Lawn Care on a SFR

[Julie Marquez]

I have a nice little 3/2 SFR in a B neighborhood that rents for $1450. The current tenants, three young men, are not very focused on the yardwork - the mowing of the large front and back yards and wedding of the gravel and barked areas. A couple months ago it got up to knee height, and it wasn't until my dad pushed a mower over there that they did anything.

Any suggestions for lawn care policy? Should I increase their rent and include lawn maintenance or have penalties when they don't keep it mowed? What do you do about lawn care on single family rentals?