Winter can be a challenging time of year for many homeowners. There are fewer daylight hours to tend to the lawns and gardens, and you might even struggle to know how to give your grass what it needs to make it through the coldest time of the year unscathed.

There’s no denying that most people’s properties aren’t the most attractive in winter, but there’s no reason why you can’t make sure they come out the other side of winter ready to look at their best. Are you on the hunt for winter lawn care tips in NZ? You’ll find some goodies below.

Feed Your Lawn

Unless you live in an incredibly cold part of the country with frost, snow, and frequently low temperatures, it’s highly likely that your lawn will still be growing. Sure, you might not be mowing it as often, but growth may not come to a complete standstill.

Therefore, feeding can still be necessary to keep your grass in excellent health. You might be able to promote good health and growth by applying granular lawn food or even commercial products with composted chicken manure to give your lawn much-needed beneficial bacteria.

If you’re looking for fast growth, temperatures might still allow for liquid fertiliser that you can purchase as a concentrate, mix with water, and apply with a watering can.

Weed Your Lawn

Many homeowners breathe a sigh of relief when the ‘growing’ seasons end. Colder temperatures might mean fewer weeds to contend with, but is that actually true? Technically, no.

Broad-leafed weeds love the colder temperatures, and it’s not uncommon to find yourself battling with Onehunga weed, oxalis, cudweed, clover, and many other weeds that thrive when the mercury plummets.

Fortunately, plenty of control products are available to eliminate those pesky weeds and promote grass growth. 

If you’re also struggling with moss, which flourishes in moist, cold environments, now might be an ideal time to tackle this issue. While most moss products work better in warmer weather, you might gain back some control of moss growth on your lawn and on hard surfaces like paving stones in winter.

Apply Lime

Winter is the ideal time to check your soil and see if its pH level allows for optimal growth. Purchase a soil test and if the pH level is below six, purchase lime and sprinkle it over the lawn to combat acidity and improve your growing conditions.

The best time to apply lime is at the end of the growing season, which can typically be at the end of autumn. This time of the year gives your soil plenty of time to absorb the lime and adjust the pH.

Spike and Aerate Your Lawn

Your lawn can look remarkably different during winter than in summer, and one of the most noticeable differences is how compacted the soil is. Compacted soil can affect your lawn’s ability to absorb nutrients and drain water.

At the end of winter, purchase aeration tools or equipment and puncture holes in the soil to let in oxygen. Oxygen allows for better, deeper, and healthier root growth, ultimately allowing better grass growth.

Two of the best tools for the job are plug aerators and spike aerators. Plug aerators remove a plug section of your grass, while spike aerators have solid tines to create holes.

Repair Your Lawn

Your lawn can take a real hammering in the summer month, especially with all those lawn games and outdoor entertaining in the sunshine. However, it can look even more worse for wear in winter when it’s soft and easier to damage.

Take the opportunity to repair your lawn so that it stands the best chance of thriving once the warmer weather arrives once more. This is a straightforward process, even if you don’t have previous lawn repair experience.

Purchase lawn seed and use a rake to soften your soil before adding potting mix or sandy soil to the bare patches. You can then sow your seeds and cover them lightly to keep them damp. Many different lawn varieties are available, so talk to your local lawn care experts about the best type to match your current lawn or the climate.

Avoid Using It

It’s hard being stuck inside for weeks on end when it’s too cold to venture outside. You might be tempted to spend time in your backyard simply because you’re tired of staring at the same four walls.

However, for the sake of your lawn health, refrain from spending too much time walking on it. The more you walk on your wet grass, the more compact your soil can become, and the harder it can be for your grass to experience healthy growth.

Take Care of Your Lawn This Winter

Lawn care might be the last thing you feel like focusing on when the temperatures drop, but it can be essential if you want a healthy, thriving lawn once the warmer weather arrives. These six tasks above might be all it takes for you to give your grass the best possible chance to survive and thrive.

If you’re a lawn care company owner trying to attract new customers, it never hurts to find out what they’re actually looking for when they make their hiring decision. Are they after affordability? Reputation? A wide range of services? Or all of the above?

Before you make significant changes to your business model to expand your client list, take a moment to review the following information. You might be surprised at what customers prefer when hiring someone to mow their lawns.

Reputation

Many people’s properties are their pride and joy, and they won’t just let anyone come in and start altering their landscape. Often, Kiwis will research the many well-known names in the lawn care industry to see who comes highly recommended.

They might start by typing ‘lawn mowing service’ into a search engine and seeing which names pop up. Generally, some of the best and most well-known companies feature on the first page of the search results, such as Crewcut.

Once they have a few different names written down, they might then explore their websites and social media platforms to find out more about them. When you work for a franchise, you generally get to benefit from an excellent reputation, potentially improving your chances of being the person someone in need of lawn mowing services will call.

Services

While many people simply want someone to help them take care of their lawns, others are looking for an all-inclusive property care service. They might need assistance with hedge and tree pruning, water blasting, lawn edging, and even gardening.

They might not want all of these services right away, but you may improve your chances of being a provider people call upon if you can offer a wide range of service options they can utilise in the future.

Competitive Pricing

According to some sources, the cost of living grew by 5.2% in a single year from 2021 to 2022. Many families are tightening their belts and sacrificing luxuries to afford the basics.

Lawn care is still a necessity for many, but it’s not surprising that homeowners are shopping around to find companies offering the most competitive rates. Lawn care service providers may like to strike a balance between quality and value for money.

Lawn care service costs in New Zealand can vary from one company and provider to the next. Customers might pay in the vicinity of $25 to $50 for a small lawn and upwards of $50 for large lawns. Travel costs might also be extra.

If you’re unsure how much to charge or how much you should charge, do your homework. Find out the service costs of similar businesses in your area, and don’t be afraid to negotiate.

A Job Well Done

You expect a professional finish when you’re paying an expert to perform a task using professional equipment. Sometimes, customers don’t concern themselves with cost or reputation, as long as the finished result looks better than what they could have done themselves.

Treat every yard as if it were your own, and go the extra mile to make sure any job you complete is performed to the highest standard. If you’re unsure what your client’s expectations are, ask them.

Some are more than happy for you to mulch clippings into the lawn, while others prefer for you to take them away. Some property owners also request regular edging and leaf blowing to leave a picture-perfect finish each time.

Convenience

Hiring someone to mow your lawns shouldn’t be more inconvenient than cutting them yourself. The more complicated the process is, the less likely a potential client might be to hire a particular business.

Think about the many different ways you could make the lives of your clients much easier, above and beyond ensuring they don’t have to mow their own lawns. For example, you might schedule their lawn mowing for the same time each week or month, so they can prepare for your visit. You might also offer convenient payment options like online banking.

Contactability

Your customers’ needs won’t always be the same. Some weeks, they might like their lawns mowed and edged, and other weeks, they might decide that the gardens need to be tidied and the trees trimmed. If you’re easy to contact, customers might prefer you over less-contactable lawn care service providers.

While having at least one contact method is preferable, you might see the value in multiple. A cellphone number with an answering machine service can ensure you never miss an important message, and email makes you accessible for those non-urgent inquiries.

Some lawn care service providers even use social media to make them even more reachable than several other lawn mowing companies.

Give the Customers What They Want

You’re likely already in hot demand as the provider of a convenient service that saves homeowners a great deal of hassle and stress. However, by considering these points above, you might be surprised at how many new customers you can welcome onboard.

It’s okay to admit that you didn’t look at every square inch of a property during an inspection or open home. It’s easy to miss those finer details when you’re sharing an open home event with several other people.

However, even the most seasoned purchasers might admit that they never paid much attention to the lawn before placing an offer. Even though any structures on a property for sale can take up most of your attention, it can be worth noting the following points regarding the lawns and landscape.

The Boundary Line

Where does your lawn end and your neighbour’s begin? That is sometimes the million-dollar question. When you decide to make an offer and start checking LIM reports and council files, take note of the boundary information.

Not only can you learn where you’re able to stop weeding the gardens, but you might also save yourself a considerable headache at a later date, should you decide to upgrade or install fencing.

Drainage

Drainage requirements in NZ can be complicated, but most builders are aware of the importance of making sure heavy rain doesn’t flow inside someone’s brand new living room.

However, with property alterations over time, drainage direction can change, and you may not gain insight into how well a lawn drains and where it drains on your first – or even second – visit.

Before signing on the dotted line, drive through the neighbourhood during heavy rainfall to see what the average yard looks like. You might even catch a glimpse of your dream home and see exactly what happens during less-than-ideal weather conditions.

Fortunately, lawn drainage issues don’t have to be a deal-breaker. There are many different ways to combat landscape flooding, such as a French drain to control excess water, a rain garden, or a swale.

Signs of Pests

Lawn pests like grass grubs can be frustrating, especially when you desire a bowling green-like lawn, but you’ve got a patchy, inconsistent mess instead. Just as you can’t control when lawn pests will take up residence on your property, neither can most other property owners.

Take a wander around the yard during an inspection or open home and see if you notice any yellow and dying grass patches. While dogs can cause such patches, grass grubs can also be the culprits.

Grass grubs and other lawn pests are generally not a severe issue. You may just need to pay a visit to your local garden centre for grass grub killer products to give them their marching orders once and for all.

Grass Variety

Grass is grass. Or, is it? We are fairly fortunate here in Aotearoa New Zealand, to have a variety of different grass types at our disposal. Some thrive in some parts of the country better than others, and some are more desirable than others. What does your dream home have?

In Auckland, you’re more likely to come across tall fescue than most other grass types. Tall fescue is a hard-wearing, dark green grass that’s coarse and bunches together. It also doesn’t easily flatten and is robust for those family games of backyard cricket.

However, fine fescue might also be a grass type you come across, along with couch grass, Kikuyu grass, ryegrass, and mixed blend. Each grass variety has its pros and cons, and if you don’t like what you have, you can always grow your own lawn from scratch.

The Soil Type

We have over a dozen different soil types in New Zealand, including brown soil, pumice soil, ancient soil, and even artificial Anthropic soil. When you inspect a property you intend to buy, you likely won’t know which type you’re looking at.

However, some soils are undoubtedly more fertile than others. Some homeowners won’t object to you taking soil tests if you’re an avid gardener, but you can also pay attention to what’s currently growing to get an idea of soil fertility.

Once you move in, you can perform more thorough soil tests, learn about the best soil for planting, and make any improvements as you see fit.

Lawn Slope

Many homeowners have sloped sections and have no trouble with landscaping and mowing. However, considering the slope can be worthwhile if you’ve never had to mow lawns on a hill before.

Mowing on a slope can require a far different set of skills than cutting on flat land, and extra safety precautions can sometimes be necessary. A sloped lawn is not a deal-breaker, but if you don’t have mowing confidence, you may see the value in hiring a lawn care company to assist.

Learn Your Lawn

When you’re in the process of buying a new home, or you already have, there’s no harm in learning your lawn. Test the soil, check the drainage, and look for signs of pests. The more you know, the easier you may find it to achieve that bowling green lawn you always wanted.

If you have been thinking about starting your own lawn care business, there can be many decisions to make. You’ve got to think about the equipment you’re going to buy, the services you’ll offer, and the hours you’ll work.

However, there’s one more thing to think about, and that’s whether you’ll get involved in residential or commercial lawn mowing. What’s the difference? Well, there can be many, such as these below.

The Types of Mowers You Use

In both residential and commercial lawn mowing, the use of a commercial-grade lawn mower can be crucial. The average homeowner mower isn’t generally made to handle multiple lawns per day for an extended period.

However, as commercial lawns can sometimes be much larger than the average Kiwi property, you may also need to consider whether adding a ride-on mower to your arsenal is worth your while. They can be helpful for use on large, small, sloped, and flat lawns.

You may still need a push mower for both commercial and residential properties, but having your pick of either option may help you be more productive with your time.

The Petrol Requirements

As most Kiwis know, petrol isn’t cheap right now, and most business owners are likely trying to save as much of it as possible. When you get involved in lawn care and use petrol-powered equipment, you may quickly become aware of how much it costs to service each customer’s lawn.

The differences between residential and commercial lawn mowing can be pretty significant in this respect. When the commercial lawns are much larger, they require more mowing time, which means you’re ultimately burning more fuel.

The Services Required

Many business owners want their work premises to look welcoming and attractive for all customers that walk through their doors. The last thing they want is trees to look scraggly, lawns growing out of control, and leaf litter covering all entrances.

As a result, you may find that you can provide a much more extensive range of services for time-poor business owners. Not only do they want you to tackle their lawns, but they can sometimes want hedges to be trimmed, trees to be pruned, gardens to be tended to, and paths to be water blasted.

These same services can be offered to homeowners, but many like to handle one or two tasks themselves for a sense of satisfaction rather than handing everything over to a lawn care company.

The Property Size

While not always the case, commercial grounds can be a lot larger than the average residential property in NZ. With more lawn area to mow, you may spend more time at a commercial property than you would a residential one with a much smaller patch of grass to cut.

It’s worth keeping this in mind when you decide whether to offer residential or commercial lawn mowing services. You could tend to fewer but larger sections in a day or more but smaller sections.

The Income

When commercial properties are larger and more services are required, you can charge more for your time and resources. As a result, you may expect to receive more income as a commercial lawn mowing operator.

However, it’s important to know that how companies pay other businesses can differ from how a residential homeowner might pay a business. Homeowners can be more likely to pay a bill when it comes in and within the month, whereas you may be waiting much longer when being paid by a company, depending on their payment structure.

The Competition to Secure Work

Many lawn care businesses see commercial work as lucrative, and it’s easy to see why. You can make a name for yourself in the business world while receiving more money for your hard work.

As a result of these benefits, the competition to secure work can be fierce. You may need to work harder on your advertising and align yourself with a quality NZ lawn mowing company to make sure your business stands out from the crowd.

If you’re interested in taking on more commercial clients, you may also need to visit various businesses with lawn care needs and make your pitch to see if you can lengthen your client list.

The Attention to Detail

Of course, attention to detail is something most reputable lawn care service providers pride themselves on. You aren’t going to treat your residential clients any differently from your commercial ones.

However, there’s sometimes an expectation that your attention to detail at a place that customers visit might be that little bit extra intensive.

Start Your Residential or Commercial Lawn Mowing Business Today

There’s certainly a lot to consider before you start your new business in earnest, but this information may give you plenty to think about. You may then decide to go full steam ahead with residential clients, commercial clients, or a mixture of both.

When you start looking for information on how to winterise a lawn in New Zealand, you may quickly learn that we don’t experience the same weather extremes as other countries. Our winterising processes are often far less intensive than those required in some parts of the United States or the United Kingdom, for example.

This is good news for those who don’t have the time or desire for this task. However, that doesn’t mean you’re entirely off the hook. If you want your yard to bounce back come springtime, there are a few things you may need to add to your to-do list in winter and autumn, such as these below.

Mow When you Need To

Lawn mowing is rarely required in winter and autumn as the majority of our grasses experience significant growth in the warmer months of the year. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t need to haul your mower out of storage at least once over that six-month period.

During particularly mild days, lawns still grow and begin to look a little bit unkempt. If you notice that your grass looks untidy and feels spongy underfoot, you may need to mow it. Wait until a dry day before you complete this task, or hire a lawn mowing business on a contract to take care of it for you.

Give Your Mower Some TLC

With the sun shining over the summer months, your lawn mower likely saw a lot of action. It worked hard, and now’s the right time to perform some much-needed maintenance and prepare it for life in the tool shed for a few months.

Start by cleaning it from top to bottom while paying particular attention to underneath the deck. Check all filter seals and clean or replace the air filter.

While inspecting and maintaining the blades, don’t forget to disconnect the spark plug lead. File down any bumps or nicks and replace or sharpen your blade if it’s damaged or blunt.

When you know you’re not going to touch your mower for some time, remove the battery and store it somewhere cool and dry, such as a secure garage. Once you’ve disconnected the battery cable from the battery, clean the terminal with a wire brush and coat all terminals with a protector product.

If you still have fuel left in the mower tank, add a fuel stabilizer product to ensure it doesn’t gum up inside your mower. Alternatively, drain the tank. However, it’s often recommended that you store a mower with a full tank of fuel and stabiliser to stop moisture from creating rust that clogs your carburetor.

By winterising your lawn mower, you stand a better chance of being able to drag it out of the garage in spring and have it start with minimal effort.

Look After Your Lawn

Spring and summer lawn care tasks can be overwhelming, which is why many people hire lawn care teams to take care of them. They get to enjoy a neatly manicured lawn and tidy property, but without all the effort associated with weeding, feeding, edging, mowing, and more.

You might assume that autumn and winter allow you to take a bit of a break, especially as the grass isn’t growing, but our lawns still need nourishment when the mercury plummets. Your lawns may not be growing as quickly as they do in spring, but they require help by way of fertiliser and tonics to repair any damage that colder weather can cause.

Seaweed tonics and granulated fertilisers are more than suitable for winter and autumn placement, and you can also purchase cool-season formula fertiliser. If you’re unsure when and how to apply such products to help your lawn survive and thrive, consult your local garden store worker or lawn mowing expert.

However, looking after your lawn can go beyond fertilising. You may also need to water it as you do in summer and spring. While winter and autumn are undoubtedly the wettest and coldest months of the year, that’s not the case in all parts of the country.

If you live somewhere with dry winters, your lawn may be in desperate need of water without you realising it. See if the soil feels dry, then water for half as long as you would in summer. Allow plenty of time before night falls to reduce the risk of the lawn succumbing to fungal problems.

Keep Weeding

Spending time in your garden is undoubtedly less fun during autumn and winter than in spring and summer. However, it can be necessary to keep weeding year-round to prevent issues once spring arrives once more. 

Annual weed plants grow and produce seeds while it’s cold, and some lawn weed types like broadleaf use those seasons to grow, spread, and smother the grass. Herbicide may be necessary for large lawns, but you may be able to cut out such weeds on small to medium lawns.

Winterise Your Lawn Today

Autumn has well and truly arrived, which means we have to adjust how we care for our properties. Now might be the right time to get some of these winterising tasks underway or start looking for lawn care companies to take care of them for you.

Whether you’re a homeowner or renting in New Zealand, you may be curious about your lawn mowing requirements. After all, getting on the wrong side of neighbours, tenancy services, or the council is the last thing most people want to do.

It’s important to note that every council sets different rules. Before you haul out the lawnmower for the first time at your new property, take the time to familiarise yourself with what may be required of you.

Rules and Requirements in Tenancy Agreements

If you’re a tenant who has just signed a tenancy agreement, you may see mention of property maintenance and your requirements. Some landlords prefer to take care of lawn mowing and gardening themselves, while others leave that responsibility to the tenant or a lawn care service.

Pay careful attention to which of these scenarios applies to you to ensure you can keep your property looking as tidy as possible.

Identifying Parts of Your Property

When you’re reading through the council requirements for lawn mowing in NZ, you may see a lot of different terminologies used that cause some confusion. The Wellington District Council has created a graphic to help homeowners understand what they may be required to do.

The council will maintain trees over 2m tall on road reserves, but you’re required to keep plants and trees on your property within the height and width restrictions outlined by your specific council.

Road reserves are located between the road and your property’s boundary. They are council-owned and maintained by the council. In contrast, verges are grassy areas between the street and your property boundary. These, too, are council-owned, but it’s generally the property owner’s responsibility to mow them.

Grass Verge Requirements

Depending on where you live, you might have a grass verge outside your property that requires maintenance and mowing from time to time. How that maintenance takes place and who manages it can differ from one council to the next. 

For example, Dunedin City Council’s policy is that all grass verge maintenance is the adjacent property owner’s responsibility. However, some exclusions may apply. A property owner’s illness, restrictions, or age, may mean that you can apply to have the council undertake verge lawn mowing to a minimum standard.

Rangitīkei District Council, Wellington City Council, and many others operate similarly. Here, property owners are responsible for mowing and maintaining grass verges between their property edge and the road.

Other maintenance requirements also exist, such as keeping plants and trees within height and width restrictions and keeping branches clear of accessways like footpaths and driveways.

Does the Council Maintain Berms?

While most councils throughout Aotearoa request that people mow the berms outside their properties to keep them clean, tidy, and attractive, there are situations in urban areas where they may step in to cut them on behalf of property owners.

For example, long grass in a particular area may create a traffic visibility problem, or the lawn is located in a high-profile site, such as an entrance to a town. If the grass is growing on a high bank that a traditional lawnmower can’t access, then the council may also take care of this grass.

If grass berms are left to grow higher than 150mm, they may be mown to around 50mm four times per year. Once again, these rules and regulations may change depending on where you live.

What If I Can’t Mow My Berm?

What happens if you can’t mow your berm or verge depends on what your council has in place for this situation. For example, in Tauranga, the council will use contractors to mow verges and berms once they reach 300mm long as part of their mowing program.

Ride-on mowers are used to cut these grassy areas, and as they don’t have catchers, the clippings are left behind. The mowing is performed to a minimum standard, which means most residents put steps in place to have them mowed by other parties to keep them looking as attractive as possible.

If you can’t mow your own lawns, and you don’t want to rely on your local council, you may decide to request help through the government. The government funds some household tasks, repairs, and maintenance, such as lawn mowing, gardening, housework, window cleaning, and more.

Eligibility requirements for this service include having a community services card and performing a needs assessment to prove you need this help.  

Alternatively, you may like to rely on friends, family, neighbours, or your local lawn mowing service provider. Some charities and foundations may also be able to help with general home maintenance if you require it.

Maintain Your Lawns Today

When you become the person in your household responsible for lawn mowing and maintenance, it’s not always easy to know what your requirements are. Check with your local council about which parts of your property you need to maintain, then contact a lawn care company to ensure your property looks well cared for year-round.

Most house-proud homeowners aspire to have a healthy lawn their family can enjoy. A lawn free of prickles, brown spots, weeds, and unsightly lumps and bumps. It might not seem achievable, but it can be.

Take note of these tips for maintaining a healthy green lawn below. You may then be better positioned to achieve that bowling green-like grass you always wanted.

Focus on Soil Health

Just as a house is only as sound as its foundation, grass is only as healthy as the soil it grows in. Before you do anything else, purchase a soil test to find out about your soil’s health and whether there’s anything you need to do to improve it.

If your soil’s pH level is less than 7.0, it’s acidic. If it’s more than 7.0, it’s alkaline. When soil is too acidic, you can add lime to neutralise it. If it’s too alkaline, peat moss, compost, or sulphur may solve that problem and give you a healthy foundation to work from.

Establish a Healthy Watering Routine

Watering can be a crucial requirement, whether you have new lawns or insufficient rainfall to keep your grass in tip-top shape. However, there is a right and wrong way to go about this process that you may like to keep in mind.

Always water early in the morning when the sun rises. This gives your lawn enough time to absorb the water before the heat of the day evaporates it. Water too late, and the leaf blades may not dry out enough before night falls.

How much water you apply may also make a difference to lawn health. If you’re only watering enough to moisten the grass itself, your lawn will develop shallow root systems that put it at risk of dying if you’re not there to water it. The more water you apply, the deeper the roots and the more self-sufficient it can be.

Achieve the Right Mowing Height

Mowing the lawns is not everyone’s favourite pastime, which is why many New Zealanders leave this job to the experts. However, if you intend to do it yourself, it’s essential to heed the following advice.

Never remove any more than a third of the lawn’s height during any cut. Your grass can become stressed with too much loss of its leaf blade, leading to damage that can be challenging to undo.

Mow your lawns frequently and consistently to achieve a height of around two centimetres in spring and three centimetres in summer. If you mow your lawns too short, your grass may develop short roots, which promote weed growth.

Fertilise Your Lawn

A healthy, lush, green lawn doesn’t happen by chance. It happens when you prioritise your lawn health and feed it fertiliser as part of your maintenance schedule. Fertiliser can encourage healthy grass growth year-round, and it’s something you only have to do twice-yearly in autumn and spring. 

Use a chemical or organic lawn fertiliser product and spread it evenly over your lawn with a lawn spreader. You can then water it to help it sink in. Alternatively, you can purchase a liquid fertiliser that attaches to your hose for easy watering.

Aerate Your Soil

Once again, your grass is only as healthy as your soil. If you don’t believe your soil is helping with grass growth, consider aeration. Small holes in your lawn may make it easier for the roots to access water, air, and fertiliser – all the necessities for growth.

Control the Weeds

Weeds generally have a chance to take hold of your lawn when it’s too thin or weak. Once you have healthy, lush lawns, they are unlikely to be a problem.

Once you identify the type of weed you have in your lawn, you can purchase specific products for those weed types. For example, if you’re trying to combat thistles, you can apply a herbicide product to individual cut stems about two centimetres above the soil.

At first, weed control can be time-consuming, but that’s unlikely to be the case once your lawn health has improved.

Give Pests Their Marching Orders

Lawn pests can be just as destructive as weeds, with beetles, crickets, grass grubs, and caterpillars all loving your lawn as much as you do. Fortunately, you aren’t stuck with them.

Identify the pests you’re struggling with and apply a product that’s designed to target those specific insects. The pesticide product you use and application instructions can depend on the insect in question.

Maintaining a Healthy Lawn Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

There’s no denying that lawn care can be daunting when you’re unfamiliar with what’s involved, but it can be easy to manage once you know the most important maintenance tasks. Watering, mowing, soil health, and weed/pest control can be straightforward, single-step tasks that contribute to an overall picture-perfect lawn your entire family can enjoy.

The hum of lawnmowers starting up one by one reverberates around the average Kiwi neighbourhood for at least half the year. Both young and old purchase and use lawnmowers, and it’s not uncommon to see even children out taking care of their parents’ yards in exchange for pocket money. 

With no visible dangers, lawnmowers don’t look all that hazardous, but they can be. To avoid being one of the over 21,000 people who experienced a lawn mowing-related injury in a five-year period, take note of some of these vital tips for mower safety below.

Always Read the Manual

The lawnmower you borrowed from your neighbour may not be the same as the one you purchased for yourself. Every make and model is different, and there can even be significant differences between models from the same manufacturer.

Before you fill up with fuel and get ready to start mowing, take a moment to read through the user manual for your unique mower. Familiarise yourself with the manufacturer’s recommended ‘do’s and don’ts’ and ensure you’re well aware of your mower’s safety features before mowing gets underway.

Wear Protective Clothing

It’s not uncommon to see people mowing their lawns in jandals, shorts, and a t-shirt. While that’s appropriate attire for relaxing in the sunshine or heading to the beach, it’s less suitable for mowing your lawns with a machine featuring a blade turning over 2,000 RPM.

Even if the sun’s shining, safety gear can be a crucial consideration. Invest in earmuffs for ear protection, a tough pair of shoes, long pants, gloves, and even safety glasses if your lawn might contain debris or backs onto hard materials like gravel.

Perform Routine Maintenance

Many people are transitioning towards electric mowers to help the environment, but they’re also enjoying how very little maintenance they require. Aside from blade sharpening, you don’t generally need to worry about too much.

Petrol mowers can be much different. You have to sharpen and replace blades, check and top-up oil and fuel, and even replace the spark plug from time. All this maintenance is essential, so whether you’re mowing your lawns frequently or infrequently, get into the habit of checking these components before you get to work.

Clear Your Lawn of Debris

Children’s toys, pet toys, and general debris can wreak havoc on your lawnmower while also being a hazard. The fast-spinning blades underneath your mower have the potential to flick up debris and seriously injure whoever is pushing the mower.

Before you mow your lawns, always walk around your property and inspect it for anything potentially damaging or dangerous. Large sticks, stones, toys, and hard materials are all potential hazards hindering your mowing experience.

Select a Mower That’s Right For You

No two lawnmowers are the same, with some being heavier, lighter, larger, and smaller than others. Take your time to purchase a mower that’s right for you, rather than being driven by price alone.

Self-propelled lawn mowers are popular for people with sloping sections or who need a helping hand. Light mowers are generally ideal for small areas, and larger ones often suit medium to large sections.

The more suitable a mower is for your needs and capabilities, the easier it may be to control it and the safer you might be while operating it. If you’re unsure what type of mower you require, talk to your local lawn mowing retailers.

Never Let Children Under 12 Mow Your Lawns

Getting the kids involved with household chores is an excellent idea. It gets them off their screens and generally provides them with an opportunity to earn pocket money. However, there is a right and wrong time to introduce them to the lawnmower.

A 12-year-old is often seen as capable of mowing lawns, but you know your children better than anyone. Wait until they have the maturity, strength, and coordination to undertake this task safely. Don’t forget to run them through the most appropriate safety tips before they get started.

Take Care When Refuelling

One of the most frustrating things when mowing your lawns is running out of fuel halfway through. You might think nothing of opening the fuel tank and topping it up so that you can continue, but this isn’t a safe practice.

Fuel is highly flammable, and exposing it to a hot tank may not be the best choice. Get into the habit of refuelling before mowing or turning the engine off and waiting at least 20 minutes after running it before filling it.

Hire the Crewcut Team to Help

There can be a lot involved in running a mower safely. You have to maintain it, wear safety equipment, and make sure you’re confident using the lawnmower you own. If you’d prefer to enjoy a nice lawn without all the effort, contact the friendly team at Crewcut to take care of all the hard work for you.

As you mow your nice, flat lawn, spare a thought for those who are having to combat steep slopes and hills. Mowing on a slope, also called slope mowing, is hard work, and it’s not for the faint of heart.

Still, if you’re curious about what it takes and whether it differs from standard lawn mowing, read on. We’ll shed some light on the ins and outs of this unique type of lawn mowing.

What Is Slope Mowing?

As the name suggests, slope mowing is the process of mowing lawns on hillsides and slopes. If you work up a sweat just mowing your flat lawns, you can only imagine the difficulty of mowing on hills.

Some people prefer to call in specialists in slope mowing who have specific mowers designed for such work. However, others persevere with the mowers they have, taking every precaution necessary to keep themselves safe.

Why People Request Expert Assistance With Slope Mowing in NZ

Homeowners with steep sections may find it challenging to mow the lawns on their own. Their own lawn mowers may not be up to the task, or they don’t feel safe with the limited amount of lawn mowing knowledge they have.

Sometimes, specific machines are required to handle steep terrain, and these are not something the average residential property owner generally has tucked away in their garden shed.  

What’s more, there are several tips and tricks that lawn care business operators have picked up over their several years of experience to manage the job safely. Still, if you’re eager to maintain your own lawns, we’ve got a bit of helpful advice to offer below.

#1 Keep the Grass Short

Slope mowing can be hard enough without having to cut through long, unruly grass, as well. Keep the grass on your slopes short to make mowing them as straightforward as possible. You may also see the value in using a mulching blade, as this can provide a better result while also making less work for yourself.

#2 Be Careful Around Trees

Even though you are likely already being careful due to mowing on a slope, it’s worth being even more careful if you are mowing around trees. Bark and roots can be at risk of damage from a mower’s engine exhaust.

#3 Choose the Right Angle

It can be tempting to mow your lawn sideways to prevent an uphill battle, but this may not be the safest option.

If you are using a ride-on mower, up and down can be the safest option for preventing accidental tip-overs. However, make sure you’re riding within the parameters of your chosen mower’s capabilities.

Those using push mowers should find a comfortable angle that’s not too steep to manage. You should have complete, comfortable control of your mower at all times. Aim to mow in a straight line with your mower on an angle, starting at one end and progressing to the other.

#4 Know Before You Mow

Before you go all guns blazing on your lawn, take a moment to inspect what it is you will be mowing. Take notice of the grass height, so you know how high to have the mower. It’s also worth inspecting the lawn for children’s toys and dog messes to make sure you’re not going to encounter anything unexpected.

#5 Prioritise Mower Maintenance

The average mower can be put through its paces quite easily, but a sloping lawn can produce a few more challenges. Make sure it’s up to the task by carrying out quality mower maintenance regularly.

Sharpen your blades every few cuts if possible, as doing so allows your mower to cut through tough grass with ease. Check the fuel and oil levels often.

#6 Keep Yourself Safe

Even though it’s essential to look after your lawnmower, it’s just as important to look after yourself while you’re using it. Always wear long sleeves and pants while operating a lawnmower, especially near slopes.

It’s also a good idea to wear goggles and gloves, both of which can protect you from rocks and other flying debris you weren’t expecting.  

Never underestimate the value of hearing protection, either. According to WorkSafe, if the noise around you is so loud that you need to raise your voice to talk to someone just one metre away from you, you could be at risk of hearing loss.  Round off your health and safety accessories with a pair of covered shoes.

Take Care With Slope Mowing

Slope mowing requires a lot of extra care than standard lawn mowing. It can also take up a lot more time. Take note of this safety information above, or bring in the experts to tackle the tricky task for you. You’re bound to find a slope mowing expert near you to lend a helping hand.

There’s no harm in staying up to date with all that’s happening in the lawn care world. The more you know, the easier you may find it to take advantage of the latest and greatest trends to benefit your backyard.

However, as another year slowly draws to a close, it can be worth taking a moment to think about updates and trends that may present themselves in 2022. Some of the following trends are even starting to become obvious right now.

Battery and Electric-Powered Lawn Care Equipment

Only a few short years ago, battery-powered and electric lawnmowers and other equipment were few and far between. You may have even needed to visit a few different shops until you found what you were looking for.

That is starting to change, and it’s going to be exciting to see what 2022 has in store for us in that respect. When you browse the aisles (or virtual aisles) of your local lawn care equipment store, you will start to notice a dramatic shift in the ratio of petrol-powered to battery-powered/cordless lawn mowers and equipment.

While you can still purchase many different petrol-powered lawnmowers, there are equally as many, if not more, battery and electric models. It seems that more homeowners are starting to see their benefits, such as easy maintenance, low noise, and environmentally-friendliness.

Battery technology has also come a long way, which means it’s now no longer such a hassle to mow an entire lawn on a single battery charge.

Service Hire

As many of us have spent a lot more time working from home in recent months, you may have noticed an increase in just how many lawn care service provider vehicles you see driving past your house.

While there has always been a great demand for this service, there has been even more so in the last year as people begin valuing their spare time for activities outside the home. Well, when lockdown conditions allow, of course.

And people aren’t just hiring experts to mow their lawns, either. They’re bringing them in to tackle tree trimming, hedge cutting, fruit tree pruning, and more. It seems like after spending so much time at home, the last thing people want to be doing is spending more of it at home doing chores that other people are better trained to manage.

More Lawn, Less Garden

Gardens are pretty to look at, but they can also require a lot of hard work and time. And that might be time you don’t have if you’re a busy working professional.

While some people hire gardeners so that they can keep a beautiful garden, many homeowners have also decided that enough is enough – they want the garden gone. So, they choose a grass variety and turn it back into lawn.

At this point, they then decide whether they want to mow the lawn themselves or hire someone to mow it for them.

More Vegetable Gardens

June 2021 saw the largest price increase for vegetables in four years, at 8.5 percent after seasonal adjustment. When purchasing broccoli makes you contemplate remortgaging your home, you may decide to grow a vegetable garden and save money.

And that’s exactly what people are doing. Rather than purchasing the bulk of their fruit and vegetables in the supermarket, they’re growing their own. Nearly anyone can grow vegetables, whether you’re an apartment dweller or live in a home with a sprawling backyard. All you need is a pot or planter, healthy soil, seeds, and an excellent memory to remember to water them.

Spa Pool Areas

Many of us would get our spa pool relaxation fix by booking a hotel room for a week in a tropical location. COVID-19 has made that much harder, and getting away from home has also been a bit of a logistical nightmare.

So, with money saved from no overseas holidays and homeowners missing the luxury of a spa while away from home, many have purchased spa pools and created an outdoor area for them to sit. Inflatable spa pools are more popular than ever but permanent, hard-shell spa pools still have their place. 

You can then incorporate them into your outdoor area with outdoor furniture, plants, and garden art, and relax in your own little slice of paradise.

Keep An Eye On Lawn Care Trends of 2022

There’s no knowing when a lawn care trend is going to capture your attention and be something you want for yourself and your own backyard. So far, we’ve seen some massive changes like battery-powered outdoor equipment, increased demand for lawn care services, and a need for more lawns and less garden. It’s only a matter of time before we see even more big changes as we start the countdown to a fresh, new year.  

Many homeowners have a love-hate relationship with couch grass, also known as twitch grass and scutch grass. On the one hand, it’s a robust, hard-wearing lawn type preferred by people in coastal and warm areas with busy children and pets. But on the other, it’s a highly invasive, hard-to-control, and unattractive grass type that’s particularly unfavourable with farmers and those who take pride in their property’s appearance.

If you’re starting to explore your grass options or have a type of grass that you can’t seem to put your finger on, you’re in the right place. Let’s look at what couch grass is and some advice and tips that may come in handy.

What Kind of Grass is Couch?

Couch grass is a rhizomatous weed that competes for light, nutrients, and water against other plants and crops. While it can look very similar to other grass types without seed heads, it does tend to have much pointier heads than other varieties while also feeling much rougher underfoot. You can also differentiate it by its underground rhizomes, which most other grass species don’t have.

Is Couch a Good Grass?

To answer the question of whether or not couch grass is a good grass can depend on who you ask, because people will like or hate it for different reasons.  

Gardeners tend to loathe it because of how invasive it is. It can take over gardens and pathways and isn’t phased by many eradication methods like some herbicides. However, if you live in a warmer part of New Zealand, you might see it as an ideal grass variety for your lawn. It’s resilient and thrives in sunny, warm, and dry climates, whereas it can grow untidily in shade or colder climates.

But there’s one thing that’s frequently noted, whether you grow it intentionally or not: it doesn’t like to be told where to grow. Its highly intricate root structure means that even if it provides you with a beautifully cushioned lawn, it will still try and make its way to parts of your property where it’s not welcome.

How Do I Get Rid of Couch Grass in My Lawn?

Getting rid of couch grass in your lawn and other parts of your property can be complicated. If you try to remove it manually, roots and rhizomes will be left behind, which will simply sprout and regrow. As a result, hours of careful pulling can all be for nothing.

One of the best ways to remove it from your lawn is with spot treatment. If you only have a few areas of growth, wear rubber gloves and paint a specific couch grass-killing product from your local garden store onto its crowns and as many leaves as possible. With the right product, like Weed Weapon Invade Gel, you can kill both the roots and grass.

Similar approaches can also be taken if you’re struggling to control couch grass in your flowerbeds, waste places, and on paths and driveways. Use a specific couch grass-killing product and apply it to the roots and leaves. In flower gardens, follow up this treatment with a product like Weed Weapon Preventer on the soil to stop new couch grass weeds from growing.

Farmers trying to control couch grass in their pastures must take care to get the timing right. Apply glyphosate after the couch grass plants have produced at least three or four leaves. Avoid applying it in early spring as the grass may still be semi-dormant from winter.

If you’re trying to avoid harming broad-leaved crop species nearby, consider using selective grass herbicides like haloxyfop. However, these can’t be used in grass crops like ryegrass and cereals.

How Did Couch Grass Get Into My Lawn?

If you have never purposefully grown couch grass, you might be wondering how on earth it’s now taking over your lawn, gardens, and every area in between.

As couch grass is spread via underground stems in the soil, cultivation is the easiest way to spread it on both rural and suburban properties. It can also creep from lawns over to vegetable and flower beds with ease. However, couch grass is also easily spread by seed. As it produces flower heads, the seeds from these heads can spread far and wide. 

Once it takes hold, it forms dense mats of stems underground and competes against your plants for more than its fair share of nutrients and water.

Get Help With Lawn Care

Whether you’re fighting a losing battle against couch grass or you simply need a helping hand with lawn mowing, you’re in luck. Crewcut is ready and waiting to give your yard the attention it needs, with services like weeding, garden tidy-ups, lawn edging, hedge and tree pruning, and more. Sit back, relax, and let the experts take care of all the hard work.

Scarifying or scarification, which also goes by the name dethatching, is the process of removing the thick organic layer of material that can sometimes sit between the soil and your grass.  

While a small amount of surface thatch is acceptable, a significant amount can prevent water and air from reaching the soil. This may then lead to lawn disease and an overall sad-looking lawn.

Simply follow these steps below if you believe scarifying or dethatching is the best way to give your lawn a new lease on life. You’d be surprised at how easy it can be.

What Is Thatch?

Before we get into the simple steps to scarifying your lawn, it’s worthwhile to understand what thatch is. Most species other than pure ryegrass will require scarifying or dethatching at some stage.

When parent grass plants die to be replaced by younger plants, the growing part of the grass can be slow to decay. Since they don’t rot into the soil as a typical plant would, the layers of dead parent grass build up in layers.

The less often you dethatch your lawn, the more thatch you will need to remove. Try to avoid getting a layer of thatch any thicker than 15mm, but keep around 5mm for soil insulation.

When to Scarify?

When you know how beneficial the scarifying process can be, you might be chomping at the bit to get stuck in. Before you do, it’s worthwhile knowing when the best time to scarify is. The more intensive the task, the more the timing matters.

Consider leaving a large dethatching job until around autumn. As the lawn will be much thinner in places, summer heat may damage your grass. By dethatching in summer, you may also increase the chances of weed seeds from your dethatching efforts taking hold where you don’t want them.

You may also scarify in spring, but there is an increased chance of weed growth in this season, as well. The rules are slightly different for homeowners looking to scarify their lawns in a shady area. It’s best not to dethatch in autumn since the shade and leaf litter may reduce your grass health. In shaded areas, wait until spring.

Step 1: Prepare the Lawn for Dethatching

Before you get stuck in scarifying, make sure you spend a couple of weeks preparing your lawns for an experience that may shock it. To rake successfully with scarifying tools, you will need to ensure the grass is dry and short.

Start mowing the lawn shorter and shorter over a fortnight. This achieves two things: reducing the risk of shock and allowing air to access the soil and dry the grass quicker. However, you don’t want the ground itself to be too dry as the lawn needs a sound foundation from which to grow once you have scarified it.

During this process, you may notice that moss is present. Fortunately, scarifying lawn to remove moss is perfectly safe.

Step 2: Scarify Your Lawn

With the prep work complete, you can now get scarifying underway. For this task, you can use a manual wheeled scarifier or opt for a petrol-powered one. With whichever tool or machine you use, run over your lawn in one direction to remove around one centimetre of thatch. You can then get rid of debris with a leaf blower or rake.  

After that initial run, work at a right angle to your first pass and lower the blades slightly. You may notice that the thatch will be looser. Two or three passes should be enough to get rid of as much thatch as you need.

Step 3: Learn How to Revive a Lawn After Scarifying

It’s only natural to feel a bit shocked when you see how thin and unhealthy your lawn looks after dethatching. But don’t worry, this is only temporary!

Purchase lawn seed and over sow the lawn where you notice extreme patchiness. Fertilising the lawn with high potassium fertiliser may also be helpful. Fertiliser helps to protect against disease and give your grass a quick health boost.

Finally, don’t underestimate the value of watering. An irrigation system can help provide a consistent amount of water, but regular watering while your grass grows can be all it takes to have your lawn looking beautiful once more.

Start Looking After Your Lawn

Our grass can need a helping hand from time to time. It might be growing unevenly, struggling to grow, or is simply not as attractive as it could be. Dethatching is an excellent place to start, and it’s achievable in just three easy steps.

However, if you’re worried about the health of your lawn, or you simply don’t have time to make sure it’s at its best, consult the lawn care experts who understand grass the best. You may be surprised at how quickly your grass becomes the picture of perfection.

Does your lawn have a dark secret? You might be showing off a bowling green-like lawn to all your neighbours, but those high-traffic areas leave much to be desired. You know the area we’re talking about; the flattened, worn, and even muddy part of your lawn that sees the most action by pets, children, and those navigating their way to the clothesline.

You might think you have to put up with an awful patch of lawn that never seems to look like all the rest, but you don’t. Here are our top tips for how to keep high-traffic areas in your lawn looking good.

Tip # 1: Mow your lawn regularly

To keep your lawn as healthy as possible, mow regularly. However, by regularly, we mean establish a regular routine. Your lawn may benefit from being taller in high-traffic areas because the extra padding underfoot can limit root damage.

However, when the time comes to haul out the lawnmower, mow a different route each time. Alternating mowing patterns can reduce the risk of you trampling the same path time and time again, leading to damage.

Tip # 2: Add mulch to the grass

While you don’t see too many people scattering mulch on their lawn, this action can be surprisingly helpful for high-traffic areas of lawn that are starting to look a little sad. A layer of mulch keeps moisture in the soil, which may allow for more robust, deeper roots and overall healthier grass.

Tip # 3: Aerate your lawn

There is a long list of reasons why lawn aeration can be crucial, and overall aesthetics in high-traffic areas is one of them. When you use a lawn aerating tool to drive holes into the soil, you’re improving air exchange between the earth and the atmosphere.

The soil can absorb more moisture, which leads to reduced water runoff and puddles in heavy rain. Lawn aeration may also allow for better fertiliser uptake by your soil, improved root strength, less soil compaction, and even better cushioning.

These benefits can all lead to one thing: a healthy lawn. The healthier your lawn is, the less likely it is to succumb to damage from children playing sports, pets doing zoomies, and other lawn activities.

Tip # 4: Apply fertiliser monthly

Most avid gardeners understand the importance of fertilising their garden, but did you know that once-monthly fertiliser application to your lawn during the growing season can also be helpful?

Fertilising your lawn can allow for strong roots, healthy grass and soil, and even fewer weeds. Some people also notice a difference in their property sale rate when they’ve taken the time to address those high-traffic and poor-growing lawn areas. 

If you’re unsure about using chemicals, you can opt for organic fertilisers such as worm castings and compost. 

Tip # 5: Keep on top of lawn health

Even though you might only need to focus on those high-traffic parts of your lawn, there’s no reason why you can’t address the health needs of your entire lawn.

Trim the edges regularly to keep your lawns looking neat, and use weed-and-feed products to stop weed growth in its tracks. Some people also see the value in pre-emergent herbicides for crabgrass control, and watering deeply to prevent pests and grass disease.

Don’t neglect your flowerbeds, trees, and shrubs in the process. Give them a healthy serving of mulch to maintain moisture levels as the warmer weather kicks in.

Tip # 6: Separate your lawn areas

If you’re tired of having your entire lawn looking like a battleground, consider the layout of your property and see if it’s a possibility to separate your lawn areas. You might be able to put a fence between the back and the front lawn and leave one area looking neat and tidy year-round.

Giving your pets access to one part of your property and not the other can also save you time cleaning up their toys and waste before lawn mowing begins.

Tip # 7: Leave your lawn alone

If the kids always want to kick a ball around, or your dogs are interested in a game of fetch, consider taking these activities elsewhere if your lawn is not at its best. During the cooler weather, in particular, soil can be soft and damp, leading to grass damage.

Consider taking your dogs to a dog park or dog-friendly field to play a game of fetch. Children, too, can have the time of their lives kicking a ball around at a nearby sports field.

And finally: Let lawn mowing experts take care of business

You might not have the time or inclination to take care of those trouble spots on your lawn, but lawn care experts do. If you’d prefer to spend your free time on your hobbies, rather than lawn aeration and fertiliser, contact someone in the lawn mowing industry. They can have your lawn looking healthy and well looked after in no time.

There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your grass. It’s your slice of paradise, so there’s no shame in spending a bit of time learning how to edge your lawn properly so that it stands out.  

However, as naturally as lawn mowing may come to you, edging can be a completely different kettle of fish. Read on to learn some of our tips and tricks for achieving a perfectly edged lawn.

Step 1: Determine Your Lawn Type

Even though lawn edging techniques can be similar from one lawn type to the next, knowing what your lawn is can alter your expectations for the outcome while also adjusting how you carry out the entire edging process.

Some of the most popular lawn types include Bermuda. St. Augustine, Zoysia, tall fescue, fine fescue, rye, Kikuyu, and mixed blend.

Step 2: Mow Your Lawn

Before you start edging your lawns, mow it first. This can cut down the time you spend using a grass-edging tool. Depending on your lawn type and how it grows, adjust your mower so that you’ll be cutting no more than a third of your lawn length in one pass.

If you will be edging your lawn with a rotary mower, ensure the blade is sharp and clean. It’s also important to mow in straight lines with three to four inches between each cut to prevent scalping.

Reel mowers can take a different approach. Start at one corner of your yard and work your way to the other with short strokes. To ensure you have ample dirt for edging, mow your lawn frequently.

Step 3: Plan Out Your Path

If you have never edged your lawn before, there can be a little bit of planning involved. Fortunately, lawn care companies throughout New Zealand can assist with your first edging and ongoing services if you’d prefer to leave the hard work to them.

Those who prefer to do the job themselves can find it easy enough to manage by first creating a planned path. Use rope, wood, tape, hose, or something similar, to mark out the edges where you’ll make your first cuts.

To make your first edging job just that little bit easier, use a weed eater. This can cut down how much grass you have to edge.

Step 4: Choose An Edging Tool

The market is full of different edging tools, which makes it challenging to know what you need. As a rule, if it’s advertised as being able to perform edging, it can work for you! However, some have more advantages for your unique needs than others. 

For example, a power edger, such as a string trimmer, allows you to carry out the job quicker. They can be battery, electric, or petrol-powered, depending on your preferences.

You may also prefer manual edgers. Even though they are more labour-intensive, they do offer more control. Compared to powered versions, they are also more affordable.

Step 5: Safety First

Before you get to work edging your lawn, don’t forget to wear appropriate safety gear. Ear, eye, feet, and hand protection can all be necessary for preventing injuries and discomfort.

While you’re out purchasing new edging tools, pick up a pair of gloves, goggles, and earmuffs, and don’t forget to wear closed-toe shoes and a long-sleeved shirt.  

Step 6: Start edging!  

How you edge your lawn properly can depend on your tool of choice. With a manual edger, you can use it similarly to a shovel. Drive it straight into the ground until the lip touches the soil. Rock it from side to side for a more defined edge before you pull it back up.

A string trimmer offers less control but undoubtedly has the speed to save you time. Use your hard surface, such as a pathway, as your edge to work from. Cut around two inches deep, and move left to right if your string spins clockwise.

Refrain from getting too close with a string trimmer, or your lawn can look too uneven. What’s more, if you over-edge, your grass will struggle to grow back correctly and may even be damaged.  

While you’re edging, it may also be worth looking out for weeds. Pull them up rather than cutting them, as they can spread their roots far and wide.

Step 7: Edge Your Garden Beds

The edges of garden beds tend to be more fluid, which means a string trimmer may not be the most suitable tool in your arsenal. For these less rigid areas, use a manual edger. Make sure you mark the area first and work slowly for the most even finish.  

….Or Call the Experts

There can be a lot involved in edging your lawns. Even though it’s an easy process once you get started, it’s a time-consuming one. If you’d rather spend your time doing something a bit more entertaining, contact lawn care experts you can trust. You can then enjoy looking at perfectly-edged lawns without having to lift a finger.

We all know that grass seems to thrive in the summer months when the sun is shining. We know that because we have to spend all our spare time lawn mowing.

However, you may be asking whether it’s possible for grass to thrive without sun. Well, as it turns out, there are some shade-tolerant grass types in NZ that could be worth your attention.

Tall Fescue

If you have a shady patch of dirt on your property, you may think that no type of grass will grow there. Quite the opposite is true; you simply need to choose the right grass. Tall fescue might be it.

Tall fescue does tolerate full sun, but it’s also just as comfortable in the shade. Out of all cool-season lawn types, it also has some of the best drought tolerances.

Many homeowners love tall fescue for how many different environments in which it seems to thrive. It will tolerate being without water, yet it’s also more than happy with extended periods of rain. It can also survive frosts and isn’t too picky about the pH of your soil.

Zoysia

As long as your soil pH is between 5.5 and 6.5, you may be surprised at just how well zoysia grass grows on your shady property. While it does prefer warmer climates, it’s a reasonably robust grass species that holds its own in a variety of conditions.

Busy homeowners will love that it requires less mowing than other grass types and that it feels incredibly soft underfoot. Compared to other grass varieties, it’s also far less invasive. This is good news for avid gardeners trying to stop grass from taking over their flower beds.

Zoysia is low maintenance, drought-tolerant, and also thrives in sun and moderate shade. The only thing you may not like about this grass is that it can go brown over winter. Although, it more than makes up for it by being a brilliant shade of green in summer.

Kikuyu

Many homeowners have a love-hate relationship with their Kikuyu. On the one hand, it thrives in the shade and doesn’t have high sun requirements. On the other, it’s a spreader. It can quickly take over gardens and create new lawns you never asked for. 

In saying that, its pros far outweigh its cons. Kikuyu suits yards that see a lot of traffic – like the kids kicking around a ball or dogs doing zoomies. It recovers quickly and rarely needs any kind of maintenance in the form of fertilizing or watering.

As long as you give it firm boundaries, this NZ shade-tolerant grass type could be worth a closer look.

Soft-Leaf Buffalo

Even the most shade-tolerant grass types have nothing on soft-leaf buffalo – a softer, more attractive grass than traditional buffalo. This blue-tinged beauty is ideal for fully shaded patches of earth, even those with light, sandy, alkaline soils.

It doesn’t have the best drought tolerance compared to some other grass types, but it more than makes up for it by thriving in some challenging conditions.

Kentucky Bluegrass

Even though Kentucky bluegrass can be quite a stiff, coarse type of grass, it’s a preference for many homeowners in NZ battling shady yard conditions. It forms a dense root mat and doesn’t seem to be phased by most weather conditions.

In fact, because it comes from America, it has adapted to most weather conditions. It prefers cool, dry winters and hot, dry summers but will likely thrive with anything you throw its way.

Ryegrass

If you’ve been to any sports field throughout Australasia, you likely would have seen ryegrass. It’s a beautiful, dark green grass type that is perhaps one of the most ‘showy’ you’ll find.

Even though it requires regular watering and nitrogen, it’s undoubtedly a robust grass type that may handle some shady conditions. It can also bounce back from abuse relatively well.

Alternatives to Grass

If you don’t want to deal with lawn mowing, watering, and fertiliser, consider opting for shade plants instead. There are a number of plant types that thrive in the shade, which means you don’t have to sow new grass seed after all.

Consider climbers like star jasmine and ferns such as hen and chicken fern. These flourish in shady and damp conditions while looking attractive no matter where they grow.

How to Make Your Shade-Tolerant Grass Thrive

There’s nothing worse than having a shady yard that you can’t seem to revitalise. Fortunately, there are ways to do it, such as with shade-tolerant grass types. Talk to your local garden centre worker about the best variety for your unique situation.

With time, watering, and some general maintenance, you may be able to transform your once-bare yard into one that makes you proud. Alternatively, you can call upon your favourite lawn care experts to take care of all the hard work for you.

Let’s face it; we’ve all poked our head over the neighbour’s fence at one time or another to see what their lawn is like. Then you look at your own and wonder why on earth it looks awful in comparison. To take care of lawn depressions, dips, death, and damage, it might be time to consider renovating your lawn. It’ll then be your neighbour’s turn to look at your yard with envy.

What Does ‘Renovating’ Your Lawn Involve?

When you renovate your house, you give it a fresh coat of paint, maybe lay some new carpet, or update the light fixtures. When you renovate your lawn, you’re technically doing the same thing – giving it a new lease on life.

Just as you would look at your home with a critical eye before renovating it, do the same with your lawn. Notice the low spots, the high spots, the dead patches, and weeds. Spot the scalped edges where your garden meets the lawn, the ruck marks from the kids’ rugby games, and the broadleaf trying to disguise itself as grass.

Renovating your lawn is the process of fixing all those imperfections so you can benefit from lush, even, and manicured lawns you’re proud to call yours.

Okay, So How Do I Renovate My Lawn?

There are three popular methods for giving your lawn a new lease on life. The one you choose can depend on how much time you have, and how passionate you are about achieving that picture-perfect lawn that even the local bowling club is jealous of.

Topdressing

Topdressing is the process of putting soil over the top of your lawn to fill in sparse areas and small depressions in the earth. It’s a multi-step process, but one that you’ll learn was entirely worth the hassle the next time you go to mow your lawn.

Firstly, you’ll need to weed your lawn by carefully going over it to pull weeds out by the root. Some of the most common ones include broadleaf, Onehunga weed, poa, clover, and moss. Once you’ve removed as much of these pesky plants as you can, mow your lawn to a height of about five centimetres, or two inches.

At this stage, your lawn probably doesn’t look at its best – with dug-out patches and bald spots. But that’s okay! Next, you’ll need to dethatch it, which involves using a vertical mower, short-tined rake, or power rake to remove the layer of dead and living plant material that builds up between your grass and the soil surface.  

Finally, it’s time to topdress. For damaged areas, apply up to four inches of soil over a well-graded soil base. Where your lawn meets the damaged area, spread around two inches of topsoil over your freshly-mown grass. Rake the entire lawn level – soil and all.

Follow up this process by spreading out fertiliser, followed by lawn seed, and water it until it’s thriving and ready for its first mow.

Sod

Not everyone has the patience or time to literally watch the grass grow. In that case, you may decide to work with sod instead. Sod is real grass and soil held together by roots, harvested on the day you need it, and rolled up.

When you purchase sod, ensure you do so on the day you will be using it as it doesn’t have a shelf life. You can lay an entire lawn in sod or simply use it to repair the parts of your property that require it.

Cut a smooth seam along your current lawn, and place your roll of sod up against it, so there is no space in between, but the two aren’t overlapping. Around walkway, garden bed, and driveway edges, overlap the sod and cut to the edges. Push soil up against those edges to prevent the exposed roots from drying out.

Once you’ve finished laying the sod, roll a water-filled drum over the top to ensure the new sod has made contact with the soil underneath. Water daily to promote root growth and keep pets and people off the grass until top growth becomes present.

Hire the Experts

The third way to renovate your lawn is to hire the experts! If you’ve got no time, patience, or passion for lawn care, but you’ve got a desire for a beautiful, lush, green lawn, you can simply request a lawn care service company to take care of the job for you.

When to Renovate Your Lawn

You now know how to renovate your lawn and give it a new lease on life, but do you know when to do it? Aim for spring or autumn when lawn growth is in overdrive and heavy rain isn’t predicted in the forecast.  

You can also ask your local garden centre employee or lawn care company worker for helpful advice, tips, and tricks, on how to ensure the best growth for your new lawn.

Ready to Renovate?

If your lawn isn’t looking at its best, you’ve got options. Is today the day you place an order for grass seed or sod and get your lawn renovation project underway? Once you start mowing your lush, new lawn, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

This article is included in Twinkl's Keeping Children Healthy campaign and is part of their article called “Some great tips to keep your children healthy in 2021”.

When it’s time to pack up the swimming pool and swingball set after three months of summer fun, it’s worth putting thought into autumn lawn care in NZ. After all, with the changing of seasons comes the changing of methods for how you take care of your property.

Though, if you’re not sure where to begin, it can be a lot easier to carry on as you were, and hope your prized plants and lush lawns don’t suffer as a result. Fortunately, we’ve put together an autumn lawn care guide for Kiwis that covers a few of the many things that the average yard-proud homeowner can do.

Caring for Your Lawns in Autumn

Our lawns can take a real beating in summer. Rainfall can be inconsistent, and swimming pools leave behind a large, flat, dead patch of grass long after you pack them away. Use the changing of seasons as an opportunity to get your lawns back in tip-top shape.

De-Thatching

Part of lawn care involves taking care of thatch, consisting of roots, leaves, and stems in a tight, spongy layer at your lawn’s base. While a small amount of thatch is okay, more than 2cm can be a party zone for pests and disease.

Many things contribute to thatch, such as compacted soil, poor drainage, and poor soil pH. You can use a dethatching product to break down thatch or move it manually with a de-thatcher rake or scarifier.

Drainage

The changing of seasons often brings more rainfall, which means drainage is an integral part of lawn care. Using a spike aerator or plug aerator, you can poke holes in your soil that allows rainfall to reach grass roots for healthy growth.

If you’re not confident doing this job on your own, there are always plenty of gardening experts out there ready to lend a helping hand.

Repairing Dead/Dying Grass

Whether the summer heat has taken its toll on your lawn, or you’ve left the swimming pool up for far too long, you may find yourself with dead or dying grass. Fortunately, the process for bringing it back to health or starting afresh is straightforward.

Remove thatch, aerate the soil and till it, and use organic compost on the earth if you’re worried about fertility. It’s now time to go shopping for climate-appropriate grass seed! Once you’ve purchased the best grass seed, you can apply a thin layer to the soil.

Keep the soil damp and water daily for at least three weeks. Don’t mow your new lawn until it’s at least 1.5 times higher than the regular cutting height recommendation.

Fertilising Your Lawn

With the arrival of autumn comes the knowledge that winter is just around the corner. Take this small window of opportunity to improve your lawn health so it can survive what’s yet to come. You can give your grass the nutrients it needs through fertiliser. These products are designed to help with both weed control and nutrients while also improving root health and frost tolerance.

Tree and Shrub Trimming

While lawn mowing and maintenance are essential parts of lawn care, so is shrub and tree trimming. It’s important for the health of your plants, but it can also be necessary for lawn health.

If you notice that some of your trees or shrubs are shading parts of your lawn, consider trimming them back. The more light your lawns have on the shortest days of the year, the healthier they can be.

Leaf Raking

As arduous as the job of leaf raking can be, it’s crucial for your lawn’s health. Piles of leaves left on a lawn can cause the grass structure to weaken during the colder months of the year. It also becomes a haven for pests and disease.

If you’re strapped for time or motivation, consider outsourcing the job to a child looking for pocket money or a lawn care company.

Adjust Your Mowing Habits

The weather and your location can dictate how you mow your lawns during summer. With a mixture of rain and sunshine, you may be cutting more often than you usually would. However, if rainfall is infrequent, those mowing sessions may be kept to a minimum. 

You may need to alter your mowing routine as the seasons change. Throughout the colder months of autumn and winter, raise your mower height so you can keep your grass height at around 40mm.

Call in the Experts

Not everyone has the time or desire to spend their free time tending to their lawns. If you’d prefer to be focusing on your hobbies than tinkering with your lawnmower, why not contact a lawn care company? They can take care of everything from lawn mowing and tree trimming to hedge pruning and garden clean-ups. You can then sit back, relax, and admire your yard from a distance.

When we haul the lawnmower out of storage, we expect it to start on the first pull. We never imagine that just days after we last used it, we’d have to put on our thinking caps to undertake lawnmower repairs.

The reality is, lawnmowers can be fickle beasts. One minute, we’re mowing the lawns, and the next, we’ve got parts laid out all over the garage floor, and no idea what went wrong. Is it even worth it? Should you just buy a new lawnmower? And how long should a lawnmower last, anyway?

Before you dismantle your mower to the point of no return, consider the following information relating to lawnmower repairs.

Is It Worth Repairing a Lawnmower?

In many cases, it’s definitely worth repairing a lawnmower rather than buying a new one. Though, it depends on the diagnosed issue. It’s essential to weigh up the repair costs versus the price tag of an entirely new mower.

Anything relating to engine problems, internal damage, rods, pistons, and crankshaft damage can ultimately signal the end of your mower’s working life. Unless, of course, you’re an exceptionally skilled Mr. or Ms. Fix-it who can purchase parts and undertake the repairs yourself.

As soon as you start noticing issues with your mower, take it to a repair centre for a diagnosis. You can then take a look at the mowers they have for sale while awaiting the answer on your lawnmower’s fate.

Most Common Lawnmower Problems

You would be surprised at the sheer number of everyday lawnmower problems that homeowners face. Why can’t lawn mowing just be straightforward? Fortunately, many issues relate to maintenance. Stay on top of maintenance, and your lawnmower will likely reward you with faithful service.

Loss of Power

In many cases, you won’t have to hand over too much of your hard-earned cash when you experience a loss of power while mowing your lawns. One of the most common causes of a loss of power is a dirty filter.

If it’s not that, you may be cutting your mower at the wrong height, or your spark plug needs to be replaced or cleaned. A slight loss of power, reflective in the quality of the cut, may relate to your blades not being sharp enough.

Smoke

If you’re getting a face full of smoke, rather than the beautiful scent of freshly-mowed grass, then the problem is likely easy and affordable to solve. You may have overfilled your oil chamber, or you didn’t tighten the cap.

If the mower is not running smoothly and the smoke is light or white, there could be a severe problem. You may need to take your mower to a repair shop or grab your bag of tools.

No Power

If you’re pulling and pulling the start cord and nobody’s home, check the gas tank. Is there enough fuel to get it to start? Make sure there are no leaks. If the fuel is not the issue, take a look at the battery. You may need to purchase a replacement battery.

Dirty air filters and spark plugs can also cause a lawnmower to stop working. If you’ve exhausted all of these options, you may need to load up your mower and take it to a professional.

How Much Does a Lawnmower Cost to Fix? 

You’ve probably asked yourself this question many times: how much does it cost to fix a lawnmower? There is no single price tag, as each mower may have a different set of problems or servicing criteria.

Though, you can expect an hourly rate from a small engine mechanic, along with the cost of parts and service types like blade sharpening, air filters, spark plugs, oil, and fuel. At a minimum, expect an initial charge of around $60-80, but more for anything above and beyond a service.

How Many Years Should a Lawnmower Last? 

The length of time anything lasts can depend on how well you care for it. A well-maintained mower that you treat as well as your children can last over a decade.

One that sees some occasional maintenance and TLC may last half as long. But a mower you simply fill with fuel and leave alone will likely only last a couple of years before you begin to notice some problems rearing their heads.

Complicated, Isn’t It?

Between a loss of power, blade sharpening, regular servicing, and diagnosing problems, it can sometimes seem like lawnmower ownership is more trouble than it’s worth. To some people, it can be.

If you’d prefer not to have to deal with lawnmower repairs, servicing, and even the task of lawn mowing itself, then why not give the job to someone else? A local lawn mowing company near you will be more than happy to take care of all your lawn care needs for you.  

When you’re in pursuit of a perfectly lush lawn, it’s easy to get disheartened by seasonal changes. Summer brings with it irregular rainfall, which increases the chances that you’ll end up with a dry or even dead lawn.

To combat that, many homeowners start getting into the habit of watering their lawns. But are they doing it right? You’re about to find out.

For how many minutes should I water my lawn?

It’s only natural to want vibrant lawns year-round, but summer can certainly pose some problems. That’s why many people take it upon themselves to water their lawns, so they remain the perfect shade of green year-round.  

Though, not everyone will know how long to water their grass. Believe it or not, there’s value in getting it right. If you water your lawn for short but periods, you may be causing your grass to grow shallow roots. As a result, the roots can’t access the nutrients and water they need further in the soil.

Grass that has been watered in this way can also be more vulnerable to pest damage, fungal disease, and weed invasion. Instead, water your lawns for around 20-30 minutes three times weekly. This amount of time allows moisture to travel to about 1-1.5 inches into the soil, promoting better root growth.

Can I water my lawn at night?

Depending on where you live, it can be challenging to find that ‘sweet spot’ regarding the best time to water your lawns. Not everyone has time in the morning to do it before the sun’s intensity increases, so they may decide to do it at night.

But ask any lawn or garden enthusiast, and they will warn against watering at night. Why is that, and can you water your lawn at night? It’s not particularly ideal. When you water your lawns at night, you’re increasing leaf wetness. This can lead to fungal problems – regardless of whether you believe your grass type is hardy or not.  

Given New Zealand’s extended daylight hours in summer, there is a little more wiggle room to water at night. However, you’ll need to make sure that nightfall is still a way off. When in doubt, water before 10 am.

How do I water my entire lawn?

You don’t see too many people wandering around their lawns with a watering can, so how do people water their entire lawn? Given that around 20-30 minutes of moisture is required for optimal lawn health, that would be a lot of time to be out with a watering can.

There are better ways to go about it. You can invest in an irrigation system for your lawn and even install a timer. Some people simply opt for sprinklers. However, these can be a bit more wasteful and non-targeted. Talk to your local lawn care company or garden store for advice on the best lawn watering equipment.

Is watering your lawn a waste of water?

If you’re a lawn-proud homeowner, you may never see watering your lawns as a waste of water. However, there will be times when it’s frowned upon to water your lawns when resources are scarce, or droughts are on the horizon.  

Before you set up a lawn-watering schedule, check with your local council regarding water shortages. During the summer months, some councils impose water restrictions to ensure everyone has access to the water they need for daily living. As a result, the use of water irrigation systems and sprinkles are sometimes prohibited.

If you have a rain barrel and have harvested your own rainwater, you may be able to attach a hose and connect it to a drip/soaker hose or sprinkler to ensure your lawns don’t suffer over the drier months of the year.

When to water grass in hot weather?

During summer, many parts of Aotearoa heat up quickly. It can almost seem like you’re fighting a losing battle against the mercury to make sure your lawns get enough water. The best time to water grass in hot weather is before the sun burns through the morning cloud.

Aim for before 10 am – ideally between 6 am and 8 am. To ensure you don’t forget, consider purchasing a timing system for your water irrigation unit that switches on the water at that ideal time so that you don’t have to.

How long to water with a lawn sprinkler?

If you are using a sprinkler rather than an irrigation system, you might be wondering how long you have to water your lawn for. As long as the sprinkler is targeted to the parts of your grass that require moisture, you can water it for between 20-30 minutes.

Once that amount of time is up, you can move your sprinkler to the next part of your lawn. Using a sprinkler can be a bit more wasteful and time-consuming than other watering methods. Consider whether it might be time to upgrade to something a little more suitable for your needs.

Keep your lawns thriving this summer!

Whether you want to keep your lawn healthy for summer activities, or you simply wish the best health for it, there can be value in watering your lawns properly. Adopt a regular lawnmowing schedule and talk to a lawn mowing company about their recommendations for watering.

Most importantly, remember to follow all local council requirements regarding water restrictions and general water usage.

Preparing new grass is hard work. You have to scatter the seed, make sure the soil is healthy, and set it up for success. It can sometimes not seem worth it, even if you dream about a velvety soft lawn. That’s where spray-on lawn comes in.

Hydroseeding is the process of applying seed, mulch, and fertiliser in a single application to any soil type. Many people opt for spray-on lawn seed for new developments or even when their dry seeding attempts go awry.

But given that there are many methods for achieving a beautiful lawn, like grass seed, hydroseed, and sod, you may not know which option is right for you. Is hydroseeding better than seeding, or should you just stick with dry seeding by hand? Read on to find out everything there is to know about spray-on lawn seed.

Is Spray-on Lawn Seed Any Good?

Many people who want to start a new lawn from scratch or fix their balding grass may ask the question: is spray-on lawn seed any good? The unbiased answer we’re offering is yes! It’s one of many sound lawn application options, but with some surprising benefits.

First of all, it takes just one application to apply not only the seed but the mulch and fertiliser to give it a fighting chance. It’s also incredibly fast-growing and even, which means it’s only a matter of a couple of months before you can be enjoying a vibrant green, lush lawn.

People also love spray-on lawn seed for how cost-effective it is. When you compare the price of buying grass seed, mulch, and fertiliser separately, then having to fix up bald patches, it’s an affordable option with consistent results.

Is Hydroseeding Better Than Seeding?

 If you’re on the fence about whether hydroseeding is a better option for you than grass seed, then it pays to know how these two options compare. Hydroseeding involves a professional spray with everything the seeds require for a healthy start to life.

Grass seed that you scatter by hand is an economical choice. You can spread it on bare soil or an existing lawn and water it consistently until it establishes itself. Both spray-on grass and grass seed are valid choices for homeowners.

In saying that, the even finish of hydroseeding, not to mention the addition of fertiliser and mulch, means it can grow a lot faster. This option may suit developers who have built a home and want to make sure it looks picture-perfect for the real estate market quickly.

Hydroseeding can even prove popular with families who need a quick solution so they can enjoy outdoor summer games in the months to come. Which leads us to our next point: hydroseeding over an existing lawn.

Can I Hydroseed Over Existing Lawn?

If your re-seeding efforts didn’t go to plan, and you’re left with a patchy, balding lawn, then spray-on grass can still be an ideal option for you. You can use it on soil that your grass seed hasn’t taken to. If the earth is firm, rake it to loosen it up or apply a 20mm layer of new soil to the top for easier hydroseeding.

How to Care for Spray-on Grass

The beauty of hydroseeding is that it’s an effortless process for your patch of dirt to turn into a lush, green lawn. Watering is key. Water your freshly sprayed on grass three times a day for ten minutes, for up to three weeks.

When roots establish, you can start watering less frequently for between three and six weeks. While it can be tempting to walk on your lawn and feel how soft it is, refrain from doing so for the first month. Keep pets off it, too!

Once it reaches around 75mm in height, you can give it its first haircut, mowing about 25mm from the top. Then, after almost three months, you can give your new lawn a nice health booster with some slow-release fertiliser.

These care instructions can differ from one property and region to the next, as seasons can present different challenges. However, you’re sure to find that whoever you hire for your hydroseed needs will offer instructions that are unique to your property.

Preparing Your Lawn for Spray-on Seed

If you’ve got fresh dirt ready for a beautiful lawn, then it’s time to prepare it for hydroseeding. This process requires you to have level topsoil with around 50mm of screened soil. Lightly roll it so that you don’t sink into it, but so it’s soft enough for you to make an indent with your finger.

If you’re not sure how to go about preparing your soil, you can always contact a company offering the seeding service who will be more than happy to provide advice.

Is it Time for Spray-on Lawn?

If you’re tossing up between sod, grass seed, and hydroseed, it’s crucial to have all the facts. All grass application methods have their place, but hydroseed is most certainly a convenient and cost-effective option worth your consideration.

Once it’s grown, you can then enjoy all the lawn games and outdoor entertainment you please. If you’re not sure which grass application is right for you, why not talk to lawn care experts like the team at Crewcut who can shed some light?