Austrians are pedantic about lawn mowing. Their lawns must be perfect, mown weekly, shorn to an exacting length. I’m quite sure there are fines issued if you breach lawn mowing rules, or at least a disapproving neighbourly glare! Each garden boasts a lush lime carpet of soft grass, devoid of weeds or lumps and bumps. And while I don’t think I’d have the patience to maintain such perfection, it certainly looks amazing, and feels warm and spongy on bare feet in the summer – a huge contrast to the brown-tinged, prickly lawn I grew up with (because there’s a drought, people).
But Austrian also love their flowers. They’ll pull weeds out of the lawn and sew the missing patches with lawn seed, but flowers are something to be adored. Flowers should be left to grow into beautiful clusters of bright petals, to wave their long stems in the breeze, rising up over the perfect grass beyond.
So they mow around the flowers. Like this.
The first time I saw it I thought it was a once off. Oh nononononono. Everyone does it.
Even us.
I guess our flowers are just lucky that since hurting my back I’ve been banned from mowing the lawn. Because mowing around the flowers is just a little bit too much for me. But hey, whatever makes you happy.
an aussie in austria 