
Backyard Awards: Best Loved Lawn winner
Mark Elliott from Shirley in Christchurch has won the category of Best Loved Lawn for his lush green masterpiece. Congratulations, Mark!
We spoke with his about his process to keep his lawn beautiful and there may be some blades of advice for your own backyard.
Mark has a huge backyard so during Covid times, he decided to renovate the lawn and garden just for something to do. It’s turned into a passion.
His lawn is 100% rye grass - sourced from Prebble Seeds Turf World who supply many golf courses around New Zealand. In the summer he mows it every 2-3 days, sometimes daily, and waters the lawn with a deep soak of about an hour at a time, 2-3 times a week. He uses a granular slow release lawn fertiliser and other liquid fertilisers also.
Mark shares:
'I would say the secret to getting a good lawn is consistent mowing - at least twice a week. Maybe buy a bulk bag of slow release lawn fertiliser from a wholesaler. Keep the grass longer and just take the very top off the blade when you mow. It promotes growth, thickens it up and will really help with stopping weeds - oh, and water. Expect a water bill if you want a good lawn.'
The first photo below shows the 'Before' shot, 4 years ago. Give Mark a Like on this post if you think his lawn is pretty top notch!

For a bit of fun, neighbours.
Have a good think about it, and let us know...
If you could invent one piece of technology to make life easier, what would it be?
Comment below with what you think would be a handy new invention - it may even already exist!


Receive a $15,000* bucket list adventure on us!
Whether it’s visiting the Eiffel Tower, or a cruise around the Mediterranean, Ryman are giving you the opportunity to tick a destination off your bucket list.
When you move into an independent apartment or townhouse, we’ll give you a $15,000 House of Travel Gift Card*.
*Participating villages only, terms & conditions apply.
Click read more to find out more.

scams
reading about scams every day, i thought it would be a good idea to share how we were scammed, or heard about someone who was . we always think we are careful but daily some one falls in a trap. so do put your or some one else's misfortune for others to learn a lesson and be careful. you need not give your personal details.
i regularly received phone calls on the landline, the person said some people had taken control of my computer. i said i had no problem. the calls kept coming. i asked someone in citizens advice bureau and was told i could report it to phone 555(police non urgent) So next time i told the person i had this police phone number and would report him. the calls stopped. the phone number showed they came from london but the person had a south asian accent.
i regularly get phone messages to say i have not paid my speeding ticket fine, road toll fee, and to click on a link.
another scammer - i often order gifts on line for family in australia. i got messages on my phone to say the supplier had to cross a border and had to be paid a custom fee and to click on the link. i took it up with the big organisation with whom i had placed the order, on their chat line, that this only happened for australia. they said they would look into it but i got no feedback.