How often to mow your lawn in Wallan, Beveridge and Kalkallo

There's no single right answer to how often a lawn needs mowing. It depends on the grass, the season and how much water the lawn is getting. A few simple rules make lawn mowing easier to plan and keep the grass healthier between cuts, whether you do the grass cutting yourself or use a lawn mowing service.

Know your grass type.

Most lawns in Melbourne's outer north are warm-season grasses such as couch, kikuyu and buffalo, or cool-season grasses such as tall fescue. Warm-season grasses grow fastest from late spring to early autumn and slow right down in winter, often browning off after frosts. Tall fescue keeps growing through the cooler months and slows in a hot, dry summer.

A rough mowing calendar.

As a starting point for a typical residential lawn:

• Late spring to early autumn: weekly or fortnightly for couch and kikuyu, which can grow very quickly after rain.
• Autumn: fortnightly, easing off as nights get colder.
• Winter: every three to six weeks for warm-season lawns, sometimes less; cool-season lawns may still need a fortnightly cut.
• Early spring: back to fortnightly once growth picks up again.

The one-third rule.

Try not to remove more than about a third of the leaf in one cut. Scalping a long lawn down in one go stresses the grass, exposes the soil and lets weeds in. If the lawn has got away from you, bring it down over two or three cuts a week or so apart.

In summer, leave the grass a little longer than usual. Longer leaves shade the soil, hold moisture and help the lawn cope with hot northerly winds, which matters on the heavy clay soils common across the area.

Small habits that help.

Mow when the grass is dry, keep the mower blade sharp so it cuts cleanly rather than tearing, and change the mowing direction now and then so the grass doesn't lean one way. Clean edges along paths and garden beds make even a short lawn look finished.

If keeping up with the mowing is the hard part, a regular lawn mowing schedule can match the cutting to the season rather than a fixed calendar.