You let your grass get too tall before attempting to mow it. A reel mower just can't cut a blade of grass that bends over too far before the reel can get it caught between the reel and bed knife. Go over it with you rotary mower at least high enough to cut the taller stems down to a reasonable level so your reel mower can handle it. Mow more often with your reel mower to prevent this.

I agree, it sounds like you are not mowing frequently enough. With a reel mower and Bermuda grass you need to keep it at 1-inch or less, 1/2 to 3/4 inch is ideal.

With that said when you keep grass that short means you have to mow more frequently as to prevent cutting more than 1/3 of the height off at any one time. So lets say you mow at 1/2-inch, means you need to cut when it gets to 3/4 of an inch. Well Bermuda can grow that + 1/4 inch every day or every other day when conditions are ripe as they have been the past month.

Might be time to examine your maintenance routine and decide how short you want to keep the grass and if you are willing to put in the sweat equity to keep it there. Keeping Bermuda at 1-inch or less means mowing 2 to 4 times a week.

well, i dont think it is the mowing frequency. even with all of the rain we have been getting, i have managed to mow at least twice a week. even with all the rain we have gotten this year, i have even mowed while the ground was still sopping wet, just because i new there was rain in the forecast for another week(and it turned out the weatherman was actually right!). but for some reason the seed stems seemed to grow higher(maybe faster?) than the leaf, now they are dying.

i cut the grass at 1 inch, i would love to go lower, but my mower doesnt go any lower(its the scotts). i am hoping i can buy a gas powered reel in the fall or something.

i was also wondering if it is possible that the blade on my mower needs adjusting. the stems are a lot skinnier than a blade of grass, so i wonder if that could have allowed the stems to get so high?

bermuda also seems to go through a yearly seeding phase. It seems to start at the end of may and continue until mid June.

It happens like clockwork in my yard. I keep mine at about 7/8 inch and im mowing about every third day. It should be every two days.

yikes! i just got done mowing with my rotary, but i did not adjust my mower right, so i basically scalped my yard! its sad that my rotary will go so much further down than my reel :(

anyway, i have never scalped my lawn before, and i have only heard that you are suppose to do it much earlier in the season for bermuda. i am assuming that it will recover pretty quickly though right now. but should i be watering a little more frequently until the grass recovers, or should i just continue with the deeply but infrequently method?

so i basically scalped my yard!

Define what you think is scalped? Do you mean you see it cut to ground level, or just sticks and twigs stubble?

Neither is fatal or critical with Bermuda. I suspect you just cut it down to where it should be in the first place around 3/4 to 1-inch since rotaries cannot go any lower.

If it is just stubble, keep it at that height, water and feed as normal, and it should fill and thicken to a nice carpet of emerald green. If you truly scalped it down to dirt, raise the cutting height just enough to stop scalping and continue as above.

i kind of feel like nobody is actually reading my entire posts. my grass was already at an inch(obviously slightly higher since it was time to mow). I prefer to use my reel mower, but the problem with it is that it only goes as low as 1 inch(as i have stated before).

yes, my lawn is scalped in areas. i can see dirt with no grass in those spots. i do agree that the height of the grass is probably perfect, but my lawn is not level right now(this is something i am already working on). since i used my rotary this time, it scalped the high spots.

and before anyone goes out on a limb and assumes that i dont know how to adjust my reel mower... yes it is set at one inch. it is the scotts, and i had to take the wheels off it to lower it to the bottom level. then i adjusted the mower to its lower setting.

Here's a thread that talks about the stemmy bermuda

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a thread that talks about the stemmy bermuda

quirky, thank you so much. i am sorry i did not find that myself while searching.

do you happen to know if a powered reel mower has an easier time cutting these stems? thanks again.

garret I read all your post in their entiriety. Just some peoples version of SCALPED is different than others. I asked because I knew you said your reel wil not go lower than 1-inch, and rotary mowers typically do not go below 1-inch, that is why I ask define scalped.

Do not change water habits, water only when needed, the grass will recove quickly. Looks like you are in OK, so with all the cool wet weather I doubt you have had much of a need to water this year. As to your question of scalping in the spring is debatable, some experts say yes, some say no. There are pro's and con's of doing it.

Any reel mower, power or manual, will cut the stems properly if the pinch roller and blades are aligned properly, blades are sharp, and the grass is no too tall as the reel types have a nasty habit of pushing the grass over rather than cutting it when too tall.