Tradition meets change at SABO-Maschinenfabrik GmbH from Gummersbach. Since its sale to the Munich-based investment company Mutares, the specialist for walk-behind lawn mowers has been breaking new ground. What has been good for over 65 years is set to become even better. “I want to take SABO back to where it belongs,” says Managing Director Fatmir Veselaj. In an interview with Wirtschaftsforum, he explains how this is to be achieved. To the interview
WHICH TYPE OF GRASS FOR WHICH PURPOSE?
Not all lawns are created equal. Because there are at least as many different seed mixtures as there are uses for them. When selecting the right grass seed, apart from location and soil condition, the most important factor to consider is how you intend to use your lawn. Confused? Don’t worry: we will briefly introduce you to the three most important types of lawn.
Ornamental Lawn
Ornamental lawns or English lawns are primarily intended for representational purposes and are therefore suitable for house and front gardens. It is dense, fine-leaved and delights its owners with a lush green. However, it is not very resilient. It may be walked on, but playing children or frolicking dogs quickly put an end to it. Its growth rate is low – its maintenance requirements, on the other hand, are high. Frequent mowing is required as well as verticutting, watering and fertilizing. Its ideal cutting height is 5 cm.
Play and Utility Turf
This popular lawn variety is the “all-rounder” among the lawn varieties. It is ideally suited for home gardens, public grounds, lawns or housing estates. The variety “RSM 2.3 Utility-Play Turf” is particularly popular with gardeners. It is robust, resilient and stress resistant – even to drought. Play and utility turf grows medium strong, dense and is usually short cut tolerant. The maintenance effort depends on the load, but is comparatively low. The optimum cutting height is 3.5 to 5 cm.
Sports Turf
Turf on sports fields must withstand high loads. The sports turf mixtures therefore use the particularly tread-resistant and regenerative grasses German ryegrass and meadow grass. With the addition of water and fertiliser, this turf can develop a hardy grain that can withstand extreme stresses such as regular football games. It is also resistant to weeds. However, this type of lawn is rarely used in gardens due to its rather rustic appearance. Its ideal cutting height is 4 to 5 cm.
More color in the garden: the flower meadow
Why just a lawn? Why not also create a bed with a flower meadow? With its diversity of species, it is pretty to look at and becomes a valuable biotope for small animals and insects such as butterflies, wild bees and bumblebees. Maintenance is relatively low: mowing twice a year is sufficient; fertilizer is applied only when necessary. In specialist stores you will find flower meadow mixtures that are adapted to the different types of soil. And our side discharge mowers ensure the perfect cut.
4-5cm cutting height