The head of Canberra's teams of grass mowers has pleaded for patience from the public as they see swathes of long, thick grass and wonder why it isn't being cut.
The relentless downpours of recent weeks have boosted the growth on Canberra's grass on road sides and sports fields.
But the wet also means the ACT's 81 mowing machines and their human handlers get bogged down in mud. They can't always get on to the wet ground to cut the growth down.
"We've had 30 boggings in the last couple of weeks," says Daniel Iglesias, who is in charge of the ACT's mowing, spraying and litter-picking operations.
"Our guys are really keen but when we get a saturated soil profile, it means that a lot of our machines can't get out."
He appealed to the public in what is an exceptionally wet year. "At some times you will see that the grass is getting long, but before you pick up the pen or phone, think of those guys out there delivering a mowing service in a very wet La Nina year."
La Nina is the weather phenomenon where different temperatures of the Pacific Ocean combine to cause lots of rain over Australia.
It results in two problems for the mowers: more rain means more grass and, secondly, more rain means mud - and heavy machines (like mowers) don't like mud.
Mr Iglesias recognised a particular difficulty with sports grounds which need much finer mowing than road verges do.
"There's a lot of cranky cricketers because they can't get value from their shots because of the grass," the mowing supremo said.
The ACT now has a 10 person "rapid response team" tasked with heading to particularly thick overgrowth. The aim is for each mower to mow the equivalent of about 25 soccer pitches a week.
"A changing climate means we need to adapt, and that's why we're trialing more responsive ways of delivering city services," ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel said at the start of the mowing season.
Mr Iglesias said that the last few dry-ish days have allowed the mowers to catch up on a backlog but he feared that more rain at the end of the week would set them back again.
Mowing is controversial. The government mowers of Canberra can't please everyone. Some people complain that the grass isn't being cut and some that it's being cut too much.
"Please don't mow our habitat," Greens MLA Jo Clay pleaded.
"A lot of our Canberra natural habitat is grassland and shrubs. A lot of our life - lizards and critters - live in grassland."
She successfully promoted a motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly for more understanding of the complex and valuable ecosystems within grassy areas.
"We need the right mowing in the right place," she said.
"One of the great things about living in Canberra is being surrounded by wildlife and nature.
"But sometimes land care areas that have been carefully planted and restored get destroyed due to a lack of communication between mowing contractors and volunteer land carers.
"These areas are sometimes mown over by government contractors. This not only kills the plants but can kill wildlife too. Grass clippings sometimes get sent into our waterways. Mowers can also spread weed seeds, further degrading our grasslands."
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