Id let it grow to 3 or 3.5, water it, and keep it at that height until the temps come down

 

It would help to see a further out pic but I wouldn't worry about what I'm seeing in those pics.

Typically during the heat of the summer months you want to go a little higher to help prevent the sun from torching your lawn but you don't want to go too high due to falling over as you mentioned. The lawn will / should bounce back once the cooler temps return.

I wouldn't recommend scalping a cool season lawn just to get rid of existing growth and I def wouldn't do it in the summer.

 

Id also recommend making sure your mower blades are sharp. There looks like some frayed blades in there and cutting seedheads/stalks will dull the blade quicker

 

Why was dethatching a disaster?

 

Why was dethatching a disaster?

It really tore up the lawn. Lots of live grass was destroyed, it stressed what was left. And it took me two days of work or rake up and dispose of the debris as well as costing money to dump three 4x8 trailer loads of debris. My backyard is mostly rye grass and there are still areas where it hasn't recovered over a year later.

 

Id also recommend making sure your mower blades are sharp. There looks like some frayed blades in there and cutting seedheads/stalks will dull the blade quicker

Thanks, the blades are freshly sharp. Might be a combo of rye grass that doesn't mow well and the fact that the grass blades bend in the same direction from me mowing same direction repeatedly. Blade cutting at a slight angle instead of perpendicular 90 degrees like it should be? I recently mowed opposite against the grain to try and fix that.

You've all convinced me not to go lower and buzz it all off. Thanks for that.

 

It would help to see a further out pic but I wouldn't worry about what I'm seeing in those pics.

Typically during the heat of the summer months you want to go a little higher to help prevent the sun from torching your lawn but you don't want to go too high due to falling over as you mentioned. The lawn will / should bounce back once the cooler temps return.

I wouldn't recommend scalping a cool season lawn just to get rid of existing growth and I def wouldn't do it in the summer.

A further out oic that looks especially bad


And one that looks better just because the angle of the sun though.

 

You're laying down some solid stripes. My grass has suffered the same this year. Just didn't have that green vigour. I called it anemic and don't know what's wrong. I actually ended up dethatching a couple days ago and upped my watering. Hoping that will help?

 

1) I think you are being your own worst enemy with the hoc changes. When you go up in HOC with the grass type I see in your images, you are getting 2-3 inches of brown stuff and then the green part of the leaf. The sun is not going to get to the bottom part so it will stay brown. There is nothing you could do to turn it back to green.

2) When you then go from 4.25 to 2.75 inches, you are taking away the green part and exposing all the brown stuff. The brown wont just go away without some time for it to break down. But the worst part is that to get green stuff, it needs to grow back from the bottom/crown.

3) to make things worst, you chose to let the lawn go dormant without irrigation. That makes it create even more brown stuff and take longer to recover.

All this stress also takes away a lot of the carbs stored in the roots.

What to do now?

I have a couple of ideas without a lot of scientific research behind them. One is based on the experience @jrubb42 had when he switched to reel mowing.

- First pick a hoc and stick to it. Lets say 2.5in.
But it will not look great until all the brown stuff breaks down. OR go ahead and mow/bag to 1.5in. Then adjust back to 2.5in and dont touch it. It is going to look ugly for a while, but with the brown stuff removed, it should look much better after a few weeks of nitrogen + water.

If you let it grow back taller, you will end up with the same problem again. I dont think the type of grass you have is good for 4.5in hoc without it going brown.

Lastly, I really think you should consider taking the reno step next year if you want to get to a better lawn. Either a 100% TTTF that you can keep at 4in or a TTTF/KBG. I would avoid the fine fescuse/CRF if you want a nice looking lawn in the summer. Look at @davegravy lawn prior to his renovation. His mowing/feralization did not change that much, but the change in seed made a huge difference.

 

Further to @g-man's point, seed with quality genetics makes a big difference. This pic shows my reno (up close) versus the old nomix with fine fescue (in the distance). They've been maintained pretty much identically.

 

Great posts thank you. Gman you make sense 100%. Dave - interesting photos and not surprising though!

I posted some new pics in my lawn forum and will copy it here.

Right- mowed at the 2.75"
Left - let it grow a little longer to 3.25".

Going to try and keep it there to at least hide the brown crap a bit and hopefully it will break down eventually. In the mean time, I can live with it.

 

It would help to see a further out pic but I wouldn't worry about what I'm seeing in those pics.

Typically during the heat of the summer months you want to go a little higher to help prevent the sun from torching your lawn but you don't want to go too high due to falling over as you mentioned. The lawn will / should bounce back once the cooler temps return.

I wouldn't recommend scalping a cool season lawn just to get rid of existing growth and I def wouldn't do it in the summer.

A further out oic that looks especially bad


And one that looks better just because the angle of the sun though.

That just looks like typical summer stress to me and should bounce back once the temps break and we get into fall.