8.4 Creating an annual maintenance schedule
8.4.2 Theoretical mowing regime for pitch quality grade 3
1 If the minimum standard we wish to achieve is a grade 3, then the grass on the pitch is supposed to be maintained between 25mm and 60mm (this is for any time in-between games, not for match preparation). So, this is a range of 35mm between the lowest and highest growth heights.
Often many pitches, irrespective of the grade, might be maintained between 30mm and 50mm outside of games. This means that most pitches will actually be maintained, from a grass sward height perspective at grades 4 or sometimes grade 5, which is probably the norm for this particular activity. Have a look at the table we have just shown you to confirm this.
If you remove one-third (⅓rd) of the leaf height in any one cut, then you could let it grow to its maximum height of 60mm if you had the height of cut set at 40mm (i.e. 60mm minus 1/3rd (or 20mm) is 40mm). The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed that if the height is from 40 to 50mm this would actually be classed as a grade 4 quality standard, but all we want for now is to make sure the standard does not fall below a grade 3.
