What is the go with lawn mowing?

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anabsentfriend@reddit

I keep mine above 10cm and try and keep some daisies and dandelions as it's good for the wildlife. I don't want a green carpet.

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janky_koala@reddit

Aussie living in the UK. It’s just different here.

Once spring pops everything grows insanely quick, doubly so if it’s rained then the sun comes out. I mowed last weekend, it already looks like it’s a month overgrown.

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redheadedwildgypsy@reddit

Try and find a day both that is not raining but also where there has been enough time to actually dry the grass.

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elf_n_safety@reddit

Your lawns have to be short so they aren’t hiding the multitude of things that want to kill you.

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Timely-Delay-6636@reddit (OP)

This is true to be fair, this is one of my motivations so we can spot snakes or funnel web spiders.

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ClevelandWomble@reddit

I thought it would be the drop bears you'd be worried about.

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CariadocThorne@reddit

They aren't in the grass though, presumably they are in trees or other high places.

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bitterlemon80@reddit

Ah but long grass would give them a softer landing.

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BillWilberforce@reddit

They're repulsed by Vegemite and an Aussie accent, so OP is safe.

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Jayatthemoment@reddit

No mow May. We leave it up for pollinators. I don’t know the science but we need more bees and shit.

And I’m bone idle and can’t be arsed. My neighbour’s is lovely.

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MMH1111@reddit

Yes. I mow the half at the back of the house and leave the other bit for wildlife. I too am an idle sod.

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masked_gecko@reddit

Really need the practice in the pre-season to get my eye in. After a full April spent not mowing, I'll be in peak condition to not mow at my best when it actually matters.

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Did this for 2 straight years. 1st year lovely wild flowers for the bees. 2nd year only 2 types of weed and a pain to cut. Ended up buying a manual push-me-pull -you mower coz the electric one didn’t like it. Gives me some umph when I’m out there mowing, knowing it’s clean energy and I’m getting a bit fitter as I’m a lazy lawn keeper.

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ProudMastodon1@reddit

Agreed, unless your lawn is huge a push mower is definitely better. A huge advantage is that it hardly makes any noise so you don't wake up the neighbors if you want to mow early or late.

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Low_Border_2231@reddit

If the home needs renovating then they aren't keeping their grass in order either I guess. A lot of people are very proud of their lawn, but the weather can get in the way.

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AppropriateDeal1034@reddit

I'm proud of my lawn, but between the moss and the moles, it's a losing battle so sometimes it's nice to leave it. I have a permanent fenced off area for wildflowers and the grass to do what it likes

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angry2alpaca@reddit

Moles? Moles?! We've got you surrounded, Carrott!

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RejectedIdeas@reddit

There’s only one way to get rid of a mole……

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BeanOnAJourney@reddit

r/fucklawns. They're ecological dead zones. Give me a wild, living garden any day of the week over a boring mown desert.

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MerlinMusic@reddit

I feel like "fuck lawns" is a bit of an overstatement though. If you don't mow your lawn too much it won't be an ecological dead zone

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BeanOnAJourney@reddit

Fuck and I cannot stress this enough lawns.

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Additional-Lion6969@reddit

A wild life lawn that requires less looking after has become a definite thing, but we don't have to worry about not seeing lethal snakes when walking on our lawns

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Itallachesnow@reddit

Neat trimmed lawns aren't so much a thing anymore! The whole weedkiller, moss killer, aerating, cut every week routine was common throughout my childhood, 1950s to 70s until the 1990s. people stared to become more creative with their gardens, more decorated, ornamental, wilder in the back; turned into off street parking at the front. New build houses had smaller lawns than the post war semis basically washing line space. Another big change was Sunday stopped being 'special' in the 1980s and there was lots more to do apart from washing the car and mowing the lawn. I have 2 acres and a tractor mower but if I tried to keep it up like my parents did I wouldn't do anything else in spring early summer and the small wild flowers wouldn't exist.

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captainsittingduck@reddit

It's better for wildlife to have a manicured lawn. A lot of people have moved away from obsessive tidiness around lawns. However, there's also a lot that have gone in the opposite direction and put down green plastic carpet which both looks artificial and leaches microplastics into the soil

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Worldly_Wafer_6635@reddit

I bought a house with Green plastic carpet, I also have a dog.

The pee stench is horrific.

Add that to the list too.

Can't wait to rip it out.

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iwantmorewhippets@reddit

Put vinegar on it, neutralises the smell instantly.

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Worldly_Wafer_6635@reddit

But then, will it not just smell like vinegar?

I've been using Bio-Safe washing detergent, which kind of almost works.

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iwantmorewhippets@reddit

No, they neutralise each other, the smell just disappears. I do this on my patio as I have 3 dogs and it gets stinky.

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Worldly_Wafer_6635@reddit

Amazing, thanks, I'll give it a try at the weekend.

Luckily, I don't have a patio, because the smell of stale dog wee in concrete is so horrific, so I'm glad you found a solution, haha.

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kiradotee@reddit

A lot of people have moved away

mowed away

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ashley-jay-vids@reddit

Then you have the cost of the green bin collection.

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BFastBtch@reddit

It rains! A lot. It’s hard to get a dry spell to go out and get the lawn mown. They grow quicker and are too wet to cut. Also, who cares! Longer lawn more butterflies and bees etc.

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Ok-Exam6702@reddit

I try to cut our lawn (which is very large) once a week, but as others have said wet weather often prevents that. That said, our grass is never longer than a couple of inches.

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Jammanuk@reddit

Weather permitting I do mow weeklly, but grass growth slows in middle of summer so doesnt require it so often.

Longer grass is only really a thing in spring, because trying to get a dry day to do it is a challenge.

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Think_Break_5072@reddit

I moved from the USA to the UK and have also been a bit too fascinated with the grass here. In the USA if you don't mow once a week it will grow almost waist high. Seeing people mowing grass and then using leaf blowers to blow the clippings into the street is a constant and annoying thing in the USA. Also in the winter the grass goes dormant and looks dead and is extremely ugly.

But here in the UK I've only seen people cutting grass a few times. The grass here stays green all year long and doesn't seem to grow much at all. Its also much prettier than the grass in the USA, growing in nice soft clumps.

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Norman_debris@reddit

What's the advantage of shorter grass?

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Tall-Reputation-9519@reddit

Purely cosmetic. I see these American style lawns where it's just a single shade of green and to me they look horrid!

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frontendben@reddit

Things that can bite you can't hide in it. But that's very much an Aussie issue.

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Norman_debris@reddit

Fair enough. If that's the case, then the explanation for the difference is obvious!

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Euphoric-Wall-2576@reddit

This is my question too. I don't think really short grass looks better. 10cm is hardly anything. It's nicer when it's grown a bit more.

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julemeister@reddit

I cut at 5cm after the first short cut of the year. Battery mower that works a treat. Every two weeks if I can due to rain or hangover.

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Amazing-Visual-2919@reddit

Whenever you plan to mow the lawn it rains here.

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Cheeky_bum_sex@reddit

I’ve been trying to mow the lawn all week and it always seem to drizzle before hand!

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ashley-jay-vids@reddit

The most accurate comment ever made on lawn mowing in the UK.

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Remote_Atmosphere993@reddit

Or it's not raining and the washing lines above the lawns are full.

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No_Pie1022@reddit

Yes or it was raining yesterday & it’s still too boggy!

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Brighton_Spores@reddit

In England it is every two weeks, so if the weather is bad, if you are busy or just cannot be bothered it can turn into every three or four weeks.

But I would ask in return why are you out at 7am mowing your lawn, Yes I can sleep through that, I can also sleep through you doing your edges, but that bloody leaf blower so early on a Sunday morning is just horrible!!!

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TrifectaOfSquish@reddit

Well besides that whenever you decide to mow here it starts raining there are also campaigns like this one https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/ plus some people who can't be bothered

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Moondoox@reddit

manicured lawns are icons of suburban insanity

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

I dunno if you’ve heard the rumour, but it rains a lot in the UK which means two things

1 - the grass will suddenly grow super fast 2 - you can’t mow wet grass without making a total mess of it

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boroxine@reddit

Mine's definitely longer than 10 cm. It's for the wildlife. Totally not because I can't be arsed. Well ok... maybe they're both benefits.

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Sea_Pomegranate8229@reddit

You have eleven of the ten deadliest insects and vertabrae in the world hiding in your lawns. We have worms.

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Stabwank@reddit

Got better things to be doing, my garden doesn't need a haircut every week.

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Unique-Seesaw-1415@reddit

It rains a lot, and usually we can’t be arsed.

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Curious-Walk5871@reddit

... and someone invented no-mow May so that we can feel good about it

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Katherine_the_Grater@reddit

I quite like having longer grass in the garden, it’s nice to lie down on.

Is Australian grass sharp? I seem to remember watching a show where a balloon randomly popped on some grass.

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Timely-Delay-6636@reddit (OP)

This is true as reported on the documentary ’Bluey’

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_Deleted_Deleted@reddit

I watched a documentary about Skippy, he nearly lost a paw to sharp grass.

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MapOfIllHealth@reddit

I’ve lived in Australia for ten years and I hate their grass!!! So many times in the first couple of years we’d pull up to a beautiful spot and I’d see what looked to be lovely green grass to lay upon, only to find it’s the usual spike uncomfortable stuff.

I miss English grass, so soft, it’s like a cloud by comparison.

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alphahydra@reddit

Balloons pop on grass here too, weirdly.

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Experiment328095@reddit

Too much rain in the UK, last time my grass was dry enough to cut I was out all day 😂

When i lived in Aus it was kept short so we didn’t accidentally step on a death adder 😂

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MattWillGrant@reddit

Completely different species of grasses.

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wildflower12345678@reddit

Its for the wildlife.

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redandbluebadness@reddit

lots of reasons

There is a push to keep lawns long for longer for ecological reasons
We're not so much an outside country as Aus and until the sun comes out, neither do we
Australia is a very conformist country ime and there is more social pressure to keep your 'yard' tidy. That does not reaaly exist here.
CBA

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WeDoingThisAgainRWe@reddit

In autumn it rains, in winter it rains, in spring it rains, in summer it rains. Mowing wet laws isn’t good for them. Plus finding slots where you have free time and the weather is cooperating isn’t easy. Generally the time when you get the consistent weather pattern that would allow regular mowing is when there’s some level of very dry where you really want to consider leaving it alone.

As others have mentioned it’s actually good for the wildlife to give them longer grass.

Plus I don’t know about anyone else but it’s only really your kids who are constantly out in the garden in this neck of the woods. When you don’t have them, finding the time and weather to be sitting out there is less easy. In fact hanging washing is a much more common a reason to be out there. So the grass isn’t that big a deal.

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LJ161@reddit

My garden is bumpy and lumpy thanks to the neighbours 4 storey high cherry trees roots. Its a pain in the arse to mow. We do it when it needs it desperately and thats it.

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Abquine@reddit

During the summer months our lans grow rapidly thanks to ample rain, so you just need to be away for a week and you come back to long grass. Plus, leaving a bit of length gives you a much nicer lawn to walk on and is much better for the health of the grass and the wildlife.

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pharmamess@reddit

lans?

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Miserable-March-1398@reddit

Like dawgs. D’knaw yer doylem!

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Abquine@reddit

Oops - edited, ta.

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Miserable-March-1398@reddit

Auzzies have numerous excuses to drink outside. Brits can only do it in the sun without the wife thinking you’ve a problem.

My brother has two tellys outside in auz, one so he can watch the cricket in the pool and the other so he can watch the cricket when he’s not in the pool.

Your giant refrigerated beer shops are a comical talking point though, and your bus drivers dressed as deer mid November.

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JonFromHR@reddit

So we can hide the dog shit

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Alicam123@reddit

Because we have better things to do and 3 times a year would be lucky. Plus some of us have kids and dogs to worry about not the bloody grass.

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Ok_Veterinarian2715@reddit

I mow ours once a week too. It still looks unkempt within about 45 seconds.

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ScaryMagician3153@reddit

Firstly, as someone pointed out; renovation does are inherently going to be about more run-down places. Second, many people do not mow over winter as the grass effectively stops growing. Third, (and there might not be enough people doing this to be statistically significant, I don’t know), we are actually recommended not to mow at all though may to let wildflowers grow and help pollinators.

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HelloRV3991@reddit

Ever suffered from hayfever?

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noodlyman@reddit

Longer lawns stay greener when the weather is dry.

Cutting less often allows more flowers, daisies, buttercups, clover etc to open, which is good for insects and wildlife in general.

And it saves me time, so why not?

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beaches511@reddit

Over summer I might now every couple of weeks. I did one mow this year mid march and before that it would have been early October. Both of those the ground was pretty damp and muddy still.

My family also suffers from hayfever so if we cut the grass then we can't use the garden for that day.

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TooNeuroToBeABot@reddit

Regularly mowing a lawn to keep it short hales back to Capability Brown, Georgian Landscape Garden designer. It’s now an aesthetic people see as the norm. Longer grass is more drought resistant, better for wildlife and easier to maintain. Basically we feel we need to have mown lawns to please the neighbours.

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Prestigious-Gold6759@reddit

In the UK, a yard has a concrete surface, with no grass. Do you mean a back garden?

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Norman_debris@reddit

Hmm I wonder if that's what OP means???? We cannot know.

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Georgi2024@reddit

It's so much better for wildlife not to mow too much.

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dorset_is_beautiful@reddit

You see a tidy lawn, I see a green desert. Much prefer my 'mess' of wild flowers and grass, personally. The birds and the insects seem to agree.

My neighbours are probably on your side though 😅

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Historical_Project86@reddit

Because you have so little to do otherwise? I dunno, it's your problem, not ours. ;-)

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Complex-Winter8687@reddit

For your average family- when it becomes messy. For a gardener- once a week?

I find my grass doesn't grow super fast, perhaps it's the fact it's generally colder over here. Mine for example, I did about 10 days ago. I probably won't need to do it until next week. I'm somewhere between an average garden and gardener. If I did it now, there wouldn't be much change, and I like to look at it after and be proud that I did that