Essential Tips for Maintaining Shade-Tolerant Turf

The Australian coastline can be unforgiving as far as climate goes. Notably, the coast area receives sunlight all year long with a few months of mild cold weather. Thus, property owners prefer to grow trees and install shade sails for protection against direct sunlight. In this case, it is a no-brainer that the most suitable turf is the shade-tolerant type. That said, sound agronomic practices are the cornerstone for managing shade-tolerant turf.

This article highlights essential tips for achieving a lush lawn using shade-tolerant turf. Read on.

Raise Mowing Height

As much as you want your lawn to stay low, it is a counterproductive move when mowing shade-tolerant grass. Notably, grass capture sunlight to manufacture food through a process called photosynthesis. Since shade-tolerant grass receives limited sunlight during the day, the plants need to maximise the time by capturing as much sunlight as possible. Therefore, mowing shade-tolerant grass too low is counterproductive because you end up cutting most of the leaves responsible for photosynthesis. Conversely, raising the mowing height spares more grass leaves and exposes a greater surface area to the sun for maximum absorption. However, ensure the grass has the same height so that your lawn looks neat.

Manage Water Needs Appropriately

One of the main disadvantages of managing shade-tolerant turf is irrigation. Shaded areas of a lawn are cooler and experience reduced evaporation rates. Therefore, the grass in shady spots does not require a lot of water since excess amounts lead to waterlogging eventual death of plants. However, shade-tolerant grass that grows under a tree will need additional water due to competition from the tree. Therefore, it is essential to consider various factors when setting up an irrigation system on a lawn since the last thing you need is to over-water or under-water the grass.

Reduce Foot Traffic

As mentioned earlier, a shade-tolerant turf needs to maximise sunlight absorption, which is only possible by exposing as many leaves as possible. Therefore, when you allow foot traffic on turf, the excess stress eventually leads to deterioration in particular spots. Consequently, it reduces the amount of turf surface area exposed to sunlight. In this regard, it is vital to minimise foot traffic on shade-tolerant turf to a bare minimum if you want the landscape to thrive. The best way to reduce foot traffic on shade-tolerant grass is to install paving so that people can avoid the turf.

If you would like to learn more, contact companies that sell products like Sapphire Buffalo turf.