Sir Walter Mowing Heights

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Melissa - General Lawn Turf Blogs

Unfortunately, one of the most common mistakes made by owners of Sir Walter DNA Certified lawn (and soft leaf buffalo lawns in general) are that they mow the lawn too short which can result in poor health. Fortunately, it can be easily fixed.

Sir Walter and other soft leaf buffalo lawns should be mowed at heights of 35-65mms. Any lower is not a good practice; as the lawn can lose its great dark green leaf, it can stunt the growth, and/or can cause the loss of its overall colour. In addition, mowing too short can reduce the overall health of your lawn and affect the density of the thatch layer and sward layer leaving the lawn at a high risk of pest invasion and disease.

When your lawn isn’t strong enough to fight off invasions when they first occur, it’s more likely that pests and disease will become a bigger issue than they should. A reduced sward layer will also increase the risk of a full blown weed invasion. The tightly knitted runner (stolons) of a healthy lawn naturally out-competes many weed seeds. When reduced, the weeds can get a better chance of penetrating and taking over. The possibly reduced thatch layer from mowing your Sir Walter too short, can cause the reduced water on extremely hot days and high winds to affect the appearance of the lawn, affecting the overall health of the lawn and increase the risk of bare patches developing.

How to repair the problem

Immediately raise the mowing height. If you currently use a cylinder mower you might like to also consider switching to a rotary mower. This should result in quite rapid, noticeable changes in the vitality and health of your Sir Walter lawn. If you don’t see a marked improvement within a month or two using the new mowing height, you should review your lawn care regime as the damage caused may have been more extensive than first thought. Make sure that as well as mowing at the correct height you are providing enough water for the season and the lawn is being fertilised correctly on a regular basis.

For more information contact the team at Harden Park Lawns.