No Mowing Trial - Pitt Town

3rd Evaluation and Results

Introduction

At the conclusion of the second trial stage all plots at the Pitt Town site were let go and not mown or maintained for a 20 week period between 15th January 2007 and 7th June 2007. The purpose of this trial is to observe which varieties would easily get out of control, become invasive and unmanageable if they were not maintained for a period of time. This trial will provide real data on which varieties perform the best under these conditions requiring the least amount of maintenance, attention and could be left for a long period while still having an adequate quality lawn.

General Information and Results

On the 7th June 2007 all plots had been left untouched for 20 weeks and 3 days, this period of time was sufficient enough for the purpose of the trial, so that each individual plot could reach a growing height suitable to measure and average the differences between each variety tested. A and B plots for each variety had 10 random readings taken from each plot to give an overall average for each variety. All plots received moderate, sensible to sufficient irrigation over this period.

Table 1

The following table shows the measurements collected on the A plots at the Pitt Town site. (All measurements are in mm).

Readings Kikuyu 1A Kikuyu11A Kikuyu 15A Palmetto 2A Palmetto12A Palmetto 16A
1 298 411 499 138 117 88
2 296 312 498 98 118 110
3 296 305 512 118 129 145
4 320 338 522 112 119 140
5 325 402 433 142 136 110
6 310 456 445 164 88 109
7 288 489 460 162 110 113
8 298 414 553 138 108 99
9 268 398 449 132 120 108
10 345 407 481 148 148 125
Average 304.4 393.2 485.2 135.2 119.3 114.7
 
Readings Sir W 3A Sir W 7A Sir W 17A Smaster 4A Smaster 8A Smaster 18A
1 158 214 156 173 160 150
2 195 173 188 188 123 222
3 163 184 210 158 142 255
4 255 173 200 178 144 241
5 165 175 145 188 156 220
6 185 168 168 185 168 230
7 228 183 178 167 154 220
8 179 175 205 183 178 146
9 140 148 209 194 147 148
10 198 153 134 184 153 190
Average 186.6 174.6 179.3 179.8 152.5 202.2
 
Readings Greenlees 5A Greenlees 9A Greenlees 13A Empire 6A Empire 10A Empire 14A
1 270 263 295 108 106 91
2 284 215 281 108 119 91
3 216 220 225 111 127 92
4 160 204 167 124 139 100
5 162 243 138 134 138 100
6 181 135 182 117 129 102
7 195 143 189 119 102 109
8 238 152 258 123 113 111
9 247 200 222 119 110 119
10 238 243 220 93 183 130
Average 219.1 201.8 217.7 115.6 126.6 104.5
 

Table 2

The following table shows the measurements collected on the B plots at the Pitt Town site.
(All measurements are in mm).

Readings Kikuyu 1B Kikuyu 11B Kikuyu 15B Palmetto 2B Palmetto 12B Palmetto 16B
1 278 655 609 88 119 80
2 286 648 633 88 168 88
3 278 465 630 78 144 105
4 305 636 648 74 128 130
5 260 564 655 86 90 110
6 280 558 644 85 80 110
7 265 493 520 70 110 109
8 268 412 535 72 108 109
9 276 541 580 60 120 98
10 258 500 600 55 148 110
Average 275.4 547.2 605.4 75.6 121.5 104.9
 
Readings Sir W 3B Sir W 7B Sir W 17B Smaster 4B Smaster 8B Smaster 18B
1 129 166 88 123 128 190
2 153 137 162 185 159 150
3 173 157 148 186 144 110
4 141 173 150 257 128 113
5 127 195 158 204 169 130
6 116 160 150 170 186 112
7 125 132 125 159 188 146
8 155 148 112 170 202 140
9 155 155 122 177 112 138
10 190 139 159 94 159 107
Average 146.4 156.2 137.4 139.6 157.5 133.6
 
Readings Greenlees 5B Greenlees 9B Greenlees 13B Empire 6B Empire 10B Empire 14B
1 270 210 248 114 109 118
2 284 208 229 97 127 137
3 216 127 147 124 137 112
4 160 116 186 114 133 123
5 162 149 188 110 116 136
6 181 169 220 118 110 99
7 195 174 227 121 117 88
8 238 148 223 117 125 99
9 247 149 199 128 137 101
10 238 208 198 131 139 111
Average 219.1 165.8 206.5 117.4 125 112.4
 

Table 3

The following table includes the averages of the 3 individual A and B plots for each variety. It also includes an average of the A and B plots combined. (All measurements are in mm).

Varieties Fert A Plots Unfert B Plots Average of A+B combined
Kikuyu 394.3 476 435.15
Palmetto 123.1 100.6 111.85
Sir Walter 180.2 146.6 163.4
Smaster 178.2 143.6 160.9
Greenlees 212.9 197.1 205
Empire 115.6 118.3 116.95
 

During observations and recording of measurements on this trial we found that the Kikuyu in the Fertilised A plots was actually on average a lower height than the non fertilized B plots. This is because the fertilized plots grew a lot quicker and became softer causing the leaf to fall over and not be upright, whereas the leaf on the non fertilised B plots were not soft but were upright so they stayed at a taller height. It was also noted that Empire had a slightly lower growth rate in the fertilized A plots compared with the non fertilized B plots. This result is most likely due to the slow release fertilser being applied over 6 months prior to the trial beginning.  As a result the effect of the fertilizer had most likely worn off quicker on the Empire and had no significant difference between the non fertilsed plots and the fertilized plots. Other varieties such as the Greenlees, Shademaster, Sir Walter and Palmetto showed that the average growth was taller when fertilsed with a slow release fertilizer prior to performing no mowing.

As the results show Kikuyu by a long way was the fastest growing variety with the tallest growth, followed by Greenlees Couch and then Sir Walter and Shademaster. Empire and Palmetto were significantly the best 2 varieties in this situation where no mowing was performed.

When observing the plots we did find that the Empire had the most even growth with higher uniformity followed closely by Palmetto. Compared to the other varieties in the trial Kikuyu was the most rampant and out of control by a significant amount.

Conclusion

In conclusion it is clear that Palmetto and Empire are the 2 best turf varieties in this trial for low maintenance and having significantly less growth when left for periods of time without any mowing or maintenance.

The results show us that if you have periods of no mowing for short or longer periods either with a home lawn or lawn for commercial use it would be more sensible to use either Empire or Palmetto turf varieties. For home lawns Empire or Palmetto would be the obvious choice. If you are going away on holidays or simply you can not mow your lawn for whatever reason Empire and Palmetto will grow to the shortest heights with the best quality, making them both more manageable when you return to mowing again. The results show that generally it is better not to fertilise your lawn prior to going away when no mowing can be performed due to the higher growth rates.

For commercial use of turf for roadsides, factories, large amenity areas, large banks and hard to mow areas the best choice would be Empire Turf. Empire keeps the most even, uniform growth and will only grow to an average height of 10-12cm when not mown for periods of time. Empire is great for commercial applications where erosion or damage may occur as it has very good erosion control capabilities. (Please see plant and turf erosion control paper here). Empire also has very good drought survivability and is ideal for these low maintenance commercial applications where maintenance is very low.

If other varieties were to be used for residential or commercial applications in this way namely Kikuyu, Greenlees, Sir Walter and Shademaster they would grow too tall, require too much maintenance and become somewhat invasive and a lot harder to manage. Empire and Palmetto can be left a lot longer without any maintenance or mowing without becoming too tall, untidy and invasive into other unwanted areas.

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