How often should you mow your lawn in Melbourne?

The short answer

Most Melbourne lawns want a weekly cut from October to December, when warm days and spring rain make them grow fastest. Fortnightly suits the rest of summer and autumn, and every three to four weeks is enough over winter.

Warm-season grasses like kikuyu, couch and buffalo slow right down in the cold, while cool-season lawns like fescue keep growing through winter and may need cutting more often.

The one-third rule

Never take off more than about a third of the grass height in one cut. Cutting more than that stresses the lawn, turns it brown and lets weeds in. If the lawn has got away from you, bring it down over two or three cuts instead of one.

Don't cut too short

Scalping the lawn to make it last longer between mows backfires. Short grass dries out faster in summer, thins out, and gives weeds room to grow. A slightly higher cut keeps the roots shaded and the lawn thicker.

Make it easy

A regular round on the same day takes the guesswork out of it: we change the frequency with the seasons and set the height for your grass. See lawn mowing for weekly, fortnightly and monthly rounds.