The idea behind raising mowing height in the dog days of summer is to keep from allowing the lawn to burn. What type of Bermuda do you have, is it a hybrid or standard variation? What height do you currently cut? How much and often are you watering? How established is the lawn? Where are you located? Have you read the Bermuda Bible by Texas Weed, if not, you need to. Google it and spend 30 minutes reading, it will change the appearance of your lawn forever.

I have a hybrid Bermuda, I cut at 1". In July and August I may raise my mowing height by a 1/4" to 1/2" if it is excessively hot and or dry. Assuming you have a rotary mower place it on a level surface and measure the height from the blade to the surface. There should be adjustment levers on the front or back wheels or both. Raise them one notch and re measure, what is the difference from your first measurement to the new measurement? That is how much you have raised the mowing height.

I have recently noticed scalping marks in my lawn although I used to not see them at all.

How often are you mowing, and how much water does it get?

It it's raining, you need to mow 2-3 times a week to keep up with it.

Hi Sherm that's a great question, I can't wait to see what Dchall says about it. Inquiring minds want to know. I hope your lawns still looking great and coming along well.

Thanks for the responses. I have a hybrid lawn. I honestly try not to water at all but I do when the lawn shows signs of needing water. I live outside of Raleigh. I have read the Bermuda bible and am good to go with my lawn regiment. It is established, healthy, and I do a good job with my lawn. This is just the one question I had. I also thought I read it needs to be raised because of how thick it gets. That may be the problem I'm suffering from in regards to the circles after mowing. I sharpen my blade regularly so he hopes knows.

It is mainly because of how thick it gets (speaking from experience)

I have read that when maintaining a Bermuda lawn the mower needs to be gradually raised during the summer.

Where did you read that, Sherm? The Bermuda Bible suggests leaving it at your normal height until fall. If you wanted to slow everything down, you could stop fertilizing, raise the mowing height, and extend your watering interval to 10 days.

Do you have a hybrid or seeded variety? How low are you mowing now? How often do you mow?

Dchall, I have read that on a few misc sites but not in the Bermuda bible. However I did see TW post on here about having to raise the mower. I specifically remember it because he said golf courses do the same thing but they do something special to keep the grass the same length.

I have a hybrid type, it is a little longer than 1.5" as that is the lowest I can get with my rotary, and I mow about every 3 to 5 days.

The reason you have to raise the mower height during the summer is because the grass is growing faster than you are mowing. So it gets thicker and the blades grow higher. So what ends up happening is you now scalpe the lawn everytime you mow. This is what i do as i don't mow often enough. Raise mower height from 1" to 1.6" as needed and then when the higher setting starts looking bad after mowing i cut at 7/8" and start over