Fall Mowing Heights, Reseeding, & Watering
As we get further into fall here, we’re going to start to drop our mowing heights. You know, maybe in the summer we’re up four. I know some people cut even four and a half inches high, which is really high.
But as we start to go into fall, we’re going to progressively lower that cutting height back down. We don’t go from four and a half inches to three inches all in one week. We want to, as we’re mowing on a weekly, bi-weekly basis, we want to drop it back down in stages. Otherwise, it’ll give it a very scalped look and stresses the grass more than it needs to be. So since you’re mowing anyway, just progressively work it back down. I know that my mower does not suck leaves well up at four inches. It kind of blows them off the side.
So it is something that I’m starting to do last week. I think I went down to three and a half inches and then I’ll work my way down a little lower as we get cooler. And you know, most of our grasses are cool season grasses. So they like the cooler temperatures. That hot 90 degree summer heat is not their favorite time of year. So the rain is definitely going to help regenerate that grass.
If you have to do some seeding, now is the time to do that seeding. It’s a really good time. If you wait too late in the year, like the bluegrass seeds a lot of times can take up to 21 to 28 days to germinate, but it has to be 50 degrees night and day. Now the soil temps will remain in that for quite a while yet, but the air temps are going to start to drop down and they’re going to start to cool that ground off. And so you’re not going to get as good a germinating germination, like in October, November, as you are in September, October.
And just because it is cooling down and we have gotten some rain doesn’t mean we have to stop watering. We’re still watering. So there’s just something to check, especially newer plantings and that kind of thing. Especially trees and shrubs because the roots are so deep. We got a gully washer recently and that’s exactly what it does. It comes down really heavy and it runs off. It doesn’t have time to soak in.
We still may only get the water down a couple inches in the soil. If you planted a tree and its roots are 15, 18 inches deep, you still have a significant amount of that root system that needs extra help to get established. It’s not generally an issue with older trees, but younger ones, absolutely. And I have some that are under an awning and they didn’t get anything. So that’s just something to keep in mind. And I don’t see any very cool or even cold temperatures anytime soon. Just in the evening, which is kind of nice. It doesn’t look like anything that’s going to cause any issues or anything.
Got to have good stuff ready to go for fall. You know, make sure if you have a bagger on your mower, you know, kind of do a little equipment maintenance this time of year. One of those cooler evenings, you can get out there and double check everything, make sure everything’s functioning the way it should. That way, when you need to use that piece of equipment, you’re ready to go.
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