Cutting grass too short wrecked my lawn for 2 summers

I used to mow my fescue down to 2 inches because I thought it looked clean and saved time between cuts. After a drought hit in July last year, half the yard turned brown and I found out from a neighbor that taller grass protects the roots better. Have you ever messed up your lawn care routine by chasing the wrong look?

4 comments

4 Comments

black.pat1mo ago

Oh man, I gotta say I think you're overthinking this a bit. Grass turns brown in a drought, that's pretty normal. I've cut mine short for years and yeah it gets crispy in July but it always bounces back after a good rain or two. People act like lawn care is brain surgery but it's just grass, you know? Maybe your neighbor was just trying to make conversation and now you're blaming your mower for something the weather did.

king.derek1mo ago

Haha yeah you got me there man. I definitely have a tendency to overanalyze stuff that really doesn't need it. Like I'll spend an hour researching the perfect blade sharpening angle for my mower and then forget to water the lawn for two weeks straight. Classic me. But seriously, your point about just being grass hits home. I've killed plants before that were supposedly impossible to kill, so maybe I should just relax and let nature do its thing. Appreciate you keeping it real though.

robinp721mo ago

Jumping right in here, I gotta ask you @black.pat, is it really that deep though? I mean yeah, blades matter but you're out here worrying about angles while your neighbor probably just uses a rusty push mower and his lawn looks fine. I've seen guys spend four hundred bucks on a mower with a Honda engine and still end up with patchy grass cause they forget to water. Honestly, half the time it's just the weather or some random weed taking over, not your mower settings. Maybe next time you're out there overthinking, grab a beer and sit down instead.

johnson.daniel1mo ago

Yeah, that's basically how it goes with half the stuff we worry about though.