Mowing Management,MaintainingYour Ttrrf at the Height of Quality

*by Jim Hermann, CSFMhq@sfmanj.org

"Don't ask me, I just mow thelawn". Although thought of by many asa menial task best left to persons whosedesire for professional accomplishmentfalls short of those who have walkedthe halls of ourfine institutions of hishereducation. proper mowing managerientis an art form imbedded in science yetperfected through experience andwisdom.

It's easy, right, a no brainer. Justfollow a few simple rules and you'vegot a wel l manicured, proper lymaintained complex.

The fol lowing is a mowingspecification I received for maintenanceof a commercial office complex:

1. Lawn shall be maintained at amowed height of two (2) inches

2. Mowing shall be accomplishedon a once per week schedule

3. No more than l/3 the leaf bladeshal l be removed at any one t ime.

What's wrong with this picture?You can't specify the height of cut, themowing frequency and the portion ofc.ut. You can specify any two but not alltnree

Knowing that the person whowrote these specs was a bean countersitting in a cubical in Kansas and beingfairly certain no one would be walkingthe lawn with a ruler, I bid the job forweekly mowing. After being awardedthe contract, I threw away the specsand mowed the lawn at the heishtnecessary to maintain a qual- i tyappearance and a once per weekmowing frequency.

Please understand I am in no waycondoning disregard for specificationsbut I do bel ieve the conrract ing party.as always has a responsibility to providepotent ia l service providers wi theffecti ve, doable specifications.

The preceding specifications arejust one example of the simplistic thinkingand lack of understandins maintained bvmany people associatJd with propermowrng management.

Mowing management remains themost important aspect in developing theleve I of quality achieved on your athleticturf,. Improper mowing will diminish the

results of an otherwise effective overallmanagement strategy.

Here's much of what science hasto say about proper mowing technique:

1. Never remove more than l/3the leaf blade at any one t ime

2. Always mow when the grassis dry

3. Always mow with sharpmower blades

Here's an approach to applyingthese 3 little rules:

Never remove more than Il3 theleaf blade at any one time. Most coolseason turf prefers a mowing heightbetween 1.5" and 3". Perennial rye canbe maintained comfortably on the lowside of this range. Blue grass falls inthe middle and tall fescue prefers to bemaintained on the higher side of thisrange. That's only half the equation.What are your capabilities? How oftencan you mow? Maintaining turf at 1.5"under average fertility conditions wouldrequire mowing every otherday in orderto even come close to followine the 1/3rule. You would only be remo-ving 7r"or so per cut. If you attempt to maintainturf at a lower height of cut than wouldbe dictated by the frequency, you onlyserve to stress the turf by removing toomuch green leaf and also cause anexcessive bui ldup of c l ippings.Fertilizing to improve the quality anddensity of turi which is stressed due tormproper mowlng management. onlycompounds the problem. Mowing mustcome first.

In my opinion, in order to maintainan acceptable degree ofturfdensity andplayability, recreational athletic turf mustbe mowed twice per week or once every3 to 4 days. In my experience thismowing schedule has limited turf to amowed height of approximately 2.5".Maintaining a mowed height muchhigher than 2.5", the leagues becomeupset and the turf looses density. At alower height I accumulate clipping. Acouple options available in dealing withcl ipping accumulat ion caused byimproper mowing frequency are clippingremoval and double cr-rtting or mowingtwice on the same day. In either case

you are attempting to put a band-aid onthe most limiting long-termproblem youare causing which is turf stress. Thisturf stress is due to removal of too muchgreen leaf. By collecting and removingclippings you are adding insult to injuryby eliminating the recycling of nutrientsheld within the clippings.

Always mow when the grass is dry.Yea right. Sounds good from where Isit. Realistically, always mowing whenthe grass is dry can't be done with anydegree of consistency. Whenconfronted with this dilemma and siventhe option, I try to mow common gioundwhen it's wet and attempt to allow theplaying areas to dry out. If I have tomow playing areas when they are wetI try to alternate areas so that the sameareas are not always mowed wet. Everyarea takes its turn.

The followins comments are inreference to rotar! mowers althoughmuch of the same can be said for relltype mowers.

Always mow with sharp mowerblades. Again. this would seem a logicalobservat ion. The sharper you maintainyour mower blades, the better the qualityof cut. Dul l mower blades tend' to r iband shred the grass blade as apposebto cut t ing i t c lean. In addi t ion toincreasing ihe potential for fungus indamp conditions, shredding of the bladetips also becomes a consideration as theweather becomes more hot and drv intothe summer months. Under certainconditions turf mowed with dull bladestends to acquire a whitish cast or haylike appearance due to desiccation anddrying out of the shredded blade tips.Transpiration or loss of moisture throughthe leaf is increased as the exposedsurface area of leaf tissue is increaseddue to shreddins. The clean cutprovided by sharp mower bladesreduces this moisture loss thus aidins indrought tolerance of the turf.

Along with the agronomic benefitsof maintaining sharp mower blades, afaster mowing speed may be maintainedwhile still providing a quality cut.

A grinder designed for the task ofsharpening blades is highlyrecommended as apposed to a typicalbench grinder or hand held grinder.Blade sharpening gnnders typically havea table designed to help stabilize theblade dur ing the sharpening processthus providing a truer grind and moreconsistent bevel . They also have alarger diameter grinding wheel with acollrser textllre that rotates at a slowerRPM when compared to a typical bench

July/August2004

or hand held gr inder. The largerdiameter wheel provides a moreappropriate bevel to the blade. Theslower rotat ion speed and coursertextured wheel help to maintain bladetemper by minimizing heat and as suchminimize blade wear. In addition tomaintaining a sharp edge, blades shouldoeriodicallv be checked for balance andirueness. There is nothing more obviouson an otherwise well manicure field thaneither dull blades or a bent blade. I knowofbusinesses that sharpen blades everyday. I would recommend sharpeningevery sixteen to twenty hours of use.Under no circumstances would I allowblade sharpening to go more than onceoer week under normal use.^

In addition to blade quality themower deck should be cleaned.Accumulation of clippings under themower deck interferes with properairflow, clipping discharge and qualityof cut.

In order to optimize efficiencywhen mowing, I typically choose tomaintain common ground at a higherheight of cut thus allowing for a onceper week mowing frequency whi lemowing the playing areas lower andmore frequently. This only works if themowing he ighi of your michine can beadjusted efficiently without too muchdown time. On one site in particulardueto budgetary restraints I was mowingthe ent ire complex on a 4 - 5 dayschedule in an attempt to keep theplaying areas under control. At thismowing frequency I was unable tomaintain the mowedheight of the playingareas at 2.5" without excessive clippingaccumulation. For this reason I startedmowing the playing areas on a 3 - 4day schedule at 2.5" and extended thefrequency on the common ground toonce per week (every other mowing ofplaying areas) whi le increasing themowed height to 3.5". I managed tomaintain the same number of man-hours per month, keep costs within thebudget and increase the quality of theplaying areas. The common areasshowed l i t t le change in qual i ty. I fanything the common ground improvedin qual i ty and appearance due toreduced turf stress and less clippingbuilduo.

I^believe turf maintained at a hisherheieht olcut wi l l maintain betterdeisi tvaniquality as long as the 1/3 rule i.sfollowed, than would turf maintained ata lower height of cut while not followingthe 1/3 rule.

For me, a /+" mowing heightadjustment dictated by varYingenvironmental conditions in combinationwith slight modifications to the mowingschedule have proven to be the greatestasset in maintaining a quality athleticturf. In order for this strategy to workmowing must be a priority in your workschedule.

If you are like most and maintainyour athletic fields within a five-dayworkweek, you are limited in schedulingoptions if you intend to mow on a 3 or4-day schedule. First, save Wednesdayas a rain day. Monday & Tuesday,Thursday & Friday are mowing days.If you mow on Monday, you can eithermow Thursday or Friday. If you mowTuesday, you are limited to your followup mowing being Friday, If you mowThursday you are limited to your nextmowing being Monday. If you mowFriday, you can either mow Monday orTuesday.

"Tr icks of the trade" formaintaining the appearance andplayability of your turf

when mowing on a3 - 4 dayschedule.

1. Prioritize between playing areasand common ground.

2. Watch the weather reports andvary your N{onday - TuesCay orThursday - Friday mowing day basedon the forecast

3. If growth patterns allow, youcan lower the height by t/o" on the 3day cycle to gain some wiggle room inthe schedule

4. If you mow in the rain, or whenthe grass is excessively wet, you canraise the beightV+" to minimize clumpingand lower it back on the next 3 day cycle

5. If clippings start to accumulateyou can mow 3 consecut ive 3-daycycles to help el iminate excessiveclippings. (Tuesday, Friday, Monday,Thursday.) In this situation you wouldhave to mow the following Monday tomaintain a maximum of 4 days betweenmowings.

6. I f you miss a day, raise theheight V+" the following day and lowerit back on the next normally scheduledmowing day.

7. As growth slows later into thesummer and again in late fall move to a4 - 5 day schedule by mowing Friday,Wednesday, Monday, Friday (in thatorder). It 's the only way to maintain a 4- 5 day mowing schedule wi thoutmowing on the weekend. Only everyolher week requires two mowings.

providing substantial labor savings whilemaintaining turf quality.

Regardless of what type of turf youmaintain. when i t comes to mowingmanagement, " the proof is in theputting".

xJim Hermann is President of TotalControl Inc., Athletic Field Managementand Consultine. r

Don't Miss the 2004Rutgers TurfgrassResearch Field Days!

by Brad Park, Rutgers Universitypark @ aesop.rutgers.edu

The 2004 Rutgers TurfgrassResearch Field Days - "The FinestProsrams in the World" - are an annualtrig6light on the calendar of eventssponsored by the New Jersey TurfgrassAssociation and the Rutgers Center forTurfsrass Science. The Lawn andLandscape Field Day wi l l be heldWednesday, July 28,2004 at theAdelphia Research Farm.R.egistration .r"'ill begin at 8:00 am andthe first 50 registrants will receive a freecap. Presentations will be given on awide range of topics including turfgrassspecies that are commonly utilized onNew Jersey sports fields and the latestweed control programs and products.Research plot tours will conclude at 3:00pm.

The Golf and Fine Turf ResearchField Day will be held on Thursday,July 29, 2004 at Hort. Farm II -Ryders Lane in North Brunswick, NJ.Registrat ion wi l l begin at 8:30 am.Tours will end at 3:00 pm.

A separate $35.00 fee (includeslunch and morning coffee) will apply foreach day, but those who wish to attendboth Field Days may do so. Pesticiderecertification credits will be offeredon both days. For addi t ionalinformation please call Dick Caton 856-85 3-5 97 3 ; or Marlene Kar aslk 7 32-932-9400 x 339.

Also, it 's never too early to markyour calendars for the New JerseyTurfgrass and Landscape Expo2004. Expo 2004 wi l l be heldDecember 7,8, and 9, 2004 at theTrump Taj Mahal Casino-Resort inAtlantic City, NJ. r

July/August 2004