Gardening and landscaping
Lawn mowing and care
Whether this needs a licence in Ireland
No licence required
Taken from the statute below; not yet reviewed by a lawyer
Lawn mowing and care: what the job involves
Keeping a lawn cut, edged and healthy: regular mowing through the growing season, and the occasional heavier work — scarifying out moss and thatch, aerating, feeding and overseeding — that an Irish lawn, wet and mossy for half the year, usually needs.
Also asked for as: grass cutting · lawn mowing service · garden maintenance · scarifying lawn · moss in lawn
How the job is usually done
- Walk the lawn: size, slopes, how the mower gets in, and how much moss, thatch and weed there is.
- Agree a plan: a one-off cut or a schedule, and which treatments, if any, in spring or autumn.
- Clear stones, toys and dog fouling, then mow at a height that suits the season — higher in a wet spell or a drought.
- Strim and edge along beds, paths, walls and fences.
- For a renovation: scarify, hollow-tine or spike aerate, top-dress, then overseed bare patches.
- Feed or apply moss or weed treatment, if agreed, with products the gardener is entitled to use.
- Blow paths clean and bag or mulch the clippings.
Lawn mowing and care: what is included
Usually included
- Mowing, strimming and edging
- Blowing grass off paths and patios
- Leaving clippings in your brown bin or compost, if that is the arrangement
Usually not included — agree it separately
- Taking clippings and moss away (needs a waste collection permit)
- Hedge cutting, weeding beds and pruning
- Re-turfing or levelling a lawn from scratch
- Leaf clearance in autumn, unless agreed
Materials and who supplies them
- Fertiliser, moss killer, lawn seed and top-dressing — usually supplied by the gardener and charged as used
- Mower, strimmer, scarifier and aerator — the gardener’s own
- Brown bin or compost space for clippings — yours
How long it takes
Under an hour a visit for most suburban gardens; scarifying and aerating a neglected lawn is a half-day or more, and long grass after a missed month takes much longer to cut.
When to book
Mowing runs from about March to October; scarifying and overseeding go best in September, when the soil is warm and wet, with a lighter go in April.
Lawn mowing and care: the rules in Ireland
What the official sources say, checked against them on the date shown. A summary, not legal advice — follow the link to read the rule itself.
Since 26 November 2015 only a DAFM-registered professional user may apply plant protection products authorised for professional use, and a sprayer used for them must have passed a Pesticide Application Equipment Test. A householder may use only products authorised for amateur use, without registration.
Applies to: anybody applying weedkiller, moss killer or fungicide in the course of their work
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pesticide Registration and Control Divisions (S.I. 155/2012, Sustainable Use Directive) · pcs.agriculture.gov.ie · Checked 9 October 2026
Collecting waste for reward — grass clippings, hedge cuttings, soil, old slabs — needs a waste collection permit, and a householder may only hand waste to an authorised collector or bring it to an authorised facility.
Applies to: the gardener or landscaper who takes waste away, and the householder
Waste Management Act 1996, sections 32 and 34; National Waste Collection Permit Office · revisedacts.lawreform.ie · Checked 9 October 2026
Burning household or garden waste — on a bonfire, in a barrel or in a garden incinerator — is illegal; garden and park waste is expressly outside the old agricultural exemption, which itself ended on 30 November 2023.
Applies to: the householder and anybody working in the garden
Waste Management (Prohibition of Waste Disposal by Burning) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 286/2009); Air Pollution Act 1987 · citizensinformation.ie · Checked 9 October 2026
What lawn mowing and care costs, and why
What jobs on Talqero came to
Not enough comparable jobs yet to publish a range here. Talqero shows a price range only once at least five comparable jobs, agreed prices or offers exist — a range from fewer would describe a handful of jobs, not the market. Post your job and compare the offers you get.
What affects the price
- Lawn area, and how the mower gets in — through the house, a side passage or steps
- Frequency: weekly, fortnightly, monthly or a one-off cut
- Condition: long grass, moss and thatch, slopes and banks
- Treatments and renovation beyond mowing
- Whether clippings and moss are taken away
- VAT: building work on a home is charged at the reduced rate of 13.5% by a VAT-registered business — unless the materials come to more than two-thirds of the price, when Revenue’s two-thirds rule applies the goods rate to the whole job. Ask whether a quote includes VAT.
Paperwork to ask for at the end
- A note of any product applied, and how long to keep children and pets off the grass
- The waste collection permit number, if waste is taken away
Safety
- Keep children and pets indoors while a mower or strimmer is running — stones fly.
- Pick up dog fouling and toys before the gardener arrives.
- Keep everybody off treated grass for as long as the product label says.
Lawn mowing and care: before you hire
Questions to ask a tradesperson
- Are you a DAFM-registered professional user if you apply weed or moss killer?
- Do you take the clippings away, and with what waste collection permit?
- What happens if a visit is rained off?
- Do you have public liability insurance?
What you can do yourself
Mowing, edging and spot-feeding with garden-centre products are fine for most householders; a hired scarifier is heavy work and best done in early autumn.
What to put in your task
- Roughly how big is the lawn?
- How often do you want it cut?
- What is the lawn like now?
- How does a mower get to the back garden?
- What should happen to the clippings?
Photos that help
- The whole lawn from one corner, showing its shape and length
- A close-up of moss, weeds or bare patches
- The route in — side gate, passage or steps
Lawn mowing and care by county
Choose your county for lawn mowing and care close to home.
- Lawn mowing and care in Dublin
- Lawn mowing and care in Cork
- Lawn mowing and care in Galway
- Lawn mowing and care in Kildare
- Lawn mowing and care in Limerick
- Lawn mowing and care in Meath
- Lawn mowing and care in Tipperary
- Lawn mowing and care in Donegal
- Lawn mowing and care in Wexford
- Lawn mowing and care in Kerry
- Lawn mowing and care in Wicklow
- Lawn mowing and care in Mayo
- Lawn mowing and care in Louth
- Lawn mowing and care in Waterford
- Lawn mowing and care in Clare
- Lawn mowing and care in Kilkenny
- Lawn mowing and care in Westmeath
- Lawn mowing and care in Laois
- Lawn mowing and care in Cavan
- Lawn mowing and care in Offaly
- Lawn mowing and care in Sligo
- Lawn mowing and care in Roscommon
- Lawn mowing and care in Monaghan
- Lawn mowing and care in Carlow
- Lawn mowing and care in Longford
- Lawn mowing and care in Leitrim
Gardening and landscaping
Need lawn mowing and care? Describe the job.
Post it once, free. Professionals near you reply with their own price and when they could start. You choose, and pay them directly.
Questions about lawn mowing and care
Does lawn mowing and care need a licence in Ireland?
No licence is required for this work in Ireland (source: www.cru.ie). Ask instead for references and photographs of similar jobs.
Why is my lawn so mossy?
Shade, wet and compacted soil and mowing too short let moss outcompete grass, and most Irish lawns have all four. Killing the moss without fixing the cause brings it back. Aerating, raising the mowing height and overseeding in autumn do more than treatment alone.
Can the gardener put weed-and-feed on my lawn?
Yes, with a product authorised for that use. If it is a professional product, the person applying it must be registered with the Department of Agriculture as a professional user; garden-centre amateur products need no registration. Ask which they will use.
Can I burn the moss and clippings?
No. Burning garden waste is illegal in Ireland. Compost it, use the brown bin, bring it to a recycling centre, or have it taken by somebody with a waste collection permit.
How short should the grass be cut?
For most family lawns, around three to four centimetres in the growing season, a little higher in shade, in a wet spell and in a dry summer. Taking off more than a third at a time stresses the grass.