# Lowered HOC too soon on 5 week Palisades sod (Central TX)



## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

I've been cutting at 2.36" for the last few weeks, and thought I could go down to 1.77" (next notch down on my EGO). That ended up being a huge jump, and I got a lot more close shaves than I was hoping.

The main reason I wanted to go down was to get in the window of under 2" because most folks say that's the high end of the ideal range for Palisades. I would like to keep it at whatever height is healthiest for the lawn.

The sod is 5 weeks old, and the growing season is coming to a close. Weather in Austin is still in the high 80's with sun for the foreseeable future. Any advice on:

1. How to recover from this?
2. Is this an opportunity to force the lower HOC by keep mowing here and let the grass adjust? Or should I stay one notch higher? Some say to keep a higher HOC for the first season or year after sod install.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Raise it back up. Not doing yourself any favors by scalping this late in the season, especially with new sod.


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## Theycallmemrr (May 16, 2019)

Wait until next season. When you scalp at the beginning of the season go as low as you can go and then maintain at the desired HOC.


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## TampaBayFL (Jul 24, 2020)

if you think you will have enough heat left this year, you could give it a hit of nitrogen and a decent amount of water to force as quick a recovery as possible. That's what I did with mine after I gave it a very hard cut back a little while ago. Mine was Empire Zoysia.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

Theycallmemrr said:


> Wait until next season. When you scalp at the beginning of the season go as low as you can go and then_(raise the mowing height to)_ maintain at the desired HOC.


This is the answer.


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## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

Ok. I'll keep it at the next high notch until Spring. Thank you all.

Is it too late for fertilizer? It will be at 6 weeks since sod install which is when the farm recommends fertilizing for the first time. I'd be using Lesco starter 18-24-12.

Is there more risk fertilizing now, or more risk leaving it unfed until Spring?


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

Nimblecow said:


> Ok. I'll keep it at the next high notch until Spring. Thank you all.
> 
> Is it too late for fertilizer? It will be at 6 weeks since sod install which is when the farm recommends fertilizing for the first time. I'd be using Lesco starter 18-24-12.
> 
> Is there more risk fertilizing now, or more risk leaving it unfed until Spring?


I wouldn't fertilize any till spring. The dirt the sod came in likely has enough nutrients to see it through till spring. Our temperatures are getting lower and growth is starting to slow down.
My lawn was sodded around this time of the year and the sod was fine through the winter without any significant issues.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2021)

give it some Potash/Potassium 0-0-7 to help with energy reserves going into winter


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## ag_fishing (Feb 3, 2021)

Looks like we have another 10 days of highs in the mid to upper 80s so there might be enough heat for it to recover.


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## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

Nixnix42 said:


> give it some Potash/Potassium 0-0-7 to help with energy reserves going into winter


I have a small amount of Microlife 0-0-4 that I can give it with some extra water.


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## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

ag_fishing said:


> Looks like we have another 10 days of highs in the mid to upper 80s so there might be enough heat for it to recover.


I'm hoping so. I'll share a few pics of how it went after the next 10 days.


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## rockwalltxguy (Oct 1, 2021)

I'm In North Texas and did something similar. My grass has recovered even with temps the last 4-5 days at night in the 40s. As other have said don't bother fertilizing that's not as bad as you think. Mine was way worse, all brown.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

@rockwalltxguy I think you have a little more flexibility with Tifway 419's ability to recover than with Palisades. Pretty much all the zoysias are much slower to recover so scalping this late is not recommended. I also just scalped my 419 and it is recovering well but I would never consider doing this to my Empire Zoysia and certainly not any 5-week-old sod.

@Nimblecow I don't think that was too hard of a scalp so I think if you just bump it back up to the 2.36" notch, it will recover just fine before going dormant. Once it is dormant you can knock it down to the 1.77" notch without much issue. In the spring I would take it as low as you possibly can go and then start maintaining at 1.77" HOC or lower if your mower has that option.


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## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

Redtwin said:


> @Nimblecow I don't think that was too hard of a scalp so I think if you just bump it back up to the 2.36" notch, it will recover just fine before going dormant. Once it is dormant you can knock it down to the 1.77" notch without much issue. In the spring I would take it as low as you possibly can go and then start maintaining at 1.77" HOC or lower if your mower has that option.


Thanks. It does look sharp to me at 1.77". I could go to the bottom notch in Spring, 1.18", and then maintain higher. How critical will leveling be at those HOCs?

Oh, and yeah I was absolutely not going for a scalp here. My first time trying below 2.36" and I didn't expect 0.6" to be such a dramatic change. This pic of my dog was taken the day before when it was last at 2.36". To my noob eye, the grass was basically immaculate.


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## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

Ok 11 days later the scalped spots are bouncing back. Not completely full in some patches, but it's getting happy again. Pics attached before and after a quick mow at 2.36" (not much came off).

Before cut:


After:


Very excited to get it under 2" next Spring. Looks much better shorter.


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## AlaTex (Mar 27, 2019)

Looks like the scalping was due to the lawn not being level (as opposed to cutting off too much green). Wait until next season and do a top dressing. You shouldn't have any issues cutting it at your desired HOC after that.


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## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

AlaTex said:


> Looks like the scalping was due to the lawn not being level (as opposed to cutting off too much green). Wait until next season and do a top dressing. You shouldn't have any issues cutting it at your desired HOC after that.


Thank you. 1/4" of compost? Screened sandy loam?


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

Nimblecow said:


> AlaTex said:
> 
> 
> > Looks like the scalping was due to the lawn not being level (as opposed to cutting off too much green). Wait until next season and do a top dressing. You shouldn't have any issues cutting it at your desired HOC after that.
> ...


100% Sand


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## Nimblecow (Jul 11, 2021)

Kicker said:


> Nimblecow said:
> 
> 
> > AlaTex said:
> ...


Ok. Is it best to do a little per year? I see 1/4" mentioned often.

I just watched a Doc video where he was spot leveling his front yard which he raised 1.25" in one go.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

With Zoysia, yes I'd do small leveling jobs. Zoysia will recover slower than other warm season grasses. I've seen zoysia basically buried and it took a month or two (in prime growing season) to fully recover.

You'll want to level when the grass is vigourously growing in order to reduce the recovery time. You can do several small level jobs in the same growing season..

There is a leveling thread here (https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=148) that has all the information you could ever want. The thread says it's for bermuda but the same concepts apply for all warm season grasses. Just keep in mind that Zoysia will recover slower than bermuda.


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