First time grass grower in Chicago, IL. Thanks to all of you for your daily insights on how to do this, it's become all i think about every day.
This is where we are at after 5 weeks. Grass has grown to between 5"-7" but want to make sure I execute the next steps properly. Questions (apologies if these are dumb):
- Should I do the first cut with a push mower or a reel mower?
- Is 2" a good height for first cut?
- Is topseeding a good idea post cut? Or should I wait a while to top seed so I can let these fresh roots grow deeper?
by bigrak34
4 Comments
Looks great, but it’s probably mostly fescue for now. KBG takes forever to germinate 😩
Go 4″. You can go shorter when it cools, but keep it low. I stupidly went to 3 or 2.5 a few weeks ago and my yard got mad at the heat.
5 weeks on you can do a mower, just be gentle.
Didn’t you prep the soil well before? I would leave it and avoid adding weeds with soil. Just water well 1-2 X a week (hopefully you have been lowering frequency already).
Looks nice, just baby it for 1-2 months and you are set!
Wow that looks good especially for seeding in the summer ! What was your process?
I find the reel mower a bit frustrating to use on new seedlings. It tends to make them lay down and not get cut as well. I prefer the rotary for the earlier cuts. I think 2″ is perfect for (tall?) Fescue and KBG, particularly since you appear to have some good shade which does a lot to keep it from drying out. I cut my tall fescue at 2″ all summer and it looks flawless. I like to think it also helps to keep the fungus away, but I don’t have any evidence of that. Not sure what you mean by topseeding? You should have to overseed or topdress at all unless there are some really thin areas that you want to thicken up. If thats the case, then seed those areas asap.