However, ACC data shows it is also the time when people are most likely to injure themselves.
ACC has accepted 26,600 gardening and lawn-mowing-related injury claims in Otago and Southland over the past five years.
In the past year alone, there were 5513 gardening and lawn-mowing claims in the regions, costing $10,364,000 to help people recover.
When it comes to DIY-related injuries, ACC accepted 7125 claims over the past five years in Otago and Southland; last year, 1385 claims were accepted, costing $3,241,000.
Nationwide in 2024, there were 22,773 DIY-related claims, 74,160 gardening-related claims and 7210 lawn-mowing-related claims, costing $174.4 million to help people recover — the highest cost of these injuries in the past five years.
ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker said as the weather got warmer and lawns and gardens started growing, ACC received "a spike" in claims.
He said this morning was an ideal time for people to take a moment to work out a plan of attack for the jobs they wanted to do this weekend, to avoid the "relatively high risks" of injury.
"No-one wants to start their weekend getting ready to mow the lawns or do a DIY job and then end up in accident and emergency with an injury."
He said the top tip for people doing DIY projects was simply to slow down.
"Many injuries in the home happen because people are rushing."
In 2024, the age group with the highest number of DIY, gardening and lawn-mowing injuries was 60-64-year-olds and males were almost twice as likely to have a lawn-mowing injury and three times more likely to have a DIY injury.
Mr Whitaker said trips and hazards were the main culprits; they led to falls, which were the main cause of injury.
The second biggest cause of injury was moving things — lifting, carrying and straining caused about 16% of injuries.
The most common type of injury was soft tissue, which is a strain or sprain to a muscle, tendon or ligament, as well as puncture wounds or lacerations.
