Now that summer is approaching in the southern hemisphere, those of us in dry climates fortunate enough to possess a lawn, should be starting the regular mowing regime that will take us thru into the onset of winter.
The most typical lawn grasses in hot dry climates are evergreens like the Bermuda grasses, Cynodon, Zoysia varieties, Kikuya grass (Pennisetum), or St. Augustine grass, ( Stenotaphrum secundatum ). With the exception of the latter, these grasses should have been de-thatched sometime in the spring. This could be done either by mechanical scarifying, or by shaving to the ground. This intense treatment must not be carried out on grasses like St.Augustine, that spread by stolons, but only, like the species mentioned, on grasses that develop rhizomes.
After the grass has come back - a technique that will take anything up to a month, we start our Regular means regular! Not when we want to it, not when the grass is a foot high, but as a regular activity. Aside from watering, regular mowing at the correct height is doubtless the most vital factor determining the standard of the lawn.
At what height if the blade be set? The peak of the blade is determined by one simple rule - the grass should be as green after mowing as it was beforehand! Not more than 40% of leaf length should be removed at anybody mowing. Never scalp the lawn from this point on till next spring’s de-thatching. You can decide the right height by mowing a little swathe of grass with the blade set high, then go back, lowering the blade’s height until as mentioned some 40% of the leaf is cut. This 40% does not include the stems, on which the leaves are attached, but only the leaves themselves.
So how regularly should you mow the grass? The solution is - it depends. As we’ve established the fact that not too much leaf should be removed at one shot, it follows the longer the longer the interval between mowings the longer the and the more leaf is going to be, and therefore the more leaf let the grass get So don’t let the grass get so long that this situation arises. If the lawn is growing well - a result factors like satisfactory moisture, nutriment levels, and well aerated soil, then you must mow once every week at the least. Each 4 or five days may well be better. Are you aware the Greens on golf courses are customarily mowed a pair of times a day?
What we need to remember is that the plant’s photosynthesizing organ, is its source of energy. Consistent removing of OTT amounts of leaf in the plant’s most active growing season, reduces the potential energy ready to the plant, when it most wishes it. Also, scalping the grass, occurring when the blade is too low, or when the grass is too high, exposes the stems to direct daylight which can regularly cause direct damage to the grass.
As a last thought. The healthier the grass the more hardy it is to pests and sicknesses. Inversely , as the grass weakens, regularly as a result of a consistently poor mowing regime, the more vulnerable it becomes to pathogens, and the more weed species may be able to create themselves, so further weakening the lawn.
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