Can You Cut Your Grass TOO Short?

Lots of people think that it's OK to cut grass super short but the people that do cut very low cut grass tend to mow every single day, training the leave blades to grow very low to the ground. If you don't cut daily then cutting the grass very low can be a bad thing for the lawn unless you only scalp the grass super low every now and then.
In this video I scalped a section of my lawn down to half of an inch, the lowest setting my reel mower would allow just to show what it looks like. As future videos on this channel come out it will be clear how quickly grass can recover when cut too low so long as it isn't done over and over and over.
See this video for more on the benefits and drawbacks of cutting your grass tall versus short: • Short Grass vs Tall Gr...
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[@TurfMechanic]

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[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

Your lawn looks great!!!

[@velcroman11]

I cut my zoysia zeon at 3/4. It looks SO GOOD, it’s SO GREEN! The lawn is thick, I get very little weeds.

[@KevinPGA]

Your grass looks so thick and healthy. My lawn still has far too many flaws to cut short. It’s amazing how many zits can be hidden keeping it long. 😂😂😂

[@moltoforte4450]

Keeping the grass 1/2 inch short and mowing it everyday or every otherday does wonders to your lawn..keeping it long actually does no good..Also mowing is so much fun when your cutting only a like 1/10 th of an inch..after a while your grass gets used to be being super short and actually uses most of its energy to spread laterally rather than vertically ,the colour improves significantly ,also reduces chances of fungus and other disease..I actually use a reel mower and do multiple passes from different angles..The more i mow the healtheir and prettier my lawn gets..

[@Kenneth_R]

Looks great. That new patch is thick! Its really dense.

[@TofuInc]

That annual rye looks amazing for being cut that short. You did an awesome job leveling out that spot.

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks a bunch for the compliments! Walking the spot over the past couple days does make me want to sand level a bit, no joke :D I am also seeing some of the residual bermuda that I was expecting to see that has come up since end of March. Soon I'll be making a video where I'll be dropping seed and then nuking the area on the same day! Should open a few eyes out there on how a lawn reno can be done. I don't want that bermuda altering the uniformity over the long run.

[@TofuInc]

​@@TurfMechanic I have a 30 x 4 ft section of bare dirt I killed off last summer beside the house. I ran out of time to seed it and its still bare dirt. I've hit it with 4 times now with glyphosate and there is still common Bermuda popping up. It seems like it's impossible to kill. I think I may try to mix fluazifop and glyphosate and give it one more go latter this summer. Maybe the 2 different modes of action will take it out.

[@sk8nsn031]

I cut mine at the lowest setting and have no issue. 1/4 inch cut for 7 years now. I like the putting green look better then the thick look. You do have to level your lawn of courses to get it it that short. I would recommend do it in stages. Work your way down. Don’t just put it at a low setting from your normal usual cut every week.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

Your kids are adorable.

[@kowal1545]

If I mow the grass to this height, should I keep the cutting height at the same level all the time?

[@Nvent1]

I just accidently cut my 45 day old lawn too low, thanks for making me feel better

[@moltoforte4450]

Its not too low ,u just cut too much at once..U could cut ur lawn to 10mm which is like 0.3 inches and it looks super good..The key though is u must mow ur lawn 4 times a week..After a while ur grass gets used to being that short and looks unbelievable ,much better than having fluffy 3 inch grass..

[@Nvent1]

@@moltoforte4450 good to know, even tall fescue can be cut that low? Didn't know that

[@moltoforte4450]

@@Nvent1ok with tall fescue 1/2 inch would be too low ,but u can do 1- 1.5 inches ..

[@Nvent1]

@@moltoforte4450 thank you good to know

[@hatpeach1]

I didn't see this one coming. I really thought you were going to rail against us "too short" people. I've been cutting my bluegrass/ryegrass lawn two-or-three times a week at 5/8" for years now. There are lots of issues, but grass health isn't one of them. The coverage is wonderful. No weeds, very thick, though there is a loss of color.

[@TurfMechanic]

I would never rail the super short crew :D It's not for everyone and I always want to ensure my more casual viewers understand the risks of cutting too low if they aren't prepared for the extra maintenance that has to come with the short height of cut. Ultimately this zone will be regularly cut very low after it s fully transitioned to whittet Kikuyu, probably never lower than half an inch though. The rest of the lawn will continue to be maintained like regular lawn owners with a rotary mower between 1-4 inches depending on the area and grass type. I'm planning on maintaining a buffet of grass types at various heights all over this place. :)

[@lisnettelee2219]

You dont compost clippings if you use a catcher?

[@TurfMechanic]

I haven't set up our garden or compost zone yet since moving into this home. Also, I'm dealing with a lot of weed seeds and residual chems in the soil so I'm not jazzed about composting my clippings just yet. For now I'm usually mulching clippings back into the turf but what I didn't say in this video is that I'm preparing to transition the area from annual rye to Whittet Kikuyu and want only minimal grass debris on the soil prior to the transition; that's why I'm bagging the clippings in this video and adding to the brown bin.

[@Vegasbonus702]

I took mine that low and got a letter from the HOA cause of the brown spots. They are so damn petty

[@queenicedcoffee4217]

Wtf do they expect you to plant grass seeds 😂

[@JoeKoors]

Half inch rye here in honor of my boy ryan knorr

[@TurfMechanic]

lol, I should maintain this rye here as is for the next few weeks and just call it my Knorr patch! :P

[@loupepe5413]

By accident I had my mower blade a setting too low im in pa now temps like 55 to 75. It doesnot look too bad just tiny bit low which affected it's color. Should It be fine to fly back up and green soon since growing season?

[@loupepe5413]

​@@TurfMechanic sorry meant to tag you in my comment

[@douglascain6404]

It looks to me that your grass at two inches is far greener than your one half inch grass. I would leave it at two inches.

[@petschanel3072]

the lawn is perfect it looks like tinsel

[@rong648]

Lawns cut short look better.

[@keithkingsley6503]

Show the 3 days after. I don't believe you

[@TurfMechanic]

maybe I should have waited three days to show that in this video but I do post a ton of videos during the growing season so it's easy to see how things progress in my lawn. This video was filmed and published 6 days later. I continued reel mowing the lawn at half an inch every couple days to start training the lawn to leaf out closer to the ground: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6GXnXV7mL2pd6csi=RG4e3VphmAD2QBc5 I mostly maintained this lawn area at the .5 to .75 inch mark all the way into early July (two months later) before I started seeding Kentucky Bluegrass into the area for a more permanent stand.

[@keithkingsley6503]

@@TurfMechanic yes, you should've. Lol

[@TurfMechanic]

@@keithkingsley6503 I'm always trying to improve and showing some form of after shot in videos is one of those things I'm trying to include in as many videos as possible. Thanks for the comments even though you are skeptical ☺️