# What's up with all the scalping?



## Redland1 (Feb 26, 2018)

Hey y'all.I have been having a scalping issue lately and it's really irritating.My HOC has stayed the same but now I'm getting a scalped lawn.I was thinking that it might be a dull blade so I went ahead and sharpened it today before I cut the lawn and still a scalped lawn.Even my Latitude 36 that I maintain at 2 1/2" is scalping.Need help figuring this out?


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## erdons (Apr 3, 2018)

How often are you mowing? If you're not using any kind of PGR, Bermuda grows so fast that you gotta cut it like every 3 days or you'll remove too mouth blade and it will look scalped.


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## Ahab1997 (Jun 30, 2018)

This video from @thegrassfactor may help you out, and likely explains what you're seeing. It has helped my Bermuda lawn.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

It's the nature of using a rotary mower on bermuda. You'll either need to raise the HOC or do a midseason scalp to reset things.


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

Did you do an initial scalp before starting your 2 1/2 inch maintenance HOC? I'd scalp it at the lowest HOC your mower will do, then raise it back up. This way you remove all the yellow/brown stemmy pieces, and green leaf tissue will grow on top of that. If you don't, you'll always have a mix of leaf tissue and yellow/brown stems.

Coinciding with that, if you don't keep up with your mowing, the stems will grow up to your maintenance HOC, and the next time you cut your grass will be a mix of leaf tissue and stems.

Also - it could be that your soil is bumpy, and the wheels of your mower are dipping in and causing the blades to scalp in certain areas. In some areas of your pictures it looks like the scalp marks are in similar positions, and I'd guess your wheels might be dipping into where the sod gaps were when you laid it.


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## Redland1 (Feb 26, 2018)

I scalped the Tif 419 at 1.25" in the spring and now cut it at 1 3/4".And I scalped the lat.36 as soon as it rooted at 1.25" as well and it's been maintained at 2 1/2".

The ground is definitely bumpy and uneven everywhere except for the small strips in front of the sidewalk and it never scalps there.I was cutting the lawn every three days but I have recently extended it to 4-5 days,but went back to three days the last two cuts.The only time it stays nice and green is when I don't cut it for 5 days.

It does have a 2lb of N on it so it could just be growing super fast and the ground might not be helping it.I think I will take the lat.36 up to 3" and the 419 to 2 1/2" and see if that helps.

That's the backyard two cuts ago.


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## nt5000 (Jun 13, 2018)

Ware said:


> It's the nature of using a rotary mower on bermuda. You'll either need to raise the HOC or do a midseason scalp to reset things.


@Ware Is it mainly because only the tops are getting trimmed off and the crown is gradually getting higher?

I could be *completely* wrong here :wacko: .... but making a guess. It was explained to me recently that if you trim the lower limbs from a bush/tree, it will want to fill in the bottom before growing taller. So If you have a groomer or do an occasional verticut on bermuda... does it encourage "filling in" lower on the plant and stop/slow the plant itself from getting taller?

Well, in the amount of time it took me to draw this(extremely oversimplified) diagram in paint you guys have already answered... but here goes. :lol:


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## Ral1121 (Mar 19, 2018)

Did the scalping show up when you extended your mowiings from every 3 days to 4-5 days? If so, the extra time between mowings allowed the stems to grow up at start showing at your maintenance HOC. If you go back to mowing every 3 days it will not fix the problem of stems showing at that HOC. Once stems show at a specific height, you either have to raise your height of cut or do another scalp at a lower height then what you want to maintain at.


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## viva_oldtrafford (Apr 4, 2018)

Verticut it. Verticut it and topdress it. Topdress it. These are 3 options that will help dilute the thatch layer (your problem).


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## Redland1 (Feb 26, 2018)

I scalped down the right side of my front yard under the trees to just below HOC.Any idea how long until it greens back up.Temps are in the 100s here.


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