Lawn Mowing

This grass needs mowing

Moosey loves green grass - it is easy on the eyes. The problem with grass is that to keep it green it needs to be watered and when you water grass it grows.

We probably have at over half a hectare (1.25 acres) of lawns scattered throughout the garden (not including the grass verge alongside the road out front - another half acre) and and in the spring they need cutting just about once a week, keeping the lawnmower man very busy.

The Lawnmower Man's assistant.

The Lawnmower Man tries to split the mowing up into areas so that everything does not need to be cut at once. We have a couple of ride on mowers and an old push mower so the mowing is a not too strenuous activity and can be quite enjoyable since the mowerman gets to look at and enjoy all parts of the garden. For areas where lawnmowers cannot reach (alongside the water race) we have a brush cutter - which could best be described an "industrial" weedeater although using it involves considerably more effort than using the ride on mowers.

Mowing top lawn

Water Means Work

Later in the summer when things have dried off considerably, the person in charge of irrigation tries to balance regular requests for garden irrigation ("The garden is so desperately dry! - hint hint") with the needs of the sheep who also like green grass and depend on it to stay fat and contented and grow wool. There is a modicum of self interest here too since if the amount of irrigation can be rationed to a level where the grass stays green but doesn't grow too much, the head gardener is more or less satisfied and the mowerman can relax a bit. From the head gardener's point of view, you can never water too much - the lawnmower man would beg to differ!