Every morning exhaust fumes envelope grounds maintenance yards as mowing teams’ fire up for the daily battle with grass growth. The cost in machinery and fuel adds up to thousands of pounds a year, but there is also the implication to the environment of the continual mowing operation.

Increasingly turf managers are finding regulating grass growth can not only improve turf quality, but the savings in time and costs can also help to cut the carbon footprint and environmental impact.

On golf courses, greenkeepers frequently find that mowing intervals on Primo MAXX treated fairways can be extended by 30% or more, and up to 50% on semi-rough areas. Even greens can be left uncut for a day with minimal loss in playing surface speed – which can be especially useful in letting turf recover after periods of heavy play or stress.

Save Costs
For amenity turf maintenance, including roadside verges, parks and sports fields, mowing regimes can typically be cut by up to 50% with turf in Primo MAXX programmes, with equivalent savings in costs and carbon emissions. Furthermore, for local authorities extending cutting interval reduces disruption to road traffic during mowing operations and nuisance noise levels from strimmer or brushcutter use in urban areas.

Experience has also shown Primo MAXX programmes can reduce the volume of grass clippings by up to 60% – significantly reducing volumes for composting or mulching.

Better Results
Microbial activity during the composting oxidation process releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. Grass cut and mulched also releases CO2  as it decomposes. The short cycle means virtually 100% of the CO2 locked up during growth is released during decomposition.

Furthermore, grass clippings are difficult to compost alone, since they tend to be highly nitrogenous and distort the compost’s carbon:nitrogen balance; which ideally should be around 30:1. Reducing the volume of grass in a compost mix could help to achieve a better result, with less CO2 released.