Cutting Bermuda before winter

bwmaier – posted 08 November 2004 13:16

I’ve been cutting my hybrid bermuda at 2.5″ because the yard is too uneven and grows too fast for me to cut it every two or three days to maintain the 1.5″ optimum height. I live near Atlanta, GA. As the weather gets cooler (40s in the evenings – low 70s in the day), will it hurt the grass if I go down to 2″ and don’t scalp it until February or March? I know that energy is stored in the dormant grass. So, my main question is will cutting it to 2″ in the next week or two have any negative effects on the grass over the winter, assuming that I’ve been fertilizing it on a regular basis? Thanks.

turfie – posted 10 November 2004 14:55

Cutting back to 2″ should be fine. In fact, if you plan to overseed, this will let more light into the canopy so the seed will germinate better. Cut back on N at this time, but give it a good dose of P and K to build up reserves before it goes dormant.