Last few mows of the season, do I raise the deck or drop it?

[BackyardBrian]

Hey guys, Brian again with another dumb question probably.
So the mornings are gettin cool up here and I know the growin season is windin down. Was talkin to my neighbor over the fence and he goes yea you gotta drop your deck for the last cut of the year, short grass wont mat down under snow. Then my buddy at work hears me say that and looks at me like Im crazy, says you should be raisin the deck in fall not droppin it, longer blades help the roots goin into winter.
Now Im just standin there like ok well one of you is wrong lol.
X350 with the 42 deck, been runnin it at about 3.5 all summer and the lawns lookin great. 1.5 acres, mostly fescue I think, some clover mixed in. Northeast so we get real winters.
Whats the actual play here. Do I keep it where its at, bump it up, or drop it for the final mow. And when yall say final mow how do you even know which one is the final one, do you just watch the forecast or is there a rule of thumb.
Thanks in advance

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Hey guys, Brian again with another dumb question probably.
So the mornings are gettin cool up here and I know the growin season is windin down. Was talkin to my neighbor over the fence and he goes yea you gotta drop your deck for the last cut of the year, short grass wont mat down under snow. Then my buddy at work hears me say that and looks at me like Im crazy, says you should be raisin the deck in fall not droppin it, longer blades help the roots goin into winter.
Now Im just standin there like ok well one of you is wrong lol.
X350 with the 42 deck, been runnin it at about 3.5 all summer and the lawns lookin great. 1.5 acres, mostly fescue I think, some clover mixed in. Northeast so we get real winters.
Whats the actual play here. Do I keep it where its at, bump it up, or drop it for the final mow. And when yall say final mow how do you even know which one is the final one, do you just watch the forecast or is there a rule of thumb.
Thanks in advance

Typically the last couple of mows are cut a bit shorter. So in your case you can cut at 3.25” or 3”.

 

[slomo]

3.5" on fescue is a little low in my book under normal growing conditions. On fescue I crank the deck as high as it will go. Especially when winter is on the way. You still cut in winter right? If so all the way up. Taller turf gathers more light to grow. Fescue is always taller than other grass types in OKC.

 

[Ozcub]

Do not change let the grass just enjoy itself

 

[BackyardBrian]

Well glad we cleared that up lol. Think Im just gonna ask the grass what it wants at this point.

 

[Ozcub]

You cannot go wrong with a second opinion , what does the other half think about your dilemma

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

3.5" on fescue is a little low in my book under normal growing conditions. On fescue I crank the deck as high as it will go. Especially when winter is on the way. You still cut in winter right? If so all the way up. Taller turf gathers more light to grow. Fescue is always taller than other grass types in OKC.

I mow on 4” most of the year on fescue. Some people mow on 3.5” on fescue. Many people cut the grass too short regardless of the type of grass or time of year.

 

[oldlawnguy]

I mow on 4” most of the year on fescue. Some people mow on 3.5” on fescue. Many people cut the grass too short regardless of the type of grass or time of year.

Have a 42 inch deck. Cut the back at max height of deck, cut the front at 1 notch down from that. For years I cut way shorter when the kids were growing up, especially in the back (1 acre) so I wouldn't have to do as often. The back was usually brown by mid summer and the front was decent when sprinklers were being used.