Question
hi there i recently moved to a new home the grass was over a foot high and laying over i have managed to get it mowed. it now has about 2cm growth but it s like hay. any advice how to get back to green

thanks

steve

Answer
You've got a problem, my friend.

Never heard the rule about mowing a maximum 1/3rd of the blade?

All that work.  And all you have is hay to show for it.

Boy, oh, boy, do I feel your pain.  Pour me a cold beer, please.  Let's go over the specs of this chop job.

First, you should understand that Grass is unique.  Completely different from other plants.

'Other plants' -- flowering annuals and perennials, shrubs, vegetables, fruit trees, houseplants -- grow from stem TIPS.

You recall the question on a science test back in school about Graffiti on a tree?  Carve the words 'Kilroy Was Here' onto the trunk, at eye level, 5 feet above the ground, and when you return 10 years later, where is the Graffiti now?

Answer: 5 feet above the ground.  Exactly where you left it.

Because the Tree grows from the tips of its branches.  Not from the middle or the ground.

Grass is different.

Monocots and Dicots, same difference.  New cells are produced at ground level.  At the CROWN, where roots and shoots begin.  Carve 'Kilroy Was Here' into the side of a Grass plant, and in a week that Graffiti will have moved ... UP!

Growth comes out of the 'Crown' in a Grass plant.  The Crown is where the most active cells are.  This is Home Plate.  The Base.  Central Headquarters.  The growing point for Stems and Leaves.  Which is why you can mow Grass down and it won't die.

Grass plants also have LEAVES.  These are the Leaf Blades the emerge from a something that wraps around the stem, called the Leaf Sheath.  The Stem and the Leaf Sheath grow up out of the Crown.  The roots grow down out of the Crown.  The part of the Stem where the Leaf Blade begins and the Leaf Sheath ends is called the COLLAR.

Still with me?

Grass Leaves grow a little at the tip.  But remember, most of the growing takes place at the Crown.  When a landscaper mows a Lawn too short, and slices at or under the Collar, the Blade is totally ruined.  Fortunately, the Leaf Sheath is still producing Blades; if things go well, a new Leaf Blade will grow. It may not happen overnight, but if all goes well, it may happen.

There's one other problem.

The roots.

Because studies prove, time and again, that the higher you mow a Lawn, the longer and deeper the roots will be; the shorter you mow, the shorter the roots.

And that's a problem because your Grass needs long, deep roots to get water and minerals out of the Soil.

You did not mention what kind of Grass you have growing around your house now.  So I refer you to this long essay, 'The correct height to mow your lawn':

www.helium.com/items/981092-the-correct-height-to-cut-your-lawn

and since I wrote it, I agree with everything in it.

What can you do about the damage?

That depends a lot on whether you have Warm Season or Cool Season Grass.  Tell me where you live or what Grass you have, and we can look at your options.  rsvp,

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER