# Anyone keep tall fescue shorter?



## Rescuefescue (Apr 29, 2020)

Ideas bouncing around in my head about renovating the back yard in the future with tall fescue but maintained a bit shorter. Not reel mow low but maybe 1.5 inches and 2 inches during heat of summer. Anyone do this and have tips and tricks and I would love to see pictures


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## confused_boner (Apr 5, 2021)

Is it possible? Yes. Is it easy? Arguable (IMO, no).

Fescue likes to be long, but you can 'train' it to be short by slowly lowering the cut to allow the crown time to adjust to a lower height. Then you just have to keep it alive with water and maintain that height. You could use PGRs (to slow growth) and humectants (to extend soil hydration) in this effort as well.


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## dport (Oct 13, 2019)

Sleet said:


> Ideas bouncing around in my head about renovating the back yard in the future with tall fescue but maintained a bit shorter. Not reel mow low but maybe 1.5 inches and 2 inches during heat of summer. Anyone do this and have tips and tricks and I would love to see pictures


I have all Mountain View TTTF varieties in my lawn. The seed bag states they can be maintained down to 2 inches. Personally, I've found that to be too short. It also causes scalping in certain areas of my yard. 2.5 inches is perfect for me in March/April and early May. I then move it up to 3.5 inches for the summer. Back down to 2.5 inches in the fall.


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## The Lawnfather (May 2, 2020)

Twice a year I'll cut at 2" to try and remove dead grass, other than that i keep at 4"


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

I only cut shorter than 3.25" if it's the start/ end of the year or if I'm overseeding. 3.625" is like my sweet spot. My last cut was 2.50", the first one this spring will be probably 2.50" just to remove any dead grass or debris, the moving it up.


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## mjc440 (Dec 27, 2020)

I have a kbg/tttf mix that I keep at 2.5" with no heat stress issues. I tried 2" and it was fine but just didn't look quite as good.


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## moedank (Sep 10, 2019)

2.5-3 inches in the spring and fall. 3.5-4 inches in the summer.

The only thing I don't like about cutting at 4 inches is that sections of grass can begin to droop if mowing has to be delayed due to recent rain(s).

@mjc440, do you routinely irrigate or mostly au naturel rainwater?


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## nikmasteed (Apr 30, 2020)

I keep mine at 2.5" also. 3" in summer. I've tried 2" a few times but everytime never got further than halfway through the first perimeter pass before changing to 2.5", even though I was within 1/3 I could just FEEL the grass not liking it haha


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## doverosx (Aug 7, 2019)

I really don't like the flop of grass at 4". It's like a really bad comb over. 3-3.5 is my sweet spot that mixes well with the other varieties in my lawn.


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## stevehollx (Apr 8, 2020)

Caveat, Im in NC, but experimenting going shorter. Our summer is the true test.

I have elite TTTF cultivars that can be cut to 1.7", on paper.

I did 2.1" all fall after overseeding. I'm at 2.6" now in the spring. Some stuff in the shade hasn't woken up enough to cut. Need to cut at least twice a week. May need to be 3x/wk starting next week when the whole lawn is finally awake.

Right now the longer lawns in the neighborhood look better. Not sure why. Long grass over the winter may wake up quicker? My lawn is pretty shaded though. I get way more comments on my lawn since I went lower, though, even this spring.

I am going to experiment staying at 3" this summer if I can. Plan is to do 2.6" until late May when heat picks up and then move to 3". Usually been at 3.7" during the spring flush and then 4" during the summer.


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## stevehollx (Apr 8, 2020)

nikmasteed said:


> I keep mine at 2.5" also. 3" in summer. I've tried 2" a few times but everytime never got further than halfway through the first perimeter pass before changing to 2.5", even though I was within 1/3 I could just FEEL the grass not liking it haha


Yup I do 1.9" during overseeding and it is so much a scalp. The crown is like 1.7" on a good cultivar, so 1.9" just isn't enough canopy, I think. 2.1"can work if you keep up with it after the scalp, but 2.5" is the lowest for regular comfort for me.


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## gatorguy (Mar 13, 2020)

Yep, I kept my backyard which was a Rhizing Moon TTTF cultivar at 2" through the whole season. It was thick, dense and I liked the toughness of it to stay standing up despite traffic on the lawn.

Your success may vary based on cultivar tho, for me, ever since seed I kept it at 2" so it got used to that.





You may notice I wrote that mostly in the past tense...unfortunately the dog pictured, which respected the turf passed and a new puppy came along which has done a number on it turning it into a mud track.


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## mjc440 (Dec 27, 2020)

Mine definitely doesn't look that good at 2". Good to know it's possible though!

To answer the earlier question, yes I have irrigation but last summer I only gave it water about once every 10 days (either from rain or irrigation) in order to reduce chance of disease. I needed to water a couple spots near trees more frequently than that, but the rest of the lawn was perfectly fine through the summer.


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## Rescuefescue (Apr 29, 2020)

Thanks everyone! I think I might just scratch this going a bit lower idea and stick to the 3-4 inch


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## LegionLawn (Oct 31, 2020)

I keep mine between 2.5-3" in spring and fall. That seems to be the sweet spot for my yard. Definitely no lower than 2.5" or I'll scalp it. I agree with above comments on 4" being too long. My TTTF will droop and be hard to mow if I leave it that long due to traffic in the yard. I have a lot of kid traffic so the lower cut helps it to stand up and I get a better mow.


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## 2L8 (Mar 18, 2019)

Last year it was not as dry here as the two years before. That's why I reduced the cutting height from 2 to 1.5". I liked that better visually. One reason was also the frequent infestation of rust and mildew. However, that has not improved. But the lawn also gets little sun in large parts.

A pic from June 26, 2021:
https://i.postimg.cc/2VkCFqxf/TTTF-***-at-1-5inch.jpg


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## 7824 (Oct 23, 2019)

Every lawn is different. One grass type might work best at 3.5 inches and the same grass type might work best at 2.5 inches across the street. My fescue works best at 2.5 or 2.75 inches.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

confused_boner said:


> Is it possible? Yes. Is it easy? Arguable (IMO, no).


^^^This.^^^ It all depends on how much time and effort you want to spend on your lawn.

A 2 inch cut for TTTL will certainly work before May or after September. Inside of that, it will struggle.

I start and end the growing season at 2 inches. During the growing season, I slowly bump up the cutting height until I get to 4 inches during the heat of summer. As temps cool down, I slowly lower the cutting height.

Aesthetically, I like a HOC of around 2.5 to 3 inches best.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I keep my front no mix lawn at 3/4in. The TTTF does just fine.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

I think the trick to keeping Tall Fescue short is good agronomy, a level surface, and consistent/timely mowing with sharp blades.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

g-man said:


> I keep my front no mix lawn at 3/4in. The TTTF does just fine.


Do you irrigate?

Not to mention that when you cut at 3/4 in., the one third rule is very difficult to adhere to. How often do you mow?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Of course I irrigate. I mow twice a week.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

g-man said:


> Of course I irrigate. I mow twice a week.


So high maintenance. As one poster said, it's possible, but not necessarily easy.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I don't think twice a week is high maintenance. I think most will benefit from it. Mowing every other day is high maintenance for me and I know a few here do that.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

g-man said:


> I don't think twice a week is high maintenance. I think most will benefit from it. Mowing every other day is high maintenance for me and I know a few here do that.


Twice a week is a lot! I have never mowed more often than once a week and that's in spring and fall. In the heat of summer, I can get away with every two to three weeks. Granted last summer was unusually wet and I never stopped mowing every week! Easy enough to maintain the one third guideline with a 3 inch cut once a week.

But to each their own.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I want a lawn. If I wanted a pasture, then every 3 weeks sounds about right.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

g-man said:


> I want a lawn. If I wanted a pasture, then every 3 weeks sounds about right.


LOL! I think it would take a lot longer to make a pasture.

During hot dry weather, if you don't irrigate - as many don't or can't - grass doesn't grow much in 3 weeks. It's still a lawn, not a pasture.


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## jha4aamu (Oct 16, 2017)

I can't imagine what my yard would look like if not mowed for 3 weeks, even in the heat of summer. Even with pgr, id mow have to mow more than once every 3wks to adhere to the 1/3 rule. If you aren't breaking the 1/3 rule mowing every 3 weeks, you likely don't have very healthy turf


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## gatorguy (Mar 13, 2020)

Deadlawn said:


> g-man said:
> 
> 
> > I don't think twice a week is high maintenance. I think most will benefit from it. Mowing every other day is high maintenance for me and I know a few here do that.
> ...


You have to remember, for many of us the more often you can get the mower out, the better cause mowing is enjoyable for most...so "getting away" with cutting as little as you have to most people on here probably cant relate to :|


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

gatorguy said:


> You have to remember, for many of us the more often you can get the mower out, the better cause mowing is enjoyable for most...so "getting away" with cutting as little as you have to most people on here probably cant relate to :|


Ha! Understood. Most the people around here let their lawns go dormant during the hot dry weather. They miraculously come back green and strong by September. Quite amusingly, one of my neighbors gets out his riding mower and mows his brown dormant grass a couple times a week because he's bored.

You have to remember I'm a Tier 1 guy. I have other hobbies.


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