To HOA board members - How often do you mow your lawns?

Back when I was a homeowner, I'd move my lawn every two weeks. I will add that, after two weeks, it was definitely a full, lush lawn, but it never looked overgrown or uncared for. In fact, it felt quite nice to walk on with bare feet.

Back to our HOA, our landscaping company mows our laws once per week. I am wondering if weekly maintenance is absolutely necessary, if it would be plausible to mow it every two weeks instead.

I've Googled this quite a bit and I have yet to find a straightforward answer. All answers pretty much hinge on what type of grass it is and how low/high it's cut.

The reason why I am asking is because I am looking at all ways that I could potentially conserve spending and/or bring in more money to the association. Please note that I am not interested in "cutting corners" (ie, sacrificing beautification of the community for lower costs). If it is necessary to keep the lawns mowed weekly then I will certainly do so. I just want other HOA members' opinions here.

It depends on your type of grass. We have Bermuda. It doesn't start to green until about May and then goes dormant again by October. Fescue grass is different. It grows earlier and can get that out of control look faster. So start your googling by the type of grass to get a better understanding.

With that said, mowing once a week is okay and not much of a money saver to cut back on. That being, that you should just shop around for different contractors instead. Which is what we did. The quotes ranged from 2200 - 2500 a month for the 7-8 months we may need them. The fall they just blew leaves not mowed. Winter they didn't come out at all.

Do not sign a contract for more than 1 year. Many companies do offer a multi-year contract to save on costs. You don't want this as you can't get rid of them if they do a bad job. Yearly contracts keeps it competitive. Although expect to give a raise to your existing contractor if they continue to do a good job for multiple contracts.

We also defined our common areas as the "Grassy areas". The lawncare only mowed and managed those except for the front entrance area. Otherwise all trimming and garden care was up to the owner's to care for. They could pay the lawncare people in private to help maintain if they wanted. That saved money.

once a week during the growing season.
about once every two weeks when it starts to slow down.

Here in Florida my neighborhood hired people to do it once a week during our rainy season and once every two weeks on the off season.

Personally I think once every other week would be sufficient during the wet season and maybe once a month during the dry season.

We're site condos, so the cost aspect of individual units isn't there.
Our common areas are mowed about once every week to 10 days, depending on rainfall.
Individual units are generally at least once/week, but sprinkler systems certainly influence that.

Ron,

I have spent quite a bit of time on this topic as well...the topic being : how to save money in lawn maintenance without sacrificing quality. Here are some ideas to consider

1. If you have automatic sprinklers, get control of their operation. Don't leave them in a predetermined program. You can save money by reducing the amount of water used.
2. Look at grass clipping, fallen leaves from trees, shrub clippings as fertilizer. Consider mulch mowing and composting to reduce fertilizer cost.
3. Compost will also improve health of your grass and you will need less pre-emergent herbicide and fungicide....further reducing cost.

Hope this helps.