When mowing your lawn, there are a few golden rules to follow to get the best cut. In this blog, we will specifically focus on what height your lawn should be mown at and look at some helpful tools to help you measure your current height.
What are the Golden Rules?
Don’t cut your lawn too short for your variety. Measuring your lawn’s height of cut (HOC) will help you know if you are cutting either too high or too short for your turf type.
Measure how much you cut each time you mow. By doing this, it will help you stop removing too much of the leaf in one go. We recommend removing no more than one-third of the leaf with each pass.
Adjust your inputs to accommodate your HOC. The shorter you go, the more inputs your lawn will require. Measuring your HOC will help you adjust this appropriately.
How Do I Measure My Lawns Mowing Height?
There are a few different tools that you can use to help measure your lawn mowing height. Some mowers already have their mowing heights labelled for each adjustable height notch, but if your mower doesn’t have this, don’t fret!
Measuring Your Lawn Height of Cut with the Allett Grass Gauge
If you want an accurate way of measuring your lawn’s HOC, one of the best and most precise ways to do this is with the Allett Grass Gauge. This premium product provides accurate measurements while being easy to use. Push the prism firmly down onto the ground and look at the grass’s height against the scale.
The grass gauge also allows you to inspect the quality of your grass blade up close as if you were at a bug’s level on the turf. This will also help you inspect the quality of your cut and see if any your mower blades need to be sharpened or changed. The scale provides measurements up to 50mm high and has a 100mm wide viewing width.
Measure HOC on Your Lawn Mower
Another way to measure your HOC is to measure the distance between your mower’s blades and the bottom of the wheels. To do this, we first recommend disconnecting the spark plug from your mower to ensure that it won’t turn on. Then, turn the mower upside down on a flat surface. After this, use a tape measure and look at the distance from your mower’s blades to the bottom of the wheel. This will give you your lawn mowing height.
If you are using this method, we recommend taking note of all of the mower’s HOC at each notch, so you don’t need to repeat this process if you are changing your lawn’s mowing height in the future.
What Height Should I Mow My Lawn At?
Each turf type has a preferred range of mowing heights at which it can grow its best. So, let’s take a look at what height your turf type should be mown at:
Guideline for ideal mowing heights:
(General rule of thumb: shorter for summer, longer for winter)
Buffalo grass (Sir Walter DNA Certified): 30 to 50mm
Hybrid Bermuda (TifTuf): 5 to 30mm
Zoysia matrella (Sir Grange): 5 to unmown
Zoysia japonica (Zoysia Australis): 10 to ummown
Kikuyu: 30 to 50mm
Green couch: 5 to 30mm
Queensland blue couch: 5 to 30mm
Broadleaf carpet grass: 30 to 50m
Fescue: 30 to 50mm
For more lawn care and mowing tips and advice, make sure you check out our other blogs here.
Why Sir Grange Zoysia is the Perfect ‘Contaminant Free’ Ground Covering
In light of increasing reports of Asbestos being found in contaminated woodchips and bark material across various public space areas, we must identify superior contaminant-free, safe solutions and alternatives for these areas.
Woodchips, mulch and other mediums like sand are often used in playgrounds and swing areas as a low-maintenance ground covering, but they rarely stay clean and user-friendly for very long and have been found to suffer from asbestos contamination. This is highly concerning when there is a much better ground covering that could be used, a green and low-maintenance solution that is free of contaminants and safe for our families and environments.
This turf variety is Sir Grange Zoysia. Sir Grange is a Zoysia Matrella grass that offers a level of versatility in turfgrass that has been unseen until recent years. It has a stunning fine blade and a beautiful dark green colour. But most importantly, it can be left completely unmown and still look fantastic.
This makes Sir Grange Zoysia the perfect solution to the current asbestos issue. Woodchips can be removed and replaced with an incredible grass that requires next to no mowing at all, is soft and safe for playgrounds, is much more aesthetically pleasing and provides the assurance that the new ground covering will be asbestos free.
Often when we think about grass, it’s in the context of a lawn, sporting field or expansive park areas, and Sir Grange Zoysia can certainly be used in these applications. But its areas that we wouldn’t traditionally adopt grass where Sir Grange is truly providing an alternative floor covering and solution for troublesome landscaping areas. Garden beds, playgrounds, median strips, alongside bike paths and pedestrian footpaths – all of these areas are high maintenance areas for councils to maintain and are commonly filled with woodchips and other materials that requires regular replacement and upkeep. Sir Grange Zoysia can be used in all of these areas providing a much better outcome for councils and for the public.
Sir Grange is great in areas that are difficult to get to for maintenance purposes and can tolerate high wear once established. The reason this turf requires less mowing is due to it having a very slow growth pattern and limited height of growth. Sir Grange will grow until it reaches a certain height (about 15 to 20cm). After that, it virtually stops growing vertically and looks fantastic.
This makes Sir Grange the ideal solution for public parks and playgrounds, council verges, roadsides, sloping areas, sporting applications like golf courses and in the home lawn and play areas just like this one.
Available Australia wide
When purchasing your Sir Grange Zoysia lawn, make sure you are dealing with a genuine Lawn Solutions Australia turf supplier.
You can find the contact details of these suppliers near you here.
Are you looking to elevate your lawn by lowering its height of cut (HOC)? Reducing your lawn’s HOC is not always essential, but it can improve the aesthetic of your home and lawn, especially if you are after a more manicured look. In this blog, we look at all you need to know about effectively bringing down your lawn’s HOC.
What Time of Year Can I Lower My Lawns HOC?
When lowering your mowing height, it is best only to do so while the lawn actively grows throughout the warmer months in spring and summer. This will ensure that the lawn can repair itself quickly. It is best to avoid doing this in autumn and spring.
Lowering HOC on Couch and Kikuyu
When giving Kikuyu and Couch grasses (like TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda) a low mow, you can take the lawn down almost back to dirt in the one mow, and the grass will be able to recover. Generally, you will only need to take the lawn down a notch or two below your preferred height and then, on your next mow, raise it back up to your preferred height. It is best to only do this in the warmer months when the grass is actively growing and should be avoided in autumn and winter.
Lowering HOC on Buffalo and Zoysia
When lowering your HOC on Buffalo and Zoysia grasses (like Sir Walter DNA Certified, Zoysia Australis and Sir Grange Zoysia), you may need to do this over a few goes as they will take longer to recover. Take your mower down by 2 or 3 notches, then wait for around 50% green up. Best to only do this in spring and summer and avoid in autumn and winter.
If you are wanting to maintain your HOC above this height, raise your mower back up to your preferred mowing height and continue to mow regularly.
If you want to maintain your HOC below this height after the grass has had a 50% green up, repeat this process of lowering your HOC by 2 -3 notches.
Recovery Tips
Once this is done, we recommend applying a granular fertiliser like our Lawn Solutions Premium Fertiliser and increase irrigation to the turf over the following days.
Once your preferred height has been achieved, to maintain your lawn at this height, ensure you are mowing the area regularly. As a general guide, you will need to mow your lawn regularly enough so that only one-third of the leaf is removed with each pass.
How to Get a Lower HOC When Cylinder Mowing?
If you want to lower your HOC when mowing shorter with a cylinder mower, it is best to use an rotary mower to do the height reset rather than using a sharp cylinder mower (this can be dependent on the height you want to achieve). This will take a couple of mows in different directions. Once the height is down, wait until there is new green leaf growth and mow again with the rotary mower. Following this, get your cylinder mower out, adjust the mower to your new HOC, and commence mowing regularly. This will help tighten the surface.
What Height Should I Mow My Lawn at?
Different lawn types have different recommended mowing heights. Knowing your lawn’s recommended height will help ensure it looks its best.
Guideline for ideal mowing heights:
(General rule of thumb: shorter for summer, longer for winter)
Green couch: 5 to 30mm
Buffalo grass (Sir Walter): 30 to 50mm
Kikuyu: 30 to 50mm
Zoysia matrella (Sir Grange): 5 to unmown
Zoysia japonica (Zoysia Australis): 10 to ummown
Queensland blue couch: 5 to 30mm
Broadleaf carpet grass: 30 to 50m
Hybrid Bermuda (TifTuf): 5 to 30mm
Fescue: 30 to 50mm
For more lawn care tips and advice, make sure you check out our other lawn care blogs here.
When enjoying your lawn on a summer’s afternoon, flies and mosquitos can be quite a nuisance! So, what is the best way to keep the bugs at bay? In this blog, we will look at various mosquito and insect repellents that will help make spending time outdoors more enjoyable.
The Thermacell E55 Rechargeable Mosquito Repellent
Thermacell has a great range of mosquito repellents, but the E55 Rechargeable Mosquito Repellent is the best overall choice. This model is easy to use, starting with the push of a single button, protecting a 28m2 zone. The Thermacell has a 12-hour repellent cartridge included, which is unscented and easy to replace. They are easy to charge and have a run time of 5 and a half hours.
The Thermacell Insect Repeller Perimeter System – 2 Pack
If you want to cover a larger area, the Thermacell Perimeter System has a larger 42m2 protection zone from mosquitoes. This model still contains the same perks as the E55 but needs fuel cartridges and is not battery-charged. The model has a great variety of mounts and can be used out on your grassed area or patio.
Bug Fans
If your primary concern is keeping flies and insects away from food, a bug fan might be the way to go. Flies, mosquitoes, and other insects don’t like flying into air currents, so if you can have a current of air near where you are entertaining or near your food, there should be fewer bugs present.
Bug fans will spin quietly and have a soft, flexible blade that stops if they come into contact with an object, making them safe around children. Bug fans will usually have a reflective pattern on the blades, which flies and bugs will steer clear of. They are odourless, portable, and chemical-free.
Candles and Repellent Coils
If you don’t mind the scent of citronella, a candle or repellent coil might be the way to go. These are generally the cheaper, longer-lasting, standard way to go. However, they might not be ideal if you are not a fan of the scent or smoke they can produce.
There is a great range of citronella candles available; some of our favourites are the Santalum Estate Citronella Sandalwood Soy Candle, as it comes in a stylish glass container and has three wicks with a 35-hour burn time. Another favourite is the Waxworks Stone Tabletop Oil Burner. The sleek and stylish oil burner provides effective protection without using chemicals.
The Bite Shield Diffuser with 10pk Coil & Stand is another natural way to help prevent mosquitoes from entering your entertaining space. Each coil will provide up to 6 hours of repellency and comes with a handy shield diffuser.
Bug-A-Salt
If you are after a fun, safe and non-toxic way to conquer bugs the Bug-A-Salt will be your weapon of choice! This uses ordinary table salt, without using any batteries to defend your turf! All you need to do is load it up with salt, then aim and take shot at any pesky flies or mosquitoes!
For more lawn care tips and advice, make sure you check out our other lawn care blogs here.
Warm-season grass varieties include Couch, Kikuyu, Buffalo, and Zoysia grasses. These are the most common varieties found across Australia and for good reason. In this blog, we explain what warm-season grasses are and why they are the best choice for Australian lawns.
What are Warm-season Grasses?
Warm-season grasses are known as C4 grasses and are suited to the hot Australian summers and relatively warm winters. The C refers to carbon and the 4 is the number of carbon atoms in the first compound produced by photosynthesis. What this results in is an adaptability to higher temperatures and light with lower requirements for moisture.
For reference, cool-season grasses have 3 carbon atoms and are known as C3 grasses. C4 grasses are considered more heat and water-stress tolerant than C3 species. This is because C4s have an evolutionary advantage for adaptation to hot and dry climates making them more efficient with conserving water.
Geographically, we have a limited true cool season area compared to North America and Europe. To apply the US terminology, in Australia, the north is the warm season zone, and the rest is a transition zone with some isolated cool season pockets.
Benefits of Warm-season Grasses
There are some significant benefits to warm-season grasses in such a climate.
Less watering requirements.
Higher resilience during warmer months.
Higher heat tolerance.
Better soil stability due to generally having more robust root systems.
Better capacity for self-repair and lateral growth.
Higher suitability broadly to the Australian climate.
Warm Season Grasses in Winter
Warm season grasses can hold their colour well throughout the warmer months. But when the temperatures start to cool, photosynthesis is limited to conserve energy and they can lose some of their green colour during dormancy.
As mentioned earlier, most areas of Australia only experience a limited cool season, so warm-season grasses can hold up quite well in the Australian winter. Once the temperatures begin to warm up the grass will be able to produce chlorophyll again and return in colour.
A solution to this discolouration of warm-season grasses in winter is to apply a pigment product like ColourGuard Plus. ColourGuard Plus will improve the colour of your lawn instantly.
Watering Warm-season Grasses
Most warm-season varieties once established will be able to thrive on mostly rainfall with additional watering when required. On the other hand, cool-season varieties will need a substantial amount of water to survive compared to warm-season varieties.
If you have a warm season grass, make sure you raise the mowing height a little to help it retain nutrients during the cooler months.
Choosing the Best Grass for You
Climate consideration is an important factor when deciding on a turf variety for your home.
For this reason, we always recommend warm-season grasses and in particular improved varieties with superior drought tolerances like the Smart Approved WaterMark awarded TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda.
If shade is a factor, then buffalo grasses like Sir Walter DNA Certified may be the perfect solution for you.
Native plants make sense in our hot climate, the drought resilience, adaptability to thrive in the poor soils and ability to help bring in native wildlife makes them the obvious choice for easy gardening at home. I love adding in native plants to my garden simply because they look good and come with beautiful flowers!
Combining Native Plants and Lawns
Combining lawns and native plants can be a harmonious combination but there are a few things you need to consider ensuring both thrive together. There are the obvious concerns about sufficient light on the lawn, you don’t want to plant anything too close to the perimeter that will shade out the lawn and think about the flowers as well as the fine stamens and berries that can clog and blunt cylinder mowers. Try to grade the height of your plants having the tallest at the back of the bed and the smallest around the lawn to maximise light.
Native plants in the Proteaceae family such as Grevilleas, Banksia and Hakea have Proteaoide roots just under the surface of the soil that help the plants absorb phosphorus. This makes them sensitive to fertilisers that are high in this element so it’s a good idea to group them together away from exotic plants and be wary when fertilising your lawn so that you do not overdo it as it can kill these sensitive native plants.
Planting Hedges
Hedging is often thought of as a European element in the garden, using exotic species of plants, but hedging doesn’t always have to be in a formal garden or exclusively exotic either. There are many native species of plants that work well in our climate for hedging and can work in many styles of garden, be tightly clipped or looser for a natural appearance. They help to separate garden zones and remove unsightly views as well as create structure to a space by defining boundaries and garden beds.
Endemic Plants
Endemic plants, those that evolved in the area you will be planting them into require little soil preparation, they are used to the conditions and will thrive with minimal interference, just loosen the soil in a wide planting hole to help the first emerging roots. Those that are still native but from a different area will appreciate some help with the ground, dig through some compost and a native fertiliser but steer clear of manures as these can have adverse effects on the root system. Once planted mulch with a coarse bark.
Callistemons
One of the best loose hedges and screening plants, perfect for the back of a garden bed is the callistemon, its fool proof and can tolerate drought, coastal conditions and frost as well as being adaptable to both clay and sandy soils. Callistemons come in a range of sizes too, from the lower growing (up to a metre) ‘Green John’, perfect for a low hedge, the medium sized ‘Macarthur’ will cover a fence to 1.8 metres, but not block out light and the taller ‘Slim’ to 3 metres.
Whatever variety you go for I like to leave them a little loose as this promotes more flowers, perfect for attracting birds. Once flowering has finished you can trim the plant to keep it tidy, sometimes it’s hard to find the right time as they bloom so prolifically but if this is a problem early spring is a good time, if you time it with your lawn renovation your garden will sing.
Coastal Areas
If you have salty coastal conditions and nothing will grow, try the Adenanthos or woolly bush, this native is very hardy to salt-laden winds thanks to its incredibly tactile foliage. Almost silvery in colour this plant looks exactly as the common name makes it sound and it works perfectly as a windbreak to help you grow more sensitive plants behind. Having still air in the garden will also allow you to relax more especially sprawling out on your lawn. If the foliage of this hedging plant isn’t enough for you it also gets a small red flower that is great for native wildlife too.
Attracting Wildlife
Having your plants double up as a wildlife and bird-attracting element to the garden as well as a screen or a feature can only be a benefit and Grevilleas are a great way to have your cake and eat it. Much like the Callistemon, they are incredibly versatile coping with heat, frost, salt and a range of soil types too. New modern varieties of grevillea also open up the rainbow as to what colour you can have in your garden, from subtle greens to flamboyant salmons and reds, as well as everything in-between. I like a variety called ‘Moonlight’ as it has bright creamy white flowers that illuminate a planting scheme, another fail-safe is ‘Robyn Gordon’ and ‘Superb’.
Lilly Pilly
If you are after a more formal look the Lilly Pilly is the plant for you, but you will need to add compost to the soil to aid in the water retention. Naturally a rainforest tree but highly adaptable to the home garden it’s popular as the small leaves knit together to give a dense hedge. There are many varieties from different species including Syzygium, Waterhousia and Acmena. My favourite is the weeping Lilly Pilly as it has a beautiful lime green new growth and a pendulous habit to the foliage. If you are looking for a hedge in a narrow space the Syzygium ‘Pinnacle’ is a good option as it grows up to 6 metres in height but only takes up a metre in garden bed to do so.
Westringia
For lower-growing shrubs the coastal rosemary Westringia is hard to beat. Grey, silver foliage highlights lower parts of the garden and being versatile to clipping you can leave it loose and sprawling or tight and topiarised just make sure you have good drainage as it doesn’t like wet feet or humid air, making it the perfect plant to surround a lawn. This plant is so good in 2015 the variety ‘Grey Box’ was awarded the plant of the year. Ornamental star-like flowers in whites, pinks and even purples can be seen throughout the year.
Ornamental Grasses Around Lawns
Another great type of plant to surround a lawn is the ornamental grasses such as Dianella and Lomandra. These help to soften the edges of a lawn and blend the boundary between lower soft lawn and ornamental planting pockets. Like your lawn ornamental grasses will love free-draining soil and similar water requirements so if there is any spill over from your irrigation it will only benefit the garden.
Australian natives make for a perfect pairing with functional outdoor lawn spaces. For more garden and lawn care tips and advice, check out the Lawn Solutions Australia blog here.
Woodchips and other mediums like sand are often used in playgrounds and swing areas as a low-maintenance ground covering, but they rarely stay clean and user-friendly for very long and in some cases have been found to suffer from contamination.
This is where the incredible versatility of one particular turf variety can provide a successful and visually stunning solution.
This turf variety is Sir Grange Zoysia. Sir Grange is a Zoysia Matrella grass that offers a level of versatility in turfgrass that has been unseen until recent years. It has a stunning fine blade and a beautiful dark green colour. But most importantly, it can be left completely unmown and still look fantastic.
Below is a practical application of Sir Grange at an Early Learning Centre around a play area. This area was a problem area, with woodchip and sand being used unsuccessfully before Sir Grange was adopted as a permanent solution. Much like local parks and playgrounds, this area needed to be safe for children playing, low-maintenance and needed to be visually appealing. Sir Grange Zoysia is the only medium that has been able to provide all of these outcomes and the owner of the facility is absolutely over the moon with the result.
Sir Grange Zoysia Natures Crash Mat
“The kids love it, previously it was sand that blew everywhere, then woodchip that was always wet, full of rubbish and spiders, this stuff is like a big mattress and takes virtually zero maintenance.”
Often when we think about grass, it’s in the context of a lawn, sporting field or expansive park areas, and Sir Grange Zoysia can certainly be used in these applications. But its areas that we wouldn’t traditionally adopt grass where Sir Grange is truly providing an alternative floor covering and solution for troublesome landscaping areas.
Safe landing assured with Sir Grange Zoysia
Sir Grange is great in areas that are difficult to get to for maintenance purposes and can tolerate high wear once established. The reason this turf requires less mowing is due to it having a very slow growth pattern and limited height of growth. Sir Grange will grow until it reaches a certain height (about 15 to 20cm). After that, it virtually stops growing vertically and looks fantastic. This makes Sir Grange the ideal solution for public parks and playgrounds, council verges, roadsides, sloping areas, sporting applications like golf courses and in the home lawn and play areas just like this one.
Available Australia wide
When purchasing your Sir Grange Zoysia lawn, make sure you are dealing with a genuine Lawn Solutions Australia turf supplier.
You can find the contact details of these suppliers near you here.
