Lawncare

Most Kiwis mow their lawns way too low and I am not just saying that to get extra work.

Ideally lawns should be mown often and high.

A healthy, easy-care lawn begins with the right mowing height. Proper mowing height is critical to the health of your lawn.

When you mow you reduce the ability of the grass plant to manufacture food, and thereby to form strong roots. The shorter you mow, the less the roots will grow. Deep roots are the key to a healthy, drought resistant lawn. Mow lightly and frequently. Mow the lawn when the grass is dry, and only remove 1/3 of the blade length at any given time. If you remove more than 40% of the grass blade the roots stop growing. The grass should always look green even after you cut it. Generally, if the lawn is yellow or brown after mowing, you are cutting too short. The shorter you cut the longer it will take the roots to begin growing again. At worst, if you cut too close, the grass roots may never grow again. Clippings 1/2 inch or smaller can be left on the lawn, and will help to reduce thatch build-up and help to provide your lawn with valuable nutrients. Many homeowners worry that longer blades will mean a less attractive lawn. In reality, the look of a lawn is determined by how even the grass is mown, not how long the blades are. In fact, a taller lawn will actually require less mowing than a lawn kept shorter. In addition, the taller turf grass will shade out many sun loving weeds. Lawns that are mown too short will require more work and result in a sickly hard-to-manage lawn. Mowing heights for most cool season grasses (Perennial Rye, Bluegrass, Fescue, etc.) will vary with the season as the grass grows at different rates throughout the year. Start mowing when the grass begins to grow in the spring. As a general guideline, cut the lawn shorter in spring (the actual height will vary with the kind of grass you are growing). This removes dead grass and increases the penetration of sunlight to newly forming blades. A short cutting in early spring also helps to invigorate the grass and will aid in warming the soil sooner. After this initial cutting, set the mower at around two inches for the next few mowings until the lawn begins to grow vigorously. By mowing higher you encourage the grass to thicken and grow new tillers, stolons, or rhizomes.

Allow lawns of cool season grasses to grow longer in the summer months in the range of 3 to 4 inches. A higher mowing height helps to improve the growth of the lawn and to shade the soil which aids in reducing water use and helps to suppress weeds.

Keep the mower set high into the Autumn. This allows the grass to replenish its store of nutrients in the roots. In late Autumn, after the leaves drop from deciduous trees, gradually reduce the mowing height again to 1-1/2 inches. Remember, never remove more than 1/3 of the blade length. Regardless of the time of year, the lawn should always still be green after mowing.

There is some evidence to show that by varying mowing heights through the year you may actually improve the drought resistance of your lawn. One of the great myths of lawn care is that clippings cause thatch. Clippings begin to break down within a week, and by the end of two weeks the nitrogen from the clippings is available to the growing grass. Grass-cycling can contribute significantly to the annual fertilizer needs of the lawn and helps to improve the soil and retain moisture. A good and quick way of achieving this is to use a mulch mower, thereby directly feeding the grass clippings into the lawn. The only exceptions would be for lawns suffering from some diseases like red thread or rust, for lawns with heavy infestations of weeds with mature seed heads, and during times of the year when clippings may be too wet or excessively long.

Remember to keep the blades of your mower sharp to reduce incidences of disease. Mowing lawns when they are dry will also help to reduce the spread of some diseases, limit the compaction of the soil, and aid in a cleaner cut and more even spread of the clippings.

Finally, after attending to the cutting of your lawn don't forget to water it well and deeply if it doesn't rain. Once every 2nd day in the middle of Summer. Remember, grass is a plant and it needs watering too!

From Amazon

The Lawn Bible: How to Keep It Green, Groomed, and Growing Every Season of the Year by David Mellor
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