I have spent over 10 years maintaining high quality lawns. In this blog I want to give you 3 tips from my experience to help you understand 3 simple changes to your mowing practices that can make a big difference to your lawn.
Mowing damages the lawn
A lot of people don’t think of mowing as “damaging” to a lawn. But, the reality is that mowing can be extremely damaging to a lawn. Especially if you are haphazard and careless about your lawn mower, mowing frequency and height of cut.
Let me show you three principles that will help give you a more beautiful and healthy lawn.
The one third rule
People have been maintaining turf and studying the effects of low and high quality mowing for a very long time. There is one timeless bit of advice that has been handed down through the generations of turf specialist. If possible, never cut more than one third off the leaf in a single cut.
Its simple but very effective. The more of the leaf that is removed when mowing the more stress the lawn is put under. This is especially important in hot weather. Obviously, this rule is not possible to follow if a lawn has been neglected for a long time and is overgrown. But for regular mowing one third should be the most that you want to remove from your lawn with each mow.
In my experience most people mow their lawn either when it a) looks to messy for them or b) simply cut it on a recurring schedule like fortnightly or monthly.
The problem with these frequencies is that in the growing season the lawn has often well exceeded the one third rule by the time it is cut. This causes more damage to the lawn and as a result the lawn can struggle for health and colour.
In WA, a weekly mow is much more likely to promote a beautiful, healthy lawn. If you find this surprising, remember that golf course putting greens are cut daily. It is true that it takes work to have a beautiful lawn. Frequency of cut is one of the first things you need to get right.
For the highest quality cut cylinder mowers are best
Don’t get me wrong Rotary mowers are great and have many benefits. But when it comes to the quality of cut cylinder mowers are in a league of their own. This is because cylinder mowers cut like scissors. You can see how it works on the freshly sharpened machine (engine has been removed for maintenance if you are wondering why it looks different).
Rotary mowers, on the other hand, cut with fast moving blades that slice through the lawn at high speed. These high speed blades don’t leave as clean a cut with the lawn blades having a frayed finish.
Swardman have this great image to demonstrate the different cuts
The end result is that the cylinder mower puts the lawn under less stress. If you are serious about your lawns health a cylinder mower is the way to go.
The Correct Height of Cut (HOC)
To have a great lawn you need to understand what height of cut you are going to have the most success with.
Every lawn variety has a different height that it prefers to be cut at. These are not hard and fast rules but guidelines. Typically cutting the lawn under its recommended height of cut will require more mowing, more additional services and it will be less tolerant of damage or stress. Cutting a lawn above the recommended height can cause the lawn to look untidy and can cause thatch problems.
Different situations like limited light or traffic may mean that cutting higher is better. If you want to go lower and are not worry about the extra work then as low as 3mm can be achieved with golf course machinery.
Here are our recommended guideline for the most common varieties of lawn. These are for lawn that do not suffer from thatch build up, being cut by a cylinder mower. Each is linked to an example of a lawn we have maintained in that height range.
Kikuyu: 15-40mm
Photo at 18mm
Buffalo: 20-45mm
Photo at 22 mm
Couch: 10-30mm
Photo at 15mm
Conclusion
If all this talk about mowing is too much for you, but you are looking for high quality professional cut at your property, why not request a quote. Simply fill out the quote form at the bottom of this page and one of our friendly staff will be able to help you achieve your goals for your lawn. We service lawns from Mandurah, Rockingham, Baldivis, Canning Vale and surrounding suburbs.
One final note is that mowing is not enough to have a great lawn. To fin out more info on how to have a beautiful lawn click here
