Fines of up to 600 euros can be imposed for excessively long lawns on your property.
And, if the fines don’t scare you away and the grass continues to be neglected, your plot may be declared unusable, which could lead to an increase in land tax.
Fines of up to 600 euros are imposed for unkempt plots
The Vilnius City Municipality stated that, according to the Rules of Management and Cleanliness, it is mandatory to mow meadows, lawns, roadsides, dividing lanes, ditches and other areas where grass, weeds or invasive plants grow.
According to representatives of the municipality, the appropriate height of the grass or the frequency of mowing is not defined, so mowing on private plots can be done at will.
However, they emphasized that this does not give the right to abandon the plot and not cut the grass at all.
The municipality commented that after receiving complaints about untidy plots, municipal employees and public order officers carry out inspections.
If violations are detected during them, a fine of up to 140 euros may be imposed. If violations are repeated – up to 600 euros.
“However, first of all, an attempt is made to resolve the situation peacefully – the owner of the abandoned plot is obliged in writing to clean up the environment within two weeks”, added Vilnius City Municipality.
She was unable to disclose how many violations for mowing were found, as they are counted along with all tidiness and cleanliness violations.
However, the representatives indicated that a total of 327 protocols were drawn up last year for various violations of the Handling and Cleanliness Rules.
In the warm season, the grass should not be longer than 10 cm
Gintaras Lasickas, chief specialist of the Control and Prevention subsection of the Public Order Department of the Klaipėda City Municipality, indicated that the requirements for the height of the grass are foreseen.
He stated that from May 1 until October 1 the grass must be cut periodically so that the height of the grass is no more than 12 cm.
And during the summer season (from April 1 to October 31 inclusive), it must be ensured that the height of the grass on the representative green areas is no higher than 10 cm.
According to G. Lasicka, violations of these rules can result in a warning or a fine from 20 to 140 euros. And if the offense is committed repeatedly, a fine of 140-600 euros would be threatened.
“According to the data of the register of administrative offenses, in 2023, 43 protocols of administrative offenses were recorded in the municipality of Klaipėda city”, mentioned the representative.
Land tax may increase
Asta Chanko, the elder of the Petrašiūnai ward of the Kaunas city municipality, also emphasized that the owners must constantly ensure cleanliness and order in the territories they own.
In Kaunas, as in Klaipėda, plots need to be mowed periodically – the height of the grass should not be higher than 12 cm.
If it is exceeded, the municipalities can issue warnings or administrative fines for neglecting the plot.
In addition to the already mentioned fines, A. Chanko also drew attention to the fact that if his plots are not managed further, they may be included in the lists of unused land plots, subjecting them to an increased land tax.
The interlocutor indicated that it can reach from 0.3 to 4 percent. land value tax.
“The people of Kaunas actively maintain and manage the plots belonging to them, but there are cases where they are not maintained. Last year, 172 unfinished plots were registered and taxed,” revealed the representative of Kaunas City Municipality.
How much does the mowing service cost?
Einius Sujeta, director of the environmental management company Arbora LT, stated that orders for mowing plots are accepted for small (up to 20 a), medium (from 20 a to 1 ha), and large (from 1 ha and more) areas.
According to his interpretation, the smallest areas require more logistics, so the price of 1 a (ie 100 square meters = 10×10 meters) in a small area is the least attractive, because you need to calculate the time from object to object, the costs of preparing the object, cleaning, etc.
The interviewee calculated that the price of such areas with taxes for 1 a can reach from 7 to 12 euros. Depending on where it is located.
Meanwhile, in medium or large areas, these processes are repeated less often or only once a day, depending on the area.
Thus, according to E. Sujeta, in this type of objects, the prices for 1 ha reach 2-7 euros with taxes, depending on the area (10 ha will have a lower price than, for example, 1 ha).
He mentioned that the price is usually affected by the frequency of mowing: if it is done infrequently, the grass will be tall, so it will cost more.
“The price also depends on the terrain of the plot: if the plot is flat, we will be able to offer the best price.”
If there are slopes, ditches or other obstacles on the plot that prevent smooth work with small or large equipment and require a lot of manual work, i.e. of trimerizationthen it will affect the higher rate of 1 a”, commented E. Sujeta.
Do you mow your yards yourself less and less often?
The director of “Arbora LT” told tv3.lt that every year he receives more and more requests and orders for cutting grass.
According to him, this is due to several reasons – the development of the company and the fact that people are less and less inclined to do these jobs themselves:
“They don’t see the point in spending their time on jobs that could be done by a company for relatively little cost.”
The interlocutor mentioned that the activity regarding grass cutting services is noticeable already in March, but the company receives the most orders and questions from April to June.
“Some customers order one-time mowing, others – continuous maintenance of private or commercial areas. We receive about 30-40 customers per month.
Business and private customers are the most dominant. The reasons are varied: business customers are simply looking for a solution to do these jobs for them, while private customers do not have the capacity to do such jobs. For example, due to the size of the area or the complexity of the terrain, lack of time,” said E. Sujeta.
The prices of lawnmowers can reach up to 2 thousand. euros
However, residents who do not want to pay for grass cutting inevitably have to buy their own lawnmower.
The cheapest lawnmower in the online store “Pigu.lt” is an electric self-propelled and costs only 51.4 euros. A self-propelled gasoline lawnmower can cost more than 300 euros. And the price of the most expensive battery self-propelled lawn mowers can reach 1.3 thousand and 1.9 thousand. euros.
On the website of the Senukai chain of stores, it can be seen that the most popular battery lawnmowers cost, for example, from 289 to 519 euros. Lawn mowing robots cost both 899 euros and even 1 thousand. euros more – 1899 euros.
The prices of gasoline lawn mowers reach half a thousand euros, but you can find much more expensive ones (for example, 649 euros) or cheaper ones (399 euros).
The experts of the chain of stores did not hide that the interest of customers in various grass cutting devices has already grown significantly.
According to the interviewees, the total sales of these devices in both physical and electronic stores are one-fifth higher than last year.
They indicated that, depending on the manufacturer of the device, technical characteristics, additional accessories, the prices of grass cutting devices range from several tens to several hundred euros
The sales statistics of “Oldies” show that gasoline lawnmowers still maintain their popularity and do not lose their positions, while electric lawnmowers are more actively chosen by buyers who mow small areas near their homes.
It is noticeable that sales of battery-powered garden equipment and lawn mowing robots are growing very rapidly. Buyers’ choice is determined by their convenient and easy use, the ability to save time.
The representatives mentioned that in the last 5 years robotic lawnmowers have been one of the fastest growing categories of garden equipment, and therefore their range has grown several times.
“To make every corner of the lawn perfect, customers purchase additional garden equipment. For example, trimmers that help shape the edges of sidewalks and garden beds, cut hard-to-reach areas.
Lawn aerators that improve the condition of the soil – thanks to them, water and nutrients, which are necessary for the growth of the lawn, penetrate into the ground more easily,” said the experts of the network.
They added that fertilizer spreaders are becoming more popular among buyers, ensuring an even distribution of nutrients in the soil and encouraging the growth of lush lawns.
Also, water sprinkler systems that automate the process of watering the lawn, ensuring a constant moisture level. And weed killers that protect the lawn from harmful plants and help the grass grow.
