Lawn Mowing and Grass Cutting across Suffolk.

A standard Lawn Cut visit covers the mow, the edges, and the clear up. The grass is cut to a height that suits the season, with the mower kept sharp so the blades cut cleanly rather than tearing, which keeps the lawn looking crisp for longer between visits. Stripes are set where the lawn allows, with the direction alternated week to week so the grass is not pushed in the same direction every time.

Edges are then redrawn cleanly along borders, paths and stonework using a half moon edger or strimmer depending on the line, so the lawn meets the rest of the garden in a defined line rather than blurring into the borders. Clippings are collected and taken away as standard, leaving no piles, no bagged green waste at the gate, and no scattering on the paths.

Around the mow, the finish is what people actually notice. Hard edges against paving and stonework are run over so the grass cannot creep across the line. The trimmer is kept level rather than dropped into the soil, which is what causes the scalped brown collars you see around trees and posts. Paths and drives are swept or blown clear at the end, and the lawn is left looking deliberate rather than simply shortened.

Lawn Cuts covers domestic lawns of most shapes and sizes, from a courtyard square of grass to the long open sweeps that come with a country property. Ride on mowing is used where the area genuinely calls for it, and pedestrian machines everywhere else, because a heavy machine on a small or soft lawn does more harm to the surface than the time it saves is worth. Orchard grass, paddock edges and rougher areas are cut on their own schedule, higher and less often, which is what they want.

The awkward parts of a lawn are where most grass cutting falls down. Banks and slopes are taken across rather than up and down, which is both safer and a good deal more even. Narrow strips between borders are cut in the direction that lets the mower finish cleanly rather than the direction that is quickest, because a lawn is read from the house and the lines show. Around manhole covers, tree bases and the feet of steps the finish is made by hand where a machine would leave a scar.

Most Lawn Cuts are run on a fixed weekly or fortnightly schedule through the growing season, scaled back over autumn and winter as the grass slows. Visits sit on the same day each week so you always know when the lawn is being looked after. Quotes are given clearly in writing in advance, sized to the lawn and the visit frequency.

Aeration, scarifying and feeding are worth doing and are quoted as separate work rather than folded into a mowing visit, because each needs its own timing, equipment and a different amount of time on site.

The schedule matters more than people expect. Weekly cuts through the growing season keep the lawn inside the one third rule comfortably and produce a noticeably better sward by midsummer. Fortnightly works well for lawns that are not pushed hard with feed, and it is the more common arrangement, though there is usually a fortnight in late May when even a well behaved lawn outgrows the gap. Through autumn and winter the visits scale back to occasional cuts and leaf clearance rather than stopping dead, since a lawn left under a wet mat of leaves from November to March comes out of it thin and patchy.

Plenty of clients start with grass cutting and gradually want more of the garden handled. Where the borders and hedges are also getting away, a full garden care round covers the lot on the same visit and usually works out more sensibly than booking each job separately. Where the garden is broadly fine and simply wants resetting at the turn of the season, a seasonal garden tidy up two or three times a year may be all it needs alongside the mowing.

When the lawn is only half of what you are looking at

Mowing is the job most gardens ask for first, and it is the one that shows how everything else is getting on. A lawn can be cut perfectly and still look untidy if the beds behind it have run to weed, the edges have softened over winter or the hedge above it has lost its line. The grass is only ever half of what the eye is reading.

Plenty of clients begin with a mowing round and decide, usually around the second summer, that they would rather hand over the whole garden than keep the list themselves. Four Seasons Garden Care is our ongoing garden care programme built for that: an agreed schedule, the seasonal priorities handled in the right order, and one person responsible for how the garden looks across the year rather than how the lawn looks on a Tuesday.

See how Four Seasons Garden Care works