Did you know Taupō District Council’s 14 reserve rangers are responsible for mowing 973 ha worth of grass between them?

That’s equivalent to about 1620 rugby fields.

As we head into the depths of spring, and then summer, they have their work cut out for them as grass across the district starts to grow at a rapid rate.

Council parks manager – open spaces Andrew Moor says the rangers take much of their annual leave during more quiet times of the year, so they can work through the holiday period and make sure the reserves are ready for a busy summer.

“The reserves are broken up into runs and sequenced,” he says.

“The operators have an app on their phones to update when each reserve is mown. We work to the Recreation Aotearoa Levels of Service as a guide, as do many councils throughout New Zealand.

“The aim is to keep grass heights within a range rather than being based on the frequency of mowing. These ranges include high profile reserves (town centres) 30mm to 50mm, standard reserves (neighbourhood parks) 40mm to 80mm, and basic (stormwater gullies) 50mm to 150mm.”

Taupō District Council team lead reserve ranger Tracey Woodcock spends most of the week on a lawn mower. She says the team is always “flat out” in spring.

“It’s like the grass is on steroids so we’re working hard to try and make sure it gets cut, and that we’re doing a good job of what we’re doing and adhering to our levels of service,” she says.

“We use a mowing app which has each area and the frequency it needs to be mowed at. When an operator mows an area, they log the date they did it and note any hazards. The app lets us know whenever an area is due for a mow, or overdue, and marks it as a priority.”

During this time of year, when the grass is growing so rapidly, the mowing team wants the community to know they are doing their best.

“Just be patient, we will get there when we can get there. We have a fair amount of grass area, and some spots may take longer to get to, but we are certainly working as fast as possible while ensuring the work is good quality.

Tracey says the community can help by ensuring they pick up their own rubbish and dog poo.

“We get a lot of rubbish that the guys usually pick up before they mow, so that would save us a lot of time. We do get a good reaction from people when we’re out working, they love what we do and a lot of them appreciate the hard work and what it looks like afterwards.”

She says the reserve rangers take pride in their work.

“We love looking back at the work we’ve done and thinking ‘yeah, that looks good’. Anything we can do to make the place look better for the community, we do - we want them to get enjoyment out of all these parks and reserves we look after.”

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