How Often Should Your Lawn Be Mowed in New Zealand?

The average New Zealand lawn should be mowed at least every two weeks. In the faster-growing northern regions, that becomes every week through spring and summer.

I'm Troy Hillard, founder of the Lawn Rite Franchise Network. I've spent over 10 years in the New Zealand lawn industry, with 150+ franchisees mowing lawns from Northland to Otago. Here's how often to mow where you live, and how to tell when your lawn is due.

How often to mow, by region and season

Where you live makes a big difference. Some regions simply grow a lot of grass, very fast.

• Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki: mow every week through spring and summer, then every two weeks through autumn and winter.
• Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Nelson and most of the South Island: every two weeks is enough all year round.
• Canterbury, Central Otago and parts of the West Coast: every two weeks in spring and summer, and you can stretch it to every three weeks through winter.

The areas that can stretch to three weeks in winter are the ones that get heavy frosts, or even snow on the ground.

How to tell your lawn is due for a mow

Forget the calendar for a moment and look at the grass. Straight after a mow, every blade is cut to the same height. But blades grow at different rates, so after about a week you'll see long, straggly blades poking well above the rest.

Once your lawn starts looking uneven, it's due for a cut.

Your type of grass matters

The grass in your lawn changes how often, and how short, you should mow.

• Kikuyu, common in Northland, Auckland and parts of the Waikato, is very hardy but grows very, very fast. It can be cut a little shorter and still do perfectly well.
• Tall fescue and ryegrass blends, common further south, need to be cut tall: at least 4 inches (about 10cm), and ideally 5 inches (about 12.5cm).

Mowing and the weather

The best time to mow is when the lawn is totally dry and any morning dew has burnt off.

Mowing wet grass isn't the worst thing you can do, but it's very inefficient. You also risk ripping up the lawn, especially with a ride-on mower.

In the height of summer, the danger is cutting too short. Short grass lets the sun dry out the soil underneath, so keep your mower set higher in hot, dry weather.

What happens if you leave it too long

Mow too infrequently and you're inviting trouble:

• Weeds take hold in the lawn.
• Rodents move into the long grass.
• Moss starts growing through the lawn.

And that's before you count how unsightly an overgrown lawn looks.

Case study: what more frequent mowing did for a retirement village

We've held the mowing contract for a retirement village for over 10 years. When we took it on, the lawns were being mowed 26 times a year, once a fortnight.

When we won the tender, we priced it at 36 cuts a year: weekly through spring and summer, dropping back to fortnightly in winter.

Mowing more often meant we could leave the grass slightly longer than the previous contractor did. The result was a thicker, lusher, greener lawn. Even through dry summer months, the lawn never dried out, and the village and its residents have given us great praise for it.

New lawns: wait for the roots

Whether you've laid instant turf or had a lawn hydroseeded, hold off on the first cut for about four weeks after installation or full germination. That gives the roots time to dig deep and anchor into the subsoil.

After the first cut, mow weekly. And don't forget regular watering for the first four months after installation or germination.

Who decides your mowing schedule? You do

At Lawn Rite, the customer decides how often their lawn is mowed. Your franchisee will give you a recommendation, and that's always at least a fortnightly cut. In our opinion, fortnightly is the minimum to keep a lawn looking its best and as healthy as possible.

For high-quality lawns, we may recommend weekly mowing. In the end, though, it comes down to your expectations and your budget.

The one thing to remember: consistency

Consistency matters more than anything else. A consistent mowing schedule, a consistent watering schedule, and consistent weed control and fertilising are the keys to a thick, green, lush and healthy lawn.

Not sure what schedule suits your lawn? Call 0800 101 226 for a free quote and free advice from your local Lawn Rite franchisee.