Rough

I’m sure everyone has noticed that heights of cut in rough have come down significantly since opening day. And will continue to come down through the course of the season, most of which will continue to occur over the next few weeks. Below is a brief explaination on how heights of cut on new rough is managed.

What is the one- third rule? The one-third rule originated from a greenhouse study done by U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists about 60 years ago on forage type Kentucky bluegrass. The goal of the study was to investigate the effect of cattle defoliation on the growth of the roots. Results of the study showed the grass didn't die when more than one-third was removed, but the roots stopped growing for a short period of time. The findings from this study were eventually morphed into the creation of the one-third rule.

Although the study did not show dramatic issues with the removal of ⅓ of the grass blade, the ⅓ rule is widely adopted as a good rule of thumb when lowering heights of cut in general, but especially post overseed. Why stress a new plant out more than needed, right?

So if we are trying to get from 3 inches to 1.25 inches in rough, this would require more than 3 individual height drops with the mowers. Just doing the math, that would be going from 3 inches to 2 inches to 1.32 inches, down to 1.25 inches. Because of this, it takes about 3+ weeks from the time we are able to start mowing the grass, to the time it has been lowered to its target height of 1-1.25 inches.

We have already hit our initial target of 1.25 inches and are now working our way towards 3/4 of an inch. Our goal is to be between 3/4 in - 1 inch by New Year.