It can be incredibly frustrating to spend hours on your lawn all spring, only to watch it turn brown, patchy, and stressed the moment summer heat kicks in. More often than not, the culprit isn’t a lack of water or fertilizer — it’s your mower’s cutting height. Mowing too short can stress your grass, while letting it grow too tall can lead to thatch buildup and a thin, patchy lawn. In this guide, we’ll talk about what height to cut Bermuda grass this summer.
What Is Bermudagrass?
Bermudagrass is a warm-season grass with dense, fine-textured, dark green blades. It spreads rapidly through stolons and rhizomes, thriving especially in warmer climates and on low-mown lawns. In the Southern United States, it’s a popular choice for pastures, coastal areas, golf courses, parks and sports fields due to its durability and carpet-like appearance. In the Northern United States, however, it’s considered a weed that can be difficult to control. Even though its dense low-growing nature makes it tempting to mow it as short as possible, treating your lawn like a putting green in the middle of summer is a fast track to serious heat and bare spots. Below, you’ll find exactly how high to cut your Bermuda in summer to keep it lush, green, and strong. So, what height to cut your Bermuda grass? You must know two different types of Bermuda first.
Two Types of Bermudagrass
Before you touch your mower settings, it’s essential to know exactly which type of Bermuda grass you have in your yard. There are two main types of Bermuda grass, and they behave quite differently when it comes to mowing.
Common Bermudagrass
Common Bermudagrass varieties, such as LaPrima and Yukon, are coarse in texture, more upright in growth habit, and generally more tolerant of higher mowing heights. These are the varieties you’ll most often find in home lawns, sports fields, and pastures across the South. Throughout the growing season, common Bermuda grass should be mowed at around 2 inches.
Hybrid Bermudagrass
Hybrid varieties, like Princess and Riviera, are much finer in texture, denser, and capable of tolerating very low mowing heights. These are the varieties used on golf fairways and putting greens. During the growing season, hybrid Bermudagrass can be mowed between ⅜ and 1.5 inches, depending on how frequently you mow and what kind of equipment you have. The shorter you go, the more often you’ll need to mow.
What Height to Cut Bermuda Grass in Summer?
The correct mowing height for your Bermuda grass depends on the variety and how intensively your lawn is maintained. To protect your lawn while keeping it looking neat, you need to adjust your approach based on temperature. While Bermudagrass can be mowed very short during the milder spring months, common Bermudagrass should be maintained at 2 inches (5 cm), while hybrid Bermudagrass can be kept between ⅜ and 1.5 inches (1–4 cm). If your lawn has uneven spots, dips or dumps, mow a little higher, around 2 inches(5 cm). This can give you a buffer and prevent the blade from scalping high spots down to bare soil.
How Does This Compare to Other Grass Types
It’s crucial to know exactly what type of grass is growing in your yard before adjusting your mower height. Warm-season grasses behave very differently from the cool-season grasses.
| Grass Type | Climate Type | Ideal Summer Height | Why This Height Matters in Summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bermudagrass (Common) | Warm season (South/Southwest) | 2 inches (5cm) | Short enough for a dense look, but tall enough to shade the soil and prevent scalping the brown thatch layer. |
| Bermudagrass (Hybrid) | Warm season (South/Southwest) | ⅜–1.5 in (1–4 cm) | Fine-textured and dense; tolerates lower cuts but requires much more frequent mowing. |
| Zoysiagrass | Warm season (South/Southeast) | 1.5–2.5 in (4–5.5 cm) | Slightly thicker and wider blades than Bermuda; needs a bit more height to retain moisture during extreme drought. |
| Perennial Ryegrass | Cool season (Northern U.S. / Pacific Northwest) | 2–3 in (5–7 cm) | Grows upright. Needs a much higher crown to protect roots from sun and survive high temperatures without going completely yellow. |
| Kentucky Bluegrass | Cool season (Northern / Transitional zones) | 2.5–3 in (6–7.5 cm) | Very sensitive to summer heat stress. Cutting too short causes it to go dormant early, making the lawn look dead. |
How Often Should You Mow Bermudagrass in Summer
For the active growing season (late spring through summer), Bermuda grass may need mowing every 3 to 5 days to maintain a neat appearance and healthy density. In cooler months when the grass is in its dormancy, the mowing can be reduced to every 10 to 14 days and stop mowing entirely if the growth stalls.
Adjusting Mowing Heights
The best height to cut your Bermuda grass is not fixed. It varies by seasons. In spring, your Bermuda grass greens up, and you can begin mowing and gradually lower the mowing height to your target range over the first few cuts. As summer falls, you can maintain your regular mowing height at 2 inches for common Bermudagrass, and between ⅜ and 1.5 inches for hybrid varieties. This contributes to dense coverage and minimizes weed stress. In the fall, as long as your grass is still growing, you should gradually allow your Bermudagrass to grow to around 3 inches before cold weather arrives. This extra height acts as insulation for the roots, stolons, and rhizomes over winter. During winter, once the grass are fully dormant, you can stop mowing until new growth begins in next spring.
Why You Should Raise Your Mowing Deck in the Heat
Raising your mower deck an inch or two might feel like you’re giving up that perfectly manicured look, but it’s a biological necessity for heat protection. Here are two main benefits:
- Soil shading to reduce evaporation: Longer grass blades cast longer shadows. This shields the soil from direct, intense sunlight, drastically lowering the temperature at the root zone and slowing the evaporation of morning dew and irrigation water.
- Encouraging deeper roots: There’s a direct relationship between grass height above ground and root depth below ground. A slightly taller canopy in summer forces the plant to push its roots deeper into the soil, where it can access stored moisture during dry spells.
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The Danger of Cutting Your Bermudagrass Too Short
Cutting the Bermuda grass too short is the most common reason it turns brown in summer, rather than a lack of water. Unlike grasses that grow straight up, Bermudagrass spreads horizontally through above-ground creeping stems (stolons) and underground stems (rhizomes). This creates a very dense, woody, brown thatch layer. Only the upper portion of each grass blade is actually green. If you let your Bermuda grass get too long and then try to cut it short all at once with a standard rotary mower, you’ll shave off all the green, photosynthetic leaf tissue. What’s left are ugly, brown, woody stems. This is called scalping, and it drains energy from the grass at the exact moment it needs that energy to fight heat stress. To prevent exposing this brown thatch layer, strictly follow the one-third rule: never remove more than one-third of the total grass height in a single mowing session. This prevents stress, browning, and weakened root systems.
Essential Summer Care Tips for Bermudagrass
Beyond adjusting your mowing height, here are tips to help your Bermuda grass thrive in the heat.
- Water deeply, not daily (about 1 inch of water, preferably early in the morning, once or twice a week)
- Keep your mower blades sharp to prevent grass tearing and losing moisture (See Lawn Mower Blade Testing & Sharpening Explained here)
- Mow when the grass is dry to avoid clumping
- Alternate mowing directions to promote upright growth
- Leave clippings on the lawn for valuable nutrients
- Aerate annually to reduce soil compaction and encourage strong roots
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Cutting the Grass
Here are common mistakes to avoid.
- Cutting too low (“scalping”) weakens the grass and exposes the soil to weeds
- Mowing too infrequently leads to thatch buildup and uneven color
- Using dull mower blades causes brown, shredded tips and stress
Conclusion
What height to cut Bermuda grass this summer is a question for every lawn keeper. Keeping your Bermuda grass healthy through the summer comes down to one simple principle: work with your grass, not against it. By knowing your variety and adjusting your mowing height with the seasons, you give your lawn the best possible chance to stay dense, green, and resilient — even in the most brutal summer heat. Sharp blades, the right watering schedule, and a slightly raised deck aren’t just good habits; they’re the difference between a lawn you’re proud of and one you’re constantly trying to rescue. Start with the right cut, and the rest of your summer lawn care becomes a whole lot easier. At FridayParts, you can not only get a vast selection of lawn mower parts, such as blades and belts, but also access a handful of useful knowledge about mowers and lawn care & maintenance.
