Lawns , gardens etc not being mowed or maintained

[allani]

Hi all
I have a property with what used to be nice lawns and some small gardens that were in great order before these folk moved in.
I have asked 3 or 4 times in the last 6 to 8 weeks for them to get on and get the lawns mowed before they get out of hand
yes , yes they say getting on to that this afternoon or tomorrow morning............BUT still not happening and now the lawns are
right out of control.
Any advice please on a course of action.
Thanks
Allan

[drelly]

Include lawns in the rent. I gave up expecting tenants to mow lawns years ago!
Otherwise, issue them a 10 day notice to rectify it.

[Tan]

I agree with Drelly. Lawns and gardens are difficult in a lot of tenancies. Concentrate your efforts on making sure the house itself stays in good condition.

[allani]

The tenancy is ending on the 12th December , what if I get a quote from a Mr Green or suchlike and claim it from the bond.
Any fish hooks in that??

[Keys]

No, unless the tenant refuses to sign the bond release form. Then it's off to the TT for you.

[flyernzl]

Agree that tenants do not maintain lawns.
Once the existing tenancy ends, hire a lawnmowing contractor to mow them fortnightly. Add half the fortnightly cost to the weekly rent and advertise the property as 'lawns included'. Tenants like this.

Have a good look at the gardens and work out how to convert them to low maintenance. Bark chip and native plants. Nice gardens with roses and annuals just do not work in rentals.

[Toasty]

Agree that tenants do not maintain lawns.
Once the existing tenancy ends, hire a lawnmowing contractor to mow them fortnightly. Add half the fortnightly cost to the weekly rent and advertise the property as 'lawns included'. Tenants like this.

Have a good look at the gardens and work out how to convert them to low maintenance. Bark chip and native plants. Nice gardens with roses and annuals just do not work in rentals.

Agree with Drelly and Flyernzl. Tenants will generally never look after gardens and lawns. I actually sympathise because I hate it too. Add in the costs and say its all included.

My mower guy also feeds back info on the state of the property as well so its a bit of a win win.

[AndyOwner]

Some lawn mower guys charge only $30-$35 or so, probably a good idea to up the rent by $10 and include lawns

[skid]

We rented to a Chinese family once some years ago--I drove by and saw her son cutting the grass with a hand held pair of manual hedge clippers

[mrsaneperson]

Never let an Indian tenant take care of the lawns. They say they will but it never happens. One we tried didnt even know how to lower the catcher. He kept telling us he had just done the lawn but didnt seem to understand that you have to lower the catcher if you want to cut the daisies and not ride over them.
Other times he would cut half the lawn only and say he would finsh the other half next week.Then the mower broke down; that was my excuse to end the trial run and get in a contractor.

[skid]

There should be a whole thread on the best maintenance free plants for flower beds

[Maccachic]

Never let an Indian tenant take care of the lawns. They say they will but it never happens. One we tried didnt even know how to lower the catcher. He kept telling us he had just done the lawn but didnt seem to understand that you have to lower the catcher if you want to cut the daisies and not ride over them.
Other times he would cut half the lawn only and say he would finsh the other half next week.Then the mower broke down; that was my excuse to end the trial run and get in a contractor.

'

You are making a generalisation based on 1 person? Come on surely you can do better than that.

I like lomandras for easy plants good ground cover nice colour and attractive.

[mrsaneperson]

'

You are making a generalisation based on 1 person? Come on surely you can do better than that.

I like lomandras for easy plants good ground cover nice colour and attractive.

Thats true.Yes my bad. I think generally though Indians are not great with gardens, possibly because they are unsued to them in their home country. Im generalising.

[skid]

I think generally if you get tenants that are good with the gardens ,you are basically lucky--we have had a few (including one lot who are in one of our places at present--They have actually created flower beds with sleepers --the full monty)
But most dont do anything other than the bare minimum.
Most are so universally bad that I dont know if singling out one lot is worth it.--just assume that your better off getting it done your self.
Thanx for the tip on the Lomandras Mac