Ultimate Guide for Mowing Bermuda

In this guide we will detail critical characteristics of Bermuda grass and how to properly mow your bermuda grass througought the growing season. 

Classification: Warm-season grass
Spreads by: Stolons and rhizomes
Shade tolerance: Poor — needs full sun
Drought resistance: High
Foot traffic tolerance: High
Maintenance needs: Needs frequent mowing due to fast growth rate; develops thatch easily; needs regular fertilization
Mowing height: 1-2 inches
Potential for disease: Good resistance to disease, although diseases are common; low resistance to insects
Soil pH: 6-6.5
Soil type: Tolerates most soil types
Other notes: Bermuda spreads aggressively via its stolons (above-ground stems) and rhizomes (below-ground stems) and is able to outcompete many weeds. The downside is that it also can be a nuisance and is sometimes considered invasive. You'll often find it has tunneled underground into flower beds and spread into neighboring lawns. Tolerant of most soil types. 

Bermudagrass is the most widely used warm-season turfgrass in the southern U.S. It is equivalent in popularity to Kentucky bluegrass in cool-season areas. You'll find bermudagrass used in a variety of different applications, including home lawns, bank stabilization, and in many different types of recreational and sports turf, such as golf course roughs, putting greens, parks, and school grounds. 

Now down to the brass tacks. MOWING,

Typically Bermuda grass like to be kept at .5 to 2.5 Inches, but its not the final hieight that I wanted to focus on. An important part the the Bermuda grass anatomy is the sheath, this is plant tissue the surrounds the bermuda grass plant towards the bottom, near the soil, this plant tissue is also BROWN. The sheath will grow taller as the season goes on, this is why scalping (cutting as LOW as possible) in the early spring is SO CRITICAL. We must reset that shealth height to as low as possible. Typically if we scalp in the early spring and maintain good mowing habits of once a week the shealth height will eventually catch up to our mowing height, when this happens you'll know becuase eveytime you mow, your bermuda will look BAD, LACK COLOR, and VIBRANCE and finally just when it looks good again its time yet again to mow. WHAT NOW? Raise your mowing height 1 setting! This will allow for more green leaf tissue to exist between the sheath height and your mowing heaight and alas, your bermuda looks AMAZING, immediatley after mowing. Over the course of a mowing season assuming you scalped and maintained prompt mowing habits I would expect you to raise your mowing height at least 3-4 times as the sheath catches up to your current cut height. And always remember to never cut more than 1/3 off the grass at a time. This my friends is how you MOW BERMUDA.