# Lowering HOC



## Austin2020 (Jul 26, 2020)

So I'm in a newer home, 18 months with Bermuda. I quickly realized that my old rotary mower wasn't going to work well. I've been using a manual reel mower for the past year and have seen good enough results to order a 20" CT, which will hopefully be here next week.

I've been maintaining the lawn at a 2" HOC. Any lower, and I start to get brown.

Should I maintain my current HOC when I get my CT? Is it best to scalp in the spring? I'd like to get it to at least a 1" HOC but don't know if that's a good move right now with the heat in TX.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Best to remove all dormant material in the spring. Do you have irrigation (or willing to move hoses, supplementing perception)?

If 1 inch is your target ...you have time in tx to drop the hoc to ~ .75 or lower for a reset then, mow at 1". 
This is going to happen as the Bermuda 'ages' in the summer ...starts all green in the spring then summer, the lower portion of the blade turns brown. PGR helps but...it's just what it is


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## Austin2020 (Jul 26, 2020)

I do have irrigation. I just read through the "Bermuda Bible", which answered a lot of my questions. 
Just to clarify, you're suggesting that I keep my HOC as is until next Spring, where I can scalp down to set my new HOC then.


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## JayGo (Jun 13, 2019)

Being in the area myself and knowing the heat we get, I probably wouldn't go from 2" to 1" at this point.
First off, it's Bermuda. It'll survive anything.
But with the string of 100 degree days we always get in August and September, I'd be reluctant to any additional stress that will only slow the recovery (which just means the turf will be thin longer and the yellow from the scalping will take a bit longer to green up). That's just me.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

You can now, it'll need additional water. Is the lawn smooth enough ? Hope you got a roller with the CT


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## Brou (Jun 18, 2020)

Austin2020 said:


> So I'm in a newer home, 18 months with Bermuda. I quickly realized that my old rotary mower wasn't going to work well. I've been using a manual reel mower for the past year and have seen good enough results to order a 20" CT, which will hopefully be here next week.
> 
> I've been maintaining the lawn at a 2" HOC. Any lower, and I start to get brown.
> 
> Should I maintain my current HOC when I get my CT? Is it best to scalp in the spring? I'd like to get it to at least a 1" HOC but don't know if that's a good move right now with the heat in TX.


Did you get the high cut CT? If not you won't be able to maintain a 2" HOC.


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## SweatyJammies (Jul 31, 2020)

Hey man, your post inspired me to (finally) make an account and briefly share my plan. I've been maintaining at 2.25" with my Timemaster, but have always been unhappy with how tall it was and last couple weeks I've noticed it scalping a bunch and decided to do a reset. If it was going to scalp anyway, why not. Since I was doing it, I figured I'd just go all out to 1.25 (lowest on TM), then maintain at 1.75. Everything I read said basically you can't kill bermuda with a lawnmower.

Well, scalp it did. Monday night (four days ago) looked dormant and it's already starting to come back with irrigation every morning and afternoon showers a couple days as well. Temps have been in the mid90s. This pic was my wife's doing, had I known I'd be sharing this, I would've been more thorough to get a better angle or comparison pics, but anyway. You can see in the very tippy top left corner what it looked like at 1.75.

Just wanted to let you know that if you decide to really get after it, you're not alone.


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## Trent161 (Jul 25, 2020)

SweatyJammies said:


> Hey man, your post inspired me to (finally) make an account and briefly share my plan. I've been maintaining at 2.25" with my Timemaster, but have always been unhappy with how tall it was and last couple weeks I've noticed it scalping a bunch and decided to do a reset. If it was going to scalp anyway, why not. Since I was doing it, I figured I'd just go all out to 1.25 (lowest on TM), then maintain at 1.75. Everything I read said basically you can't kill bermuda with a lawnmower.
> 
> Well, scalp it did. Monday night (four days ago) looked dormant and it's already starting to come back with irrigation every morning and afternoon showers a couple days as well. Temps have been in the mid90s. This pic was my wife's doing, had I known I'd be sharing this, I would've been more thorough to get a better angle or comparison pics, but anyway. You can see in the very tippy top left corner what it looked like at 1.75.
> 
> Just wanted to let you know that if you decide to really get after it, you're not alone.


I will be joining in the fun with you gentelmen this weekend when I do a HOC reset on my bernuda grass here. Best of luck to us all!


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## lucas287 (Jun 3, 2018)

In my experience most people get far too concerned about hot weather and bermuda. It LOVES the heat. (irrigation provided of course) DO IT. Scalp it, take a week off, and enjoy!


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## Austin2020 (Jul 26, 2020)

jayhawk said:


> You can now, it'll need additional water. Is the lawn smooth enough ? Hope you got a roller with the CT


I got the grooved front roller from reel rollers. Already got it, looks like a nice piece of gear


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## Austin2020 (Jul 26, 2020)

SweatyJammies said:


> Hey man, your post inspired me to (finally) make an account and briefly share my plan. I've been maintaining at 2.25" with my Timemaster, but have always been unhappy with how tall it was and last couple weeks I've noticed it scalping a bunch and decided to do a reset. If it was going to scalp anyway, why not. Since I was doing it, I figured I'd just go all out to 1.25 (lowest on TM), then maintain at 1.75. Everything I read said basically you can't kill bermuda with a lawnmower.
> 
> Well, scalp it did. Monday night (four days ago) looked dormant and it's already starting to come back with irrigation every morning and afternoon showers a couple days as well. Temps have been in the mid90s. This pic was my wife's doing, had I known I'd be sharing this, I would've been more thorough to get a better angle or comparison pics, but anyway. You can see in the very tippy top left corner what it looked like at 1.75.
> 
> Just wanted to let you know that if you decide to really get after it, you're not alone.


Looks like that was a good move! I was talking to some of the guys I golf with who have spent time on their lawns out here, and I think I'm going to try and lower the cut one notch at a time and mow every other day until I can't get any lower and see how that works. I'm hoping I can wait until next spring to scalp after talking to them. I may not get to a 1 inch cut, but if I can get a little lower I'll be fine with that for this season


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## Lp_chazychaz (Jun 15, 2020)

Austin2020 said:


> SweatyJammies said:
> 
> 
> > Hey man, your post inspired me to (finally) make an account and briefly share my plan. I've been maintaining at 2.25" with my Timemaster, but have always been unhappy with how tall it was and last couple weeks I've noticed it scalping a bunch and decided to do a reset. If it was going to scalp anyway, why not. Since I was doing it, I figured I'd just go all out to 1.25 (lowest on TM), then maintain at 1.75. Everything I read said basically you can't kill bermuda with a lawnmower.
> ...


You think that's the way to go? I feel like you will constantly be stressing that Bermuda out and it's gonna take forever for it to bounce back if you keep scalping it. I think it would be better if you did it all at once. Just a thought


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## SweatyJammies (Jul 31, 2020)

@Austin2020 I agree with chaz, I'm glad I just went for it. Mine already looks like it will make a full recovery by Labor Day. Even Thurs/Friday I felt like I made a mistake and should've taken it down one setting rather than two. I would recommend just take it all the way, it will recover very, very quickly. Don't drag it out longer than you need.

Editing to add a couple pics. First is Friday (four days after scalp), second is Monday (minutes ago)


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## Lp_chazychaz (Jun 15, 2020)

@SweatyJammies wow that is fast! You're making me want to do a nice scalp.


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## Wretched (Jul 20, 2020)

July 17


July 28


~2.5" to ~1.25". I'd say do it, more than enough time to recover.


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## SweatyJammies (Jul 31, 2020)

@Lp_chazychaz No regrets, yet! I even have a ~150sqft area with pretty bad nitrogen burn (user error on my spreader that I thought I was watering enough) that I didn't connect the dots about until LCN's video about dog spots yesterday. It's coming back too and looks even - relatively speaking. I'm more and more impressed with this stuff by the day.


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## SweatyJammies (Jul 31, 2020)

@Wretched Beautiful space! Thanks for sharing that. It's amazing how quickly it happens.


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## Wretched (Jul 20, 2020)

SweatyJammies said:


> @Wretched Beautiful space! Thanks for sharing that. It's amazing how quickly it happens.


Thank you. I really went to town on it with the de-thatch and aerating as well. I beat it up pretty bad. Rebounded much faster than I expected.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Scalp away. The heat and sun will have you back in no time.

Toss down some fertilizer and lots and lots of water and you'll be back in no time.

I scalped down from .7 or so, to just around .2 just yesterday.


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## Austin2020 (Jul 26, 2020)

I think I'll go for it, I'll put up the before and after pics too. I just need my mower to get shipped already. Supposed to be this week.

This is what I've been able to accomplish with a Fiskars hand push. I wasn't getting much growth until about 2 months ago, now I'm able to mow grass blades through 3/4 of the lawn and the bare spots are slowly filling in.


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## Austin2020 (Jul 26, 2020)

Went all the way down to 1/2" yesterday, put down some fertilizer and got soaked walking through my sprinklers last night making sure they were all adjusted properly!


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## Lp_chazychaz (Jun 15, 2020)

Austin2020 said:


> Went all the way down to 1/2" yesterday, put down some fertilizer and got soaked walking through my sprinklers last night making sure they were all adjusted properly!


Looks nice and even! I scalped mine down to .75 inches about a week ago. It is 60-70% green already! I will raise it one notch and mow at 1 inch for the rest of the season


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## Austin2020 (Jul 26, 2020)

Lp_chazychaz said:


> Austin2020 said:
> 
> 
> > Went all the way down to 1/2" yesterday, put down some fertilizer and got soaked walking through my sprinklers last night making sure they were all adjusted properly!
> ...


Nice! Did you do anything other than scalp and water? I was thinking about a verticut or leveling a little bit. But I think I may just leave it for the rest of this season. Just a bit of spot leveling. I feel a lot better once I start seeing some green poking out


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## Jerry_G (Aug 8, 2020)

I've read alot of posts mentioning a scalp, then raising the deck to maintain. I get the crown regrowth but if you drop your HOC and keep mowing, will new sprouts not come up and fill in the lawn?

I scalped my tiftuf 8 or 9 days ago and have continued to hit it at that same height every other day. It seems to be greening up by way of new growth, not necessarily crown.

Am I going about this all wrong?


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@Jerry_G you're not wrong in your assumption, but the brown stemmy parts that are there now are not going to go away until you cut them off, so for the best appearance, you will need to scalp it down 1/4" - 3/8" lower than where you want to maintain it.


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