When to mow new lawn

garv123

Hi,

I've a half acre lawn seeded 4 weeks ago to the day,
Grass is good and strong looking in a lot of places (so are the weeds), but still fairly patchy in others.

How long before you should give it a cut?

Growing probably isn't as good as it should with such dry weather.

Will mulching it on a high setting help with growth?

PhilOssophy

Let it grow to about 3-4 inches, then cut it. I wouldn't cut with mulcher on as you'll probably have a fair few weeds when it is that length.
Just my own experience, the real gardeners on here will probably know better!
(I think The Garden Shop had a good advice thing for a new lawn)

NIMAN

I also read 3 inches..
Mine in 5 weeks now...was slow to get going but not bad now, also riddled with broad leaf invaders.
OH has taken to try to remove them, told her she's wasting her time.
I think they will recede once the grass gets established and it cut regularly.

I have also seen a few other freshly seeded lawns locally, and they all seem to be exactly the same.



Edit: just found out mine is red shank. Must have been dormant in the soil before it was rotovated.
Hopefully a weed n feed in the future will sort?

garv123

NIMAN wrote: »

I also read 3 inches..
Mine in 5 weeks now...was slow to get going but not bad now, also riddled with broad leaf invaders.
OH has taken to try to remove them, told her she's wasting her time.
I think they will recede once the grass gets established and it cut regularly.

I have also seen a few other freshly seeded lawns locally, and they all seem to be exactly the same.

mine is riddled with these fellas,
https://imgur.com/a/jQ0Rhot

Apparently regular mowing will get rid of them tho.

I'd never manage to pick them on .5 acre of lawn

the driest spring in 170 years wasn't the best time for a new lawn,
There was flooding 10k down the road on monday, not a drop fell at home :rolleyes:

GinSoaked

Mow it anytime you like, just make sure as already mentioned that you are cutting at about 3 inches or so, don't cut anywhere near normal height at this stage.

Commercially I've cut new grass at 2-3 inches on many occasions not so much as to cut the grass but to cut the weeds down.

baaba maal

If you do get rain, try to avoid compacting the ground by mowing when it is still soft (particularly if using a ride on).

GinSoaked

baaba maal wrote: »

If you do get rain, try to avoid compacting the ground by mowing when it is still soft (particularly if using a ride on).

Conversely avoid cutting when its bone dry as you can suck up dust and make a right mess.

Frogeye

I got a new lawn down last August. 1.5 acres. It was riddled with Fat Hen last year which cutting seemed to eliminate , none so far this year. Big issue in spring this year was thistles, docks and buttercup. I sprayed it dicopher and it defo knocked the thistles back, the docks a bit and the butter cup not so much. I think I went a bit light on the spray so next year I'll go again. In fact I think I''ll be going every year.



My grass is very hard/stiff/ rough though, its not lush and soft . The dry weather isn't helping but the lawn looks yellow or light green, not proper lawn green. Cutting it high enough at the moment. I hope it softens out!

Frogeye

garv123

baaba maal wrote: »

If you do get rain, try to avoid compacting the ground by mowing when it is still soft (particularly if using a ride on).

GinSoaked wrote: »

Conversely avoid cutting when its bone dry as you can suck up dust and make a right mess.

Thanks

Will mulching just cause these fellas to spread more, don't see any seeds on them.
https://imgur.com/a/jQ0Rhot

TPF2012

NIMAN wrote: »

I also read 3 inches..
Mine in 5 weeks now...was slow to get going but not bad now, also riddled with broad leaf invaders.
OH has taken to try to remove them, told her she's wasting her time.
I think they will recede once the grass gets established and it cut regularly.

I have also seen a few other freshly seeded lawns locally, and they all seem to be exactly the same.



Edit: just found out mine is red shank. Must have been dormant in the soil before it was rotovated.
Hopefully a weed n feed in the future will sort?

Redshank comes strong this time of year and will smother the grass if it gets going. However it dies away in the autumn. There is a herbicide that will kill it and be grass safe but can't think of name.

PhilOssophy

Don't worry about weeds in a newly sown lawn, once it is growing well and you are cutting it regularly, you can see if the grass growth overtakes them. If they don't, then think about spraying them.

GinSoaked

garv123 wrote: »

Thanks

Will mulching just cause these fellas to spread more, don't see any seeds on them.
https://imgur.com/a/jQ0Rhot

Thats just the sort of thing we used to cut just to keep the weeds down, always mulched and nearly all those quick germinating weeds disappear after a few cuts.

Don't spray as you will probably damage the new grass even if you do use the correct chemicals. afaik the one we used to use on newly seeded grass has been withdrawn even then you leave it 2 months after germination, there is a replacement but still can't be used until at least 2 months after germination. Once a little more established on really bad sites we used to use a very weak 2,4-D based weed killer at about quarter strength (only 2,4-D nothing else) which just gives the weeds a spurt of growth so they come up a little taller so the mower tops them off. We weren't aiming to kill the weeds outright just to reduce them enough for the grass to see the light of day and some sites which turned out fine looked far far worse than yours. So I wouldn't recommend any chemicals at this stage.

I'd honestly leave that and wait at least another week or more before cutting and even then I'd be thinking more about topping the weeds than cutting much grass. Also one of those times when cutting in the early morning when the ground is still a little damp may be an advantage if its not rained.

49801

Get it sprayed for weeds now while they are small and easily killed. Nice clean lawn then. Mow after two weeks

GinSoaked

49801 wrote: »

Get it sprayed for weeds now while they are small and easily killed. Nice clean lawn then. Mow after two weeks

Its just as easy to kill the grass at that stage.

49801

GinSoaked wrote: »

Its just as easy to kill the grass at that stage.

With a selective herbicide suited to the job I shouldn't think so. I've sprayed plenty fields shortly after emergane to catch the weeds and no such problem

PhilOssophy

I wouldn't spray any new lawn with anything until there's decent grass growth, and the grass growth kills off a lot of the weeds.

49801

49801 wrote: »

Get it sprayed for weeds now while they are small and easily killed. Nice clean lawn then. Mow after two weeks

Don't do that.

GinSoaked

49801 wrote: »

With a selective herbicide suited to the job I shouldn't think so. I've sprayed plenty fields shortly after emergane to catch the weeds and no such problem

The problem is this isn't a field of rye grass and the application method isn't the same. A lawn grass mix will have grasses that are far more delicate than grasses used in agriculture and amateur weedkiller application is much more variable.

There is a herbicide suited to the job but even then the label recommendation is to leave it 2 months after germination and only to spray in ideal ground conditions.

GinSoaked

GinSoaked wrote: »

The problem is this isn't a field of rye grass and the application method isn't the same. A lawn grass mix will have grasses that are far more delicate than grasses used in agriculture and amateur weedkiller application is much more variable.

There is a herbicide suited to the job but even then the label recommendation is to leave it 2 months after germination and only to spray in ideal ground conditions.

Exactly.

49801

I stand corrected!

Leave spray in the can till mow ed twice. Dicophar is one available lawn spray.

https://www.thedailygardener.com/kill-weeds-in-newly-seeded-lawn

Just don’t forget to take this step before the weeds get too established

garv123

Got around to cutting the grass yesterday. It was higher than expected, so collected the grass on the highest setting. It was still a bit wet but no signs of any damage being done.
Will give it another cut next weekend one setting lower. For now, collecting it is handy because I need something to spread around the new hedging to keep the grass away from it.
Hour and 40 mins with a push more for half an acre wasnt bad going.

PhilOssophy

Good stuff.
Don't lower the blade for a few weeks! Once the roots are well established, then start shortening it. That was what I read somewhere at the time and it worked well for me.