How to Cut Centipede Grass

Video Transcript

"Hi this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment we're going to talk about how to cut centipede grass. Now centipede grass is a great grass for warm, hot climates. It's very crunchy and thick and more like a succulent than a grass and it grows really well in warm, hot climates. But when you're cutting it, you got to remember that in the spring when it's getting rain and cooler temperatures, it's going to grow much quicker and you can cut it much shorter at that time. You can cut it as close as one inch down. But once it hits the summertime and the temperatures rise, you do not want to cut it too short so don't cut it any less than one and a half inches because you want to keep some moisture underneath and it'll get too hot if it's too short. And remember also to water it really well in the summertime and the key to cutting grass is to make sure and water it really well about two days before you intend to cut it and let it dry out and then cut it. Because if you cut it when it's wet, it's much more work. And you want to pick up all the pieces of the centipede grass and only leave the existing grass because it doesn't make a good mulch, it does not mulch itself very well because it is in a warm climate. It does need lots of water and make sure not to grow it too thick either, if it gets more than two inches long, sometimes it'll get lanky and then when you cut it down, it will actually burn. So make sure never cut it more than one third of the height at one time. So if you're attacking a yard that hasn't been cut in a long time, do it over a period of time, cut it one third, one third, one third, maybe once a week and then that way you can have beautiful centipede grass in your lawn."