Lawn mowingin Glenmore Park

Most lawns in Glenmore Park are kikuyu, couch or a soft-leaf buffalo, and all three grow fast once the soil warms up in September. Cut them too short in January and they brown off in a week; leave them too long and they thatch up and go spongy. We set the mower height for the grass and the month, not the other way round.

Every mow includes the edges along paths, driveways and garden beds, a whipper-snip around fences, letterboxes and trees, and a blow-down of every hard surface. Clippings are caught and taken away, or mulched back into the lawn in summer if you prefer.

Glenmore Park sits on heavy clay that bakes hard in summer. A lawn kept at 4 to 5 centimetres from December to February shades its own roots and holds what little water the clay lets in. In the cooler months we drop the height a little and mow less often, so the grass goes into winter dense rather than stretched.

When and how often

Every one to two weeks from October to March, every two to three weeks in autumn, and every four to six weeks in winter. Regular customers get a standing day so the lawn never gets away.