Dealing with Your Overgrown Lawn

Welcome to the jungle! Here’s what to do when your grass, lawn, or backyard has become overgrown and a little unruly.

When you lead a busy lifestyle, have children to care for, a demanding career or something else is taking up your time; everything else falls by the wayside. Even something as simple as remembering to check the mailbox becomes an arduous task – let alone wading through the wasteland that now appears to be your back yard. 

However, there is going to come a time when you need to get on top of it. Your property price could suffer if you decide to sell, and it could soon become a haven for rats, mice, and other small critters who need somewhere to live. The first sight of a rat will surely have you on the phone to the Rotorua rubbish dump, or somewhere similar, that can take all your unwanted trash, garden waste, and tree trimmings.

However, knowing how and where to start is half the battle, so here is a step-by-step guide for combatting your overgrown lawn and section – one waste removal trip at a time.

Step One: The Clean-Up

As eager as you might be to get stuck into the lawns with your mower, you’re not quite there yet. If you go gung-ho with your lawnmower now, you could risk chewing the kids’ favourite rugby ball into confetti-sized pieces, or ruining the dog’s best tug rope – and your mower – in the process.

Therefore, the first step is the clean-up. Get on the phone to the Rangiora rubbish removal centre, or somewhere else nearby, such as Whakatane rubbish collection, rubbish collection businesses in the Waikato, Upper Hutt, or wherever else you might be in the country.

In essence, you need to phone your nearest waste removal or rubbish dump centre to find out how best to take in your rubbish – and what they will accept. Once you know who will take it and what they will take, you can have a sense of order as you go about that first step.

Cleaning up your yard, depending on the enormity of the mess, can take some time. If your lawns are quite long, then you’ll need to actively search every part of it for misplaced children’s toys or anything else that the mower wouldn’t appreciate running over. Rocks, too, are a big no-no for mower blades, so be aware of those.

Once you’ve bagged, tagged, and dragged your rubbish to your trailer in preparation for a trip to the rubbish dump, you’re practically ready for step two!

Step Two: Trimmer Time

It’s kind of like hammer time, but with a weed trimmer. Purchase or borrow a weed trimmer to attack any part of your lawn that now sits above knee height. When your lawns are at this height, a mower is not yet capable of mowing them to a high standard. With the weed trimmer, you can trim them down to half their height.

You then have to wait a few days so that your lawn can repair itself. Depending on how overgrown your lawns are, you might need to attack them with the weed trimmer again, then wait another few days after that second round of lawn repair time.  

Step Three: Time to Mow

Your weed trimmer has allowed your section to take on the general look and feel of a yard, so well done. You can now move in with the mower and get stuck in. Cut what’s left of the lawn down to a third of what it currently is. Don’t be afraid to overlap each pass to be sure it’s uniform and even.

Once you finish that mowing session, get out your garden hose and water the lawn before allowing it to rest for a few days. Phew, this overgrown lawn business sure takes a lot of time!

Step Four: And Mow Again

It can take a considerable number of mows to have your lawns looking as good as new again. It’s recommended that you mow them every three to five days until you’re happy with their height. If you cut a different direction each time, you can also enjoy straight-bladed grass that looks attractive once it’s back to full health. Always water your lawns after each mow, unless you’re expecting rain.

You’ve Won

As Townie from The Water Boy once said: “you can do it!”

And you can. All it takes is smart thinking with waste disposal, patience with your lawnmower, and tender, loving care to allow your grass to heal and repair itself. Before long, your overgrown jungle will be a peaceful and immaculate oasis. And remember, there is always a garden tidy-up and lawn mowing expert on-hand to help when the going gets tough.