Question
Me again Kenneth:
First the general question on mowing height:
In NYS the Cornell Cooperative Extension agents recommend mowing all lawn grasses as high as we can stand it--3 inches is ideal.  That's what I do.  But  a lot of what I read about various grass varieties give something shorter than that for ideal mowing.  2" for rye, 2.5 for KentuckyBlue, etc.

Now the specific creeping bent question.  My neighbor and I have volunteer creeping bent.  No, we are nowhere near a golf course.  It has developed everywhere there is a low area that gets or stays wet.  A couple of spots where my neighbor accidentally scalped it look just like a putting green, and a Cornell agent identified it as creeping bent.  So, here's the question:  I read that creeping bent only does well when mowed very short, and I also read it does not like full sun.  My areas of creeping bent (bigger and bigger every year) thrive in full sun and with my mower set at 3 inches.  Do  you think this is maybe not creeping bent after all?  (An Agway salesperson once looked at a sample and called it swamp grass).

Thanks

Rick

Rick

Answer
I recommend 2.5-3.5" for most cool season grasses. In summer, raising mower height to 3" is recommended to preserve water.

The low growing grass is probably creeping bent. Swamp grass, if it is the same as I am thinking off, is a tall, wide leaves grass type about 24-36" tall.

Creeping bent sometimes invade lawns and is therefore considered a weed, although other people pay lot of money for it and attention to it. However, if the conditions are right, creeping bent can grow in lawns.

The reason creeping bent grow better in shade than full sun is that it does not like to dry out, which very typically happens if you grow it in hot afternoon sun. However, if your lawn area is moderately or very wet, it is not impossible for it to grow better than your normal lawn grasses.