Grass renewal – lessons from the world’s best
Science behind ryegrass growth
It might be hard to digest, the the best practioners of grass renewal are … dairyfarmers. Their livelihood depends upon it, the industry amounts to billions of dollars, the plant science technology, it development and application is staggering. It’s virtually its own economy. Even the the development of turfgrass varieties is an offshoot of pastoral varietal development and breeding. So, at reseedmylawn.com.au we are unashamed to borrow from the evidence base of science developed from the pastoral industry. Take for instance, how a ryegrass plant physiologically develop. As the 4 th leaf unfurls, the first or youngest is in senescence, redistributing its stored leaf assimilates back to the youngest emerged blade. In dairy parlance, this is the best time for grazing for optimum grass quantity and quality. From a turf management perspective, this is the optimal time for cutting, when the plant is at its most vigorous with the highest stores of carbohydrate to bounce back from stress and throw up new leaf. The way to think it is charge-recharge and so forth. One way to kill a plant is not letting it restore its carbohydrate levels by sustained short interval low mowing. Not exactly a scientific paper I know, but thinking from the plants perspective is a missed ingredient to maintaing an ideal lawn.