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I just did a mow a few days ago, some parts of the lawn are still growing here (zone 7a) but it has slowed down in the last few weeks. I will probably do one more mow if too many leaves accumulate.
This is my first year owning a mower, what do you folks do for winterizing the mower/trimmer?
From reading I see two approaches, run the engine till dry or fill the tank and add stabilizer. What do you do?
I run mine dry. IMO that's best with ethanol type gas. Too much chance of it going bad and causing issues even with a stabilizer, and running it dry is easy.
A service has done all the yard work around here for some years now. When it was me, I used to run the mowers dry each fall. Poured the gas can dregs into one of the cars and filled the can again the following spring. I used to cut the lawn quite short and then go over it with a sweeper. It was golf course gorgeous out there! At least for a couple of days. Over time though, the grass began to struggle as the result. Ended up doing a three-year core aeration and over-seeding program, and that did a nice job of building the lawn back up. I also began mowing at three inches which is what the service does now as well. It doesn't really look like a golf course fairway out there anymore, but I've learned to appreciate the beauty of a swath of healthy turf.
I'm not close to putting my lawnmower away for the winter. Mowed most of the lawn in the dark last night since I knew rain was coming for the next two days. Most of the leaves are off the grass but they will be back in a week. The oak trees around here still have many of their leaves. A few of the neighbors haven't done anything with their leaves so a windy day will spread those leaves around the neighborhood. Best time to mulch the leaves is when it gets below freezing. The lawnmower turns those leaves to dust.
movintoReston,
I didn't think you ever lowered your lawnmower to 3". I'm still cutting my front yard at 3.5" and my backyard to 3.25". My backyard has tons of leaves and I need the lower cutting level to mulch the leaves. I might lower another .25" in December.
Bermudagrass at 3". It's a good height to shade the roots and help minimize weeds.
What? 3" for bermuda grass? that's extremely tall to keep bermuda at. Experts recommend much lower mowing heights, especially for the hybrid tif types. I think for common bermuda, they recommend 1" height.
DougStark - you are correct that 3" is kind of high for Bermuda grass, however, I keep it a little high to "shade the roots and help minimize weeds". My grass isn't anywhere near 3" right now, it's closer to 1/2" (greening up). Many experts recommend 1 to 1 1/2 " for Bermuda, however some southern experts recommend 2" and letting the grass grow to 3" between mowing. The 3" number was really just a guess; I might actually measure the mowing height this year, but I do like letting the grass grow - but not leggy.
already done a couple of cuttings and I am at about 2.75” height cutting.
Mid-Michigan, we still have snow that's melting. In fact last weekend, we had a 3 day "end of the world" snow, rain, sleet, high winds (60mph), power outage storm that left a real mess all over.
So, our Spring yard stuff is going to be delayed some this year.
So, our Spring yard stuff is going to be delayed some this year.
Same in Des Moines. Last year, the first cutting was April 17. This year, it might be as late as May 1. I usually mow twice for the first cutting and take the grass down to 1.2" so that the leaves from the winter are mulched in (quad-cut mower). After that, I keep the grass about 2" and 2.5+" if we go into another drought.
Mid-Michigan, we still have snow that's melting. In fact last weekend, we had a 3 day "end of the world" snow, rain, sleet, high winds (60mph), power outage storm that left a real mess all over.
So, our Spring yard stuff is going to be delayed some this year.
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