That talk with the old groundskeeper at Hart Plaza changed how I see lawn care

I was out at Hart Plaza last Tuesday cutting the grass near the fountain, and this older guy who works there just comes up and starts chatting. He told me he'd been taking care of Detroit parks since the 80s, and he said 'you're wasting time mowing on the highest setting, go lower and you'll cut down the trimming.' I always thought going low was bad for the turf, but he showed me how the edges looked way cleaner. Has anyone else tried cutting commercial grass shorter and seen better results?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly9681mo ago

That thing about "you're wasting time mowing on the highest setting" got me thinking. It's like every other thing in life - everyone tells you to take the safe route, go high and slow, but half the time the shortcut actually works better if you know what you're doing. I've seen the same with people trimming hedges or even just cleaning gutters. Everyone's so scared of the "wrong" way that they never try the faster way and end up doing twice the work. Sounds like that old guy figured out the trick years ago and nobody listened.

schmidt.eva1mo ago

Isn't there something to be said for not having to redo a job because you messed up a shortcut though? I've seen way too many people try to save ten minutes and end up spending an hour fixing a crooked hedge or a gutter that's still clogged.