Cut at the right height for the season, edged along every path and bed, and the clippings cleared. You come home to a lawn that looks looked after.
No commitment. We call, you decide.
The short answer
Lawn mowing is the cutting of a lawn to a set height, with the edges trimmed along paths, driveways and garden beds. We generally catch and remove lawn clippings for a clean, professional finish, while adjusting mowing height and technique to suit the lawn’s condition and seasonal needs. Lawn care is the wider work that keeps the lawn healthy enough to look good after it is cut. Weeds n’ Wonders provides both across Melbourne’s eastern and north eastern suburbs.
The single biggest factor in how a lawn looks is the height it is cut at. Cutting too short weakens the roots, dries the soil out and opens gaps for weeds to establish. Cutting at the right height for the grass type keeps the lawn thick, and a thick lawn keeps weeds out on its own.
The correct height is not the same for every lawn. Buffalo, couch, kikuyu and cool season grasses all want different settings, and each one changes with the season. Most patchy Melbourne lawns are not diseased. They are being cut too short by someone who set the mower once and never changed it.
A lawn brought back to full, even cover. Our work, our photo.
What you get
Set for your grass type and adjusted through the year, not left on one setting.
Along paths, driveways, garden beds and around trees, so the lawn has a clean line.
Caught as we mow. Your green bin first, then we bag and take the rest at $8 a bag.
Driveway, paths and outdoor areas blown down before we leave.
If your lawn is thinning, drying out or filling with weeds, we tell you what is causing it.
Method
Both are correct in the right situation. What matters is that the choice is made deliberately rather than by whatever the mower happens to be set to.
| Situation | What we do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Regular visit on a healthy lawn in growing season | Catch and remove | Clippings on a maintained lawn look untidy, get walked inside, and can smother the grass underneath in a thick cut. |
| Lawn under heat stress in summer | Raise mowing height | Leaving the lawn slightly longer reduces mowing stress and helps protect the turf during hot, dry conditions. Clippings are still collected for a clean finish. |
| Lawn full of weeds gone to seed | Catch and remove | Catching helps prevent weed seeds being redistributed across the lawn. Where appropriate, we can also treat lawn weeds using targeted products suited to the weed and lawn type. |
| First visit on a badly overgrown lawn | Cut back and catch | We typically cut an overgrown lawn back in the initial visit rather than returning a week later for a second staged cut. It may initially appear yellow or stressed after a heavy cut, but with ongoing maintenance we gradually bring the lawn back to an appropriate height and condition. |
| Lawn that has been scalped previously | Raise the height and catch | Allowing more leaf growth helps the lawn recover its colour and reduces further stress while the turf recovers. |
Tell us how you like it done and we will do it that way. Most clients never think about it again after the first visit.
Local knowledge
Melbourne lawns are mostly one of five types. Each wants a different height and each behaves differently through a Melbourne year.
| Lawn type | How to spot it | Mowing height | Through a Melbourne year | Most common problem |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soft leaf buffalo, such as Sir Walter | Broad flat leaf, spreads by runners, handles shade better than most | 30 to 50 mm, higher in shade and in summer | Grows strongly through the warmer months, slows and can brown off through winter | Cut too short. Buffalo scalps easily and is slow to recover. |
| Couch | Fine leaf, dense, loves full sun, sends runners into garden beds | 10 to 25 mm | Strong through summer, browns off and goes dormant in winter | Runners invading garden beds, and winter browning mistaken for a dead lawn. |
| Kikuyu | Coarse, very vigorous, thick runners above and below ground | 25 to 40 mm | Grows fast through the growing season, needs mowing more often than anything else | Outgrowing a four week visit in summer, and building up thatch. |
| Cool season grasses, such as ryegrass and fescue | Finer upright leaf, stays green through winter, common in older gardens | 40 to 60 mm, up to 70 mm for tall fescue in summer | Grows strongly in autumn and spring, struggles in summer heat | Thinning and drying out through summer without watering. |
| Mixed or unidentified lawn | Different leaf shapes and colours across the same lawn | Cut to suit the dominant grass, usually 35 to 45 mm | Patchy through the year as different grasses take turns | Being cut to one height that suits none of it. |
Not sure what you have? Send us a photo or we will tell you on the first visit. It changes how we cut, so it is worth knowing.
As a general rule, avoid removing more than one third of the lawn’s height in a single mow, as a heavier cut can leave it looking yellow or stressed. Badly overgrown lawns may need a heavier initial cut before being gradually brought back to an appropriate mowing height and condition.
The pattern
A tired lawn usually has one of four causes, and none of them are fixed by cutting it shorter.
Cutting too low removes the leaf the grass needs to feed itself. The roots shorten, the soil dries faster, and thin patches open up. Raising the mower height fixes more Melbourne lawns than any product does.
Foot traffic, clay soil and heavy summers press the ground down until water runs off instead of soaking in. Grass cannot root into ground it cannot get into.
Most lawn types need real sun. Under a mature tree in Kew or Hawthorn, a lawn will always struggle, and the honest answer is sometimes to plant the area rather than keep fighting it.
Bare patches fill with bindii, winter grass and clover. Every gap the lawn leaves, something else takes.
The fix in almost every case is a thicker lawn rather than more treatment. Correct height, regular cutting, and weeds dealt with before they seed. A thick lawn crowds weeds out without any help.
Rhythm
Most Melbourne lawns are well served by a visit every four weeks across the year. That keeps the lawn in shape without ever taking too much off in one cut.
Growth is not even through the year. Through the growing season, warm season lawns such as kikuyu and couch grow fast, and a large or vigorous lawn may want us fortnightly. Through the cooler months growth slows right down and four weekly is comfortably enough.
We will tell you honestly if your lawn needs more than four weekly through summer. We will also tell you if it does not, which is more often the case.
Pricing
We charge $180 an hour, with a $180 minimum for a visit. That rate covers two gardeners, and on a lawn that is what makes the difference: one concentrates on getting the mow right while the other does every edge properly. Lawn size is only part of what takes the time, because access, slope, edging length and how long the lawn has been left all change the job.
Get a call back and we will look at the lawn, tell you what it needs, and confirm the cost with you before any work starts. If it is not for you, there is nothing to pay and nothing to sign.
Before and after
Real Melbourne lawns we mow. Every photo is our own work.
Front lawn edged. Mown, with the edges recut along the path and around the tree bed.
Lawn edges recovered. Grass cut back off the brick edging and the lawn mown.
Reviews
Rated 5 out of 5 on Google.
Service areas
Weeds n’ Wonders provides lawn mowing and lawn care in the following suburbs.
Lawn mowing in Kew
Lawn mowing in Camberwell
Lawn mowing in Hawthorn
Lawn mowing in Balwyn
Lawn mowing in Ivanhoe
Lawn mowing in Toorak
Nearby but not listed? Call us. If you are close we can usually help.
Related services
Mowing as part of a full garden visit, with weeding, edging and pruning in the same trip.
Bindii, winter grass and clover cleared out so the lawn has room to thicken up.
For the bigger clear outs, when there is more than a mow's worth to take away.
FAQ
Weeds n’ Wonders charges $180 an hour, with a $180 minimum for a visit, which includes mowing, edging and clearing the clippings. The rate covers two gardeners, so one gets the mow right while the other does the edges. Access, slope and edging length affect the time as much as lawn size does. What is achievable in the time is confirmed with you before any work starts, and the quote itself is free.
Most Melbourne lawns need mowing fortnightly through the growing season, and every four weeks through the cooler months. Warm season grasses such as kikuyu and couch grow fastest through summer. Cool season grasses such as ryegrass and fescue grow hardest in autumn and spring.
It depends on the grass type. Soft leaf buffalo should be cut at 30 to 50 mm, couch at 10 to 25 mm, kikuyu at 25 to 40 mm, and cool season grasses such as ryegrass and fescue at 40 to 60 mm. As a general rule, avoid removing more than one third of the lawn’s height in a single mow, regardless of type.
Warm season grasses including couch and kikuyu go dormant over a Melbourne winter and lose colour. This is normal and the lawn is not dead. Colour returns on its own as the soil warms in spring. Cool season grasses such as ryegrass and fescue stay green through winter, which is why some lawns in the same street look very different in July.
Yes. Clippings are caught as we mow. Where there is room in your green bin we use it, because that costs you nothing, and anything beyond that we bag and take with us at $8 a bag. If your lawn is heat stressed in summer we may raise the mowing height rather than cutting it short, because leaving more leaf protects the turf. Clippings are still collected either way.
Yes, edging is included in every visit. We cut along paths, driveways, garden beds and around trees. The edge is what makes a mown lawn look finished, and it is the first thing people skip when they are working to a price.
Often, yes. Most thin Melbourne lawns are being cut too short, are compacted, are too shaded, or have lost ground to weeds. Raising the mowing height and clearing the weeds fixes a large share of them without any other work. We will tell you which of those applies to yours on the first visit.
Yes. Growth slows through the cooler months, but the visit still matters, because edges keep growing and leaves need clearing off the lawn before they smother it.
No. Most clients give us access and come home to a finished lawn. You get a reminder the day before we come. Regular clients often leave a spare key with us if they are comfortable with that.
Yes. Many clients start with a single visit to bring an overgrown lawn back under control, then decide whether to keep us on. There is nothing to sign.
Weeds n’ Wonders covers Melbourne’s eastern and north eastern suburbs, including Kew, Camberwell, Hawthorn, Balwyn, Ivanhoe and Toorak.
Booking
Get a call back and we will cut it at the right height, do the edges properly, and clear the clippings.
No commitment. We call, you decide.
