sun will probably beat it down anyway. Luckily, we
had a good rain or two recently to kill that drought.
--
Jonny

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:22:00 -0600, ceed <ceed.nospam01 [at] dysthe.net>
wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I am a bit confused regarding cutting height for my hot climate. I live in
>South Central Texas (Austin) and have a �normal lawn�. It�s not carpet
>grass, but just ...eh......grass! :) (Sorry for not knowing more).
>
>I had my mower serviced and asked the guy at the mower place about this.
>He told me to keep the mower on the highest setting since UV radiation
>kills the grass roots in this climate during summer. I also asked a guy
>who�s work is to maintain golf courses, and he told me to keep the mower
>on the mid setting. I am using a Snapper mulching mower.
>
>Could someone please enlighten me? I would also like to know if I should
>keep the grass shorter in the winter?
>
>Finally I wonder where/how you measure cutting height. Is it from the
>bottom of the deck and down to the ground, from the blade and down, or?

Hi,

I'm in Austin as well and also use a Snapper with a mulching blade.
For St. Augustine grass, which is the "main" grass here, this is what
I do:

During the early spring, like now, I cut it short. As the temperature
rises and the grass starts growing better, I raise the height on my
mower by a half setting every few weeks. This means that I'm topping
the settings out towards the middle/end of August. It also means I'm
cutting the grass much higher than alot of other people, but I feel
it's the best way to do it as it helps the grass retain more moisture
and keeps the roots coole during the ver hottest part of the year.

When cooler temperatures return - anywhere from the first week of
September until the first week of October - I start lowering the
settings so that the final cut is on about a 3-4 setting. I call it
3-4 because the front adjusters are put on the third notch from the
top and the rears are on the fourth notch from the top.

I cut it shorter going into winter so that there isn't as much grass
to deal with when it comes time to scalp it in the spring -early
March.