Turfs Up:
Mowing Tips

As we transition from our recent mild winter into spring, mowing becomes a chore for many of us or our service providers. How can you our customer and your cultural practices make the most out of you’re most recent visit from Bob Jenkins Lawn Care team?

Height

Start with a lower setting (one or two settings lower than the last fall cut) and bag the excess clippings on the first few mows of the spring.

Even though we have applied fertilizer, iron, weed controls and other essential nutrients to the turf we need warm soils to help them do their job. We often hear “my neighbors lawn is greening up before mine and they don’t have a service” Mother natures warmth to the soil is key in this process. Photosynthesis and uptake of our products will happen quicker when you mow low in the early spring.

Once the grass has greened up and is actively growing go ahead and move the setting back to normal so you can help the Turf thicken and utilize water. You can also start to mulch the grass again.

Once growing vigorously use the following guidelines for mowing your specific turf

St Augustine- All varieties at 2 ½ to 4 inches high for optimal results and weed control

Zoysia – All varieties: 1 ½ to 2 ½ inches for optimal results and weed control

Common Bermuda – 1 to 2 inches for optimal results and weed control

Hybrid Bermuda ½ to 1 ¼ inches for optimal results and weed control.

*Reel mowers are great for Hybrids if you a level yard and want to take it to the next level

Frequency

This is one of the most common issues that affect our lawns health and color. I have visited with many of our customers and during our conversations I often say mow the lawn as frequently as possible. Mow the lawn or have the lawn mowed at least weekly when the turf is actively growing in the spring and early summer. I mow my common Bermuda every 5-7 days and the color stays consistent. St. Augustine and Zoysia can go a little longer than our Bermuda turf customers without showing the ill effects from mowing at greater than a week. However our Bermuda customers see a loss in color when mowed at an interval greater than 1 week. Bermuda grass (all varieties) will have some of the color “cut out” when the frequency is greater than one week. The stalks of Bermuda grass are brown and the top foliage is green. Therefore when we mow at intervals greater than a week we get some brown areas that take a few days to recover. Even if you like to mow at a higher setting continue to mow frequently.

If you have service that mows the lawn for you ask them if the can generally follow these guidelines. Also ask them to wash housing of the mower (underneath) with your hose if needed to remove excess weeds or disease spores that may be along for the ride from the previous lawn they just mowed.

These tips on mowing will help you get the most out of our unique agronomic program that is designed specifically for Central Texas and its calcareous soils.

MAKING SAN ANTONIO GREEN
WITH ENVY
ONE LAWN AT A TIME

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