
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!

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Local grants empower KiwiHarvest’s mission
Every day in Aotearoa, tonnes of food go to waste while many families struggle to eat.
KiwiHarvest is tackling this by rescuing surplus food and redistributing it to over 220 community groups across the country.
With $150,000 in Local Grants funding from Lotto NZ, KiwiHarvest delivered 159,914kgs of food—equivalent to 355,366 meals—while preventing 423,774kg of CO2 emissions.
Since 2016, they’ve rescued 14.5 million kgs of food, providing over 32 million meals.
“Just $5 feeds a family for a day,” says Anne-Marie Friis, Head of Fundraising. Every Lotto ticket helps support crucial initiatives like KiwiHarvest.
Read more Local Grants recipient stories on mylotto.co.nz/community-winners


Poll: Is your nearest emergency department up to scratch?
Concerns have been raised about Nelson Hospital with complaints of lack of staffing and excessive wait times. Do you have confidence in your local emergency department?

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36.5% Yes, it serves us well
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62.7% No, I have concerns
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0.7% Other - I'll share below