My new lawn is really coming on now. Much of the grass is 2" high,
though patchy. When I do the first cut (I have a Qualcast Panther hand
cylinder mower), should I leave the trimmings on the surface to mulch
down or collect them?

MM

MM wrote:
My new lawn is really coming on now. Much of the grass is 2" high,
though patchy. When I do the first cut (I have a Qualcast Panther
hand
cylinder mower), should I leave the trimmings on the surface to
mulch
down or collect them?

If you've got a hand mower, do it right now: don't even wait to have
cup of tea! You say it's new: if from seed, there's some danger of
ripping the young plants out as you mow. Use the highest setting, and
go over it repeatedly, reducing the setting every time, till it's
down to just over half an inch high. Whether to use the grass-box on
the mower is a matter of judgement: if the clippings are dense enough
to interfere with the mower's subsequent passes, or look like
covering up the young growth, you should collect them. Otherwise, I'd
leave them there for now (but collect them if the new lawn is from
turf). I'm afraid you're now on the lawn-mowing treadmill: daily if
you're fanatical, twice a week if possible, weekly if you don't want
grief.

Get back to us to say how you got on.

--
Mike.

On Mon, 09 May 2005 21:10:02 +0100, MM wrote:

My new lawn is really coming on now. Much of the grass is 2" high,
though patchy. When I do the first cut (I have a Qualcast Panther hand
cylinder mower), should I leave the trimmings on the surface to mulch
down or collect them?

Looking this morning, in the warm sunshine (at last!) at my virgin
forest of tall pines (my blades of grass), I see a whole new ecology
starting to thrive. To a very small insect, these 2" shoots must seem
like sequoias that have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. All the
while the surface was a barren wasteland that would give the moon a
run for his money, no activity was apparent. But now, if you take the
time to squat down and look carefully, you begin to notice the rushing
hither and thither of countless small beasties. I watched one dash
along a meandering, self-made cross-country field path, as it rushed
around one blade of grass, right, then left, then left, then right,
making it up as it went. This is more fun than a Hornby train set!
Will he go right at the junction, or left? Which way are the points
inside that little creature set? It emerged on to the patio, but
hurriedly scurried back into the undergrowth. Its carapace was the
jettest black, the shiniest imaginable, a Beetle in miniature, fresh
from the production line. Elsewhere, flies of various kinds flit just
above the greensward. When I'm not in the garden, birds have started
to arrive in one's and two's. The whole house has taken on a new
significance as the soil finally gives in and accepts its presence.

How can I possibly cut this wonderful growth already?

MM

MM wrote:
On Mon, 09 May 2005 21:10:02 +0100, MM
wrote:

My new lawn is really coming on now. Much of the grass is 2" high,
though patchy. When I do the first cut (I have a Qualcast Panther
hand cylinder mower), should I leave the trimmings on the surface
to
mulch down or collect them?

Looking this morning, in the warm sunshine (at last!) at my virgin
forest of tall pines (my blades of grass), I see a whole new
ecology
starting to thrive. To a very small insect, these 2" shoots must
seem
like sequoias that have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. All the
while the surface was a barren wasteland that would give the moon a
run for his money, no activity was apparent. But now, if you take
the
time to squat down and look carefully, you begin to notice the
rushing
hither and thither of countless small beasties. I watched one dash
along a meandering, self-made cross-country field path, as it
rushed
around one blade of grass, right, then left, then left, then right,
making it up as it went. This is more fun than a Hornby train set!
Will he go right at the junction, or left? Which way are the points
inside that little creature set? It emerged on to the patio, but
hurriedly scurried back into the undergrowth. Its carapace was the
jettest black, the shiniest imaginable, a Beetle in miniature,
fresh
from the production line. Elsewhere, flies of various kinds flit
just
above the greensward. When I'm not in the garden, birds have
started
to arrive in one's and two's. The whole house has taken on a new
significance as the soil finally gives in and accepts its presence.

How can I possibly cut this wonderful growth already?

Yes, I understand: it's glorious. But if you don't cut it now, you'll
be sorry. Why not select a patch to leave alone? In quite a few
gardens it can be done without looking too scruffy: making some kind
of visible edge, and naturalising some bulbs and other flowers in
there will help make it look intentional, though grass will always
tend to out-compete them. Putting some obviously ornamental grasses
in should help, too; but I never tried that. I used to cut my
wild-flower lawn at about the end of July when the flowers had mostly
seeded. (This approach will infect your formal lawn with weeds, of
course: swings and roundabouts.)

--
Mike.

On Wed, 11 May 2005 12:55:46 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

Yes, I understand: it's glorious. But if you don't cut it now, you'll
be sorry. Why not select a patch to leave alone? In quite a few
gardens it can be done without looking too scruffy: making some kind
of visible edge, and naturalising some bulbs and other flowers in
there will help make it look intentional, though grass will always
tend to out-compete them. Putting some obviously ornamental grasses
in should help, too; but I never tried that. I used to cut my
wild-flower lawn at about the end of July when the flowers had mostly
seeded. (This approach will infect your formal lawn with weeds, of
course: swings and roundabouts.)

Here are some pics, taken this afternoon, after the first cut:

http://www.visual.basic.freeuk.com

I barely got 1/3 of a grassbox full!

What should I do about the patchy areas - reseed or wait?

MM

MM wrote:
[...]
Here are some pics, taken this afternoon, after the first cut:

http://www.visual.basic.freeuk.com

I barely got 1/3 of a grassbox full!

What should I do about the patchy areas - reseed or wait?

I'd give them another week; but it doesn't look promising if the rest
has grown to 2".

--
Mike.

On Thu, 12 May 2005 18:34:08 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

MM wrote:
[...]
Here are some pics, taken this afternoon, after the first cut:

http://www.visual.basic.freeuk.com

I barely got 1/3 of a grassbox full!

What should I do about the patchy areas - reseed or wait?

I'd give them another week; but it doesn't look promising if the rest
has grown to 2".

Why does the patchiness occur?

MM

MM wrote:
On Thu, 12 May 2005 18:34:08 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

MM wrote:
[...]
Here are some pics, taken this afternoon, after the first cut:

http://www.visual.basic.freeuk.com

I barely got 1/3 of a grassbox full!

What should I do about the patchy areas - reseed or wait?

I'd give them another week; but it doesn't look promising if the
rest
has grown to 2".

Why does the patchiness occur?

Could be a lot of things; but I'd guess that bits of your new lawn
may have dried out more than others during the germination of your
seed -- unless the seed was spread very patchily in the first place.
If either is the case, no problem: just scratch in some more next
weekend, and it'll catch up.

--
Mike.