I�ve said this before but let me go ahead and say it again for anyone who is getting ready to do a throw and mow planting this summer. The first planting is not the one you want to do a side by side comparison against. Throw and mow takes advantage of the soft soil surface and abundant soil moisture that comes from having a thick layer of decomposed organic matter encompassing the top several inches of soil. It takes a little time for that OM to build up and for the soil surface to change to that fluffy potting soil texture. Until that happens�..you�re still just transitioning to the throw and mow method. The first planting, especially if it�s a summer planting, is just going to be trying to get down some biomass in order to get this process started. I wouldn�t even approach the first planting from the standpoint of trying to grow a �picturesque� summer plot�..The main goal of step 1 is just to grow a bunch of hay to cover the soil surface and begin building this layer of OM�..Its like making a mulch pile on your soil suface�.it takes time.