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Guide to Garden Lawn Mowers

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When it comes to deciding which lawn mower to buy the most influencing factors will be the size and shape of your lawn. Too small a lawn mower in a big lawn and you will feel as if you’ve been cutting your grass all day, and too big a lawnmower in a small garden will be difficult to manoeuvre.

This is our guide to the key factors to consider when looking at lawnmowers an also the pros and cons of the various types of lawnmowers available.

To view our range of lawn mowers click here.


Key factors to consider:

What is a mower Cutting width?

This is the size of the blade(s) on the mower and hence the width of the cutting stripe.  Obviously the wider the cutting width the faster you should be able to cut your grass.

Collection Box

Sounds simple, this is the box or bag where the grass cuttings will collect.  The bigger the collection capacity the less times you will have to stop cutting your grass and empty the box. Grass cutting are ideal to be included in a compost bin and used later to provide nutrients to plants.

What does Mulching mean?

This is when the grass cutting are cut finely and the cuttings are not collected in the box.  These grass cutting will then fall between the blades of grass on your lawn and act as a compost for your lawn.

What is a Cylinder Mowers?

Think of a tennis court or a cricket wicket or a bowling green, these are all flat lawns where a cylinder lawnmower with its cutting blades along the front will rotate against a fixed bottom blade to give a scissor type action and produce the manicured lawn effect. These mowers generally have roller on the back to produce the striped effect on your lawn and are ideal for keeping your grass short and producing a fine cut. You will find in order to maintain the manicured effect you will have to cut your grass more often.

What is a Rotary Mowers?

A rotary mower will be able to cope with most lawns including uneven surfaces and slopes.  They have a blade under the cutting deck which spins around on a central point.  The grass will be sent out the back of the mower into a collection box or out a side chute if you chose. 

What is a Hover Mowers?

These are rotary mowers that operate by pushing air down so the mower sits on a cushion of air. These are electric mowers and extremely lightweight and easy to maintain, most don’t have grass collection functions, but some have a compacting collection box on the top. 

Size of your lawn

So size matters, both of the size of your lawn and also the cutting width of your mower. 

Using a simple rule of thumb a:

Small lawn 

  • up to 100 Sq.m - 10m by 10m (30ft by 30ft)
  • ideal cutting width circa 30cm (12 inches)

Medium lawn

  • 100-250 Sq.m - 16m by 16m (50ft by 50ft)
  • ideal cutting width up to 45cm (18 inches)

Large lawn

  • over 250 Sq.m
  • Cutting width over 45cm (18 inches)
To view our range of lawn mowers click here.

What are the different types of lawn mower?

Hand/Push

Some cylinder mowers operate by simply pushing them.  These are ideal for small gardens as the mower isn’t expensive, is easy to maintain and store and will produce a fine cut. The only real expense will be sharpening the blade and they are certainly environmental friendly.

Cordless lawn mowers

With the recent advancements in battery technology these mowers are becoming more popular and can are now as powerful as petrol mowers.  These mowers are easy to maintain and easy to operate. These mowers are more environmentally friendly than petrol mower and even electric mowers and the only limiting factor will be the run time of the battery.  For larger gardens having a second battery is ideal so these can be switched, also most manufacturers offer other garden products which can share batteries therefore allowing you to have a range of garden tools.

Electric lawn mowers

These are light, easily maintained and ideal for any size of garden from small to large.  The limiting factor for these mowers is the length of the electrical cable, so an extension cable may be required.  It is advisable to use an RCD when connecting an electric mower to your electricity supply to ensure the mower will cut out if something goes wrong.  It is dangerous to use an electric mower when your grass is wet. 

Petrol lawn mowers

These are great for medium and large lawns and have a bit more power.  The rotary mower will handle rough surfaces and slopes. These mowers will either have a pull cord start (which could be difficult for the elderly) or a simple start button. The petrol engine will require regular servicing to ensure longevity of the mower.

Ride-On lawn mowers

Obviously only suitable for large lawns or commercial grass cutting.  These mowers come in various options of being able to collect the cutting or mulching them and can also have attachments to the back as they can act as mini tractors.  It’s important to consider how many obstacles you will be cutting around to ensure your mower is capable of manoeuvring around these with easy, also these mowers will require fuel to hand if they run out. While these mowers will make light work of a big lawn the initial cost and on-going servicing costs will mount up.

Robotic lawn mowers

These aren’t cheap but once you set things up you shouldn’t have much to worry about. You will have to set up the guide wire to mark the perimeter of your lawn and programme your mower on when to cut your grass and even the grass height you want.  These mowers mulch the cutting and leave them in the grass so it provide additional nutrients for your lawn.  Some robotic mowers come with the ability to download an app and see how your mower is working providing you with any alerts.


To view our range of lawn mowers click here.

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