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Lawn Mowing in Winter – Tips and Advice NZ

19 March, 23:23, by admin Tags: , ,
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Not sure how to mow your lawns correctly in winter in NZ?

With winter on a few months away, the motivation of getting outside on the cooler days to do the lawn mowing drifts away. Just like your household bills don’t stop coming in if you aren’t working, your lawns will keep growing in winter! Although slower, it the grass will grow in winter.

You do need to look for opportunities in winter for lawn care, as you will get the odd warmer day where the grass is dry enough for a quick tidy up! Rake the leaves and debri off the top, then set your lawn mower setting to take approx 15% off the top of the grass. This will give it a nice trim and keep the lawn healthy looking. 

There is no need to scarify the lawn in the winter, so if ‘bald patches’ appear, don’t worry about it too much until temperature warm up and the grass has a fair chance of survival and growth!

If you like to get outside in summer to cut the grass yourself, but don’t like mowing in the winter months, make sure you call a professional lawn mowing services company to do it for you in winter. If you don’t mow the lawn at all over the cooler months, you risk the grass getting too high, dying, thinning, getting a disease and overall look untidy.

Could be a good time to put your mower in to be serviced! Sharpen the blades, change any filters and lubricate any moving parts ready for summer.

Here are some simple tip for lawn care over winter:

  • Don’t walk on the lawn when it’s freezing or there is frost… you run the risk of snapping the grass off.
  • Keep it raked so sunshine can have a direct line of site to the lawn
  • If you plan to let your lawns grow over winter, still pay attention to trimming around the edges to keep some kind of uniformity to the look and to keep it ‘under control’
  • Next time you’re in the hardware store like Mitre 10, Bunnings, RD1 or Hammer Hardware etc, take a look in their lawn care section for any fertiliser, or any tricks and tips they can offer to keep your lawn looking green, alive and great in winter!

If it all sounds like too much work, call us for a free quote!

How Often Should I Mow My Lawns in Autumn and Winter in NZ

19 March, 23:00, by admin Tags: , ,
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How often should we hire our lawn mowing services company over autumn, and winter in New Zealand?

Over the autumn or winter months, you should certainly be mowing your lawns on a regular basis, but not as often as in summer and spring. As with all flora and fauna, the cooler temperatures in NZ cause growth to slow down, but the grass still won’t stop growing in winter, as the grass is always exposed to the daylight (Otherwise it would be dead).

Normally in summer you would mow your lawns every two weeks, but as autumn temperatures cool, you may only need to mow every 3-4 weeks. Also, there will be additional work with raking up the leaves off the lawn to keep sunlight on the grass to avoid it wilting and possibly dying. Consider raising your normal cut leave up a notch on the mower also.

If it gets really cold in winter and frost appears on the grass, you need to stop people walking on it because if you have let the grass grow too high, the ends of the grass could snap off under the weight of the person, leaving a visual ‘foot track’ across your lawn. Use the pathway instead where possible.

Our lawn mowing experts will take extra care and precaution in winter with your lawns. We provide lawn care services right across Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and all over NZ! Get a free quote today!

Lawn Mowing Franchise Business For Sale Auckland

18 March, 23:54, by admin Tags: , , ,
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Looking for an established or Start Up lawn mowing franchise business for sale in Auckland?

Here are a list of things to consider when considering different lawnmowing franchises for sale..

  • Is it more profitable to start a lawn care franchise from scratch, or invest your money into an established Auckland mowing franchise?
  • What are the franchising fees in the lawn care industry?
  • What type of support do I get?
  • Have I looked at all the different lawn mowing franchise companies who offer businesses for sale in Auckland?
  • What are the start up fees, and what do I get for my money?
  • Which company will I choose, and which mowing franchise company in Auckland has the best reputation?
  • Are any of the lawn mowing businesses you are considering in financial trouble? Have you researched this?
  • Why not get quotes on your own lawn from all the different franchises and assess each one as they come to your house? Make sure you are 100% serious about starting the business  so you don’t waste anyone’s time. The lawn care franchisor should be pleased you did this, because atleast you already know alittle about their company prior to buying the mowing business
  • What are the returns on investment? There are some contractors out there making excellent returns with their lawn mower, and in some situations the franchisor will do the quoting and secure the jobs for you! (I guess that’s a part of what you pay for).
  • Why not openly call up a franchisee and ask them how much money you can make with a lawn mowing franchise? How much per week, month… and the average income for a year. Don’t forget it could slow down in winter, so income may vary. Ask them what are the pitfalls, risks and downsides to mowing lawns under a franchise structure.
  • Look for the quickest way to get customers, and get marketing ideas to get your mowing business off the ground as quick as possible.

Here is a good mowing manual to help you secure clients, retain them and upsell them garden maintenance services while you’re there! Read about it here - Starting a Lawn Mowing Business!***

Here are the main areas across NZ where you will find lawn mowing franchises for sale – Ashburton, Auckland City, Blenheim, Christchurch, Coromandel, Dargaville, Dunedin, East Auckland, Gisborne, Greymouth, Hamilton, Hastings, Invercargill, Lower Hutt, Manukau, Masterton, Matamata, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Nth Shore, Orewa, Palmerston North, Papakura, Queenstown, Raglan, Rotorua, South Auckland, Taupo, Tauranga, Timaru, Upper Hutt, Waiheke Island, Waikanae, Warkworth, Wellington, West Auckland, Whangarei

Names and Ideas for New Lawn Mowing Business

18 March, 23:24, by admin Tags:
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Are you starting a lawn mowing business and looking for ideas?

When you consider starting up a business in Lawn Care, you need to consider a few different things…

1) The business name – Make sure it mentions the word ‘Lawn’ in the name, as it will optimise better in the search engines.

2) Logo… keep it simple and don’t spend too much money on it, as there are plently of good ideas on the internet already that you can model.

3) A catchy slogan to use with your new lawn mowing set up. This need to be ‘attention grabbing’ and clever. New clients will like originality.

Think about a common ad on the radio that has stuck in your mind? You want the same effect long term with your business name!

*** NEW -Quick Start Ideas to Start a Lawn Mowing Business! ***

Here are some catchy names & slogans to use with your new business:

  • We Love to Cut Grass. We are Lawn Artists!
  • VIP Yard Barber… all Grass Types!
  • Auckland (your town name) Professional Lawn Mowing Wizard.
  • Guaranteed to Look Awesome Or Triple Your Grass Back
  • Your Lawn Is My Lawn… that’s How We Roll!
  • The grass may be greener on the other side of your fence!
  • Instant superb curb appeal
  • Quality Mowing Service from the Grass Seeds Up
  • Natural landscaping Services Auckland (Insert your town)

*** NEW -Quick Start Ideas to Start a Lawn Mowing Business! ***

Stop Dogs Urinating on Grass and Killing Lawn

18 March, 23:09, by admin Tags: , , ,
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How to Stop Dog Urine Killing Grass and Lawn

Is there a local dog urinating on your lawn and killing it? You might notice that female dogs are the main ‘suspects’ for leaving large urine patches of dead grass on your lawn, because they squat down and pee in a concentrated area, whereas male dogs will urinate up the tree and all over schrubs etc.

Why does the grass die when when it  comes in contact with dog or cat urine?

Next time you’re out lawn mowing your section, you will clearly see where the urine is, as it leaves a burnt looking light yellow patch. This is caused by highconcentration levels of nitrogen in the animals urine.

There are several ways to solve the problem of these unsightly dead spots on your lawn due to:

· Take your dog to a park or wooded area where it can urinate.

· Saturate the place where your dog urinates with a large amount of water immediately after it does its duty. This will cause the nitrogen in the urine to be evenly distributed and diluted.

· Over-seed any burnt spots that appear in your lawn. You can also replace burnt spots by applying topsoil and reseeding or digging out the spot and replacing it with a piece of sod.

· Reseed or sod the area with a urine resistant grass, such as fescues or perennial ryegrass. Though these grasses aren’t completely urine resistant, they aren’t as susceptible to dog urine as other types of grass.

· Set aside one particular corner of your yard as your dog’s bathroom and train it to go there when it feels the call of nature. Cover the area with gravel or mulch so it can be easily replaced. This prevents dead spots in your lawn and helps to prevent odor from feces and urine.

· Buy a food additive or supplement that you can place in your dog’s food to neutralize the nitrogen in your dog’s urine. These can be purchased at pet food stores and veterinarians. Be sure to purchase a product that doesn’t alter the ph balance of your dog’s urine, as this can have a serious effect on your dog’s health.

· Be sure to keep your dog well hydrated in order to lower nitrogen levels in its urines naturally. Your dog should always have access to water at all times.

These tips will enable you to enjoy the companionship of a dog and keep your lawn beautiful, green and free of unsightly yellowish spots that are caused by high nitrogen levels in its urine.

Information source: lawncare-business.com