Everything you need to know about lawnmowers
Lawnmowers are an essential tool for ensuring your garden looks in pristine condition all year round, but choosing the right one can often be challenging. What size garden do you have? Do you have access to an outdoor power source? Is your garden flat or on a slope? Answering these questions will help you choose the ideal lawnmower for your garden. Here are tips to help you get started.
Rotary lawnmowers
Rotary lawnmowers are the most versatile type of mower as they are able to cut different types of lawns, from long and overgrown, to those on a slope. Rotary lawnmowers come with wheels to make it easy to manoeuvre around your garden. When picking a rotary lawnmower here are some features to consider: a large grass collection box as this removes the need for constantly emptying the mower, a model with an adjustable height of cut for different lengths of grass, an integrated rear roller if you wish to leave a striped effect on your lawn and inset front wheels to be able to mow right up to the lawn edge. Having a lawnmower with these features will mean maintaining your garden will be much easier and quicker.
Hover lawnmowers
Hover mowers are ideal for uneven surfaces and irregular shaped gardens. They work by gliding over the grass on a cushion of air which raises the lawnmower from the lawn allowing the blade to cut the grass. These machines are light, manoeuvrable and generally inexpensive, however, they aren’t great at tackling long and damp grass and often leave a less tidy finish.
Cylinder lawnmowers
Cylinder lawnmowers are ideal for short, fine grass as they cut like scissors, leaving a clean, precise finish. These machines are designed to regularly cut grass, to ensure that the grass is always short. They don’t cope well with long, bumpy grass and not many models come with a collection box. Many cylinder mowers don’t have a motor and work solely by pushing manually.
Robotic lawnmowers
Robotic lawnmowers cut your grass for you, so you don’t have to. Simply set out a line path (during the first set up only) for the mower and it will cut the lawn between these lines. Our robotic mowers have Logicut navigation which enables the mower to calculate the most efficient route to mow, ensuring clean, parallel lines, unlike other robotic mowers with random navigation.
We would recommend the Indego 400 Connect, which can be easily controlled via a smart device app by deciding when want to start/stop the mowing operation, check the mower status, and edit the cutting schedules and settings.
Pro Silence Lawnmowers
Bosch’s new Pro Silence lawnmowers reduce the noise by up to 75% while still delivering an excellent cut. We have reduced the lawnmowers noise to 89 decibels, the quietest on the market. These quieter lawnmowers help you to maintain and enjoy a tranquil garden.
For more information, check out the new lawnmowers here.
Lawnmower Power
After choosing the type of lawnmower that suits your gardening needs, you will then have to choose the power you want your machine to use – corded electric, cordless electric (battery powered) or petrol. Rotary and hover lawnmowers can be purchased in all three different power sources.
Corded electric lawnmowers
Electric lawnmowers are ideal for all garden sizes. They provide unlimited run times without needing to worry about ongoing fuel costs or having enough charge in your battery. They are easy to maintain and provide constant power. One limitation of these mowers depends on the length of the power cable and subsequently if you have access to an electric power source. The higher the wattage of your electric mower, the more powerful it will be.
We recommend the Rotak 34 R, this corded lawnmower offers outstanding cutting performance and debris collection.
Cordless electric lawnmowers
If you don’t have access to an outdoor power source, or have a larger garden where an extension cable simply won’t do, then a cordless lawnmower could be perfect for you. These lawnmowers are powerful and efficient machines, whilst offering cordless freedom too. Cordless electric lawnmowers are portable and often come with a lithium-ion battery which have no memory effect or self-discharge, therefore the battery is always ready to use.
We recommend the cordless Rotak 43 LI, perfect for achieving an effortless lawn.
Petrol lawnmowers
Petrol lawnmowers are best suited to tackle larger gardens and overgrown grass. They are similar to cordless battery lawnmowers as they are powerful, portable and offer unrestricted movement. Petrol lawnmowers are often a lot heavier and louder than other models, and they require additional ongoing fuel costs.
Grass collection box: This ensures that all the grass clippings are collected immediately saving you having to manually collect it after the job is done. The capacity of the grass collection box is usually measured in litres. A larger capacity saves numerous trips to the compost heap or green waste bin.
Cutting height: This can be adjusted depending on the length of your grass, ensuring a clean, precise cut. It’s recommended to cut with a higher cutting height early in the season, before lowering the mower as the season goes on.
Rear roller: This enables you to create the perfect classic ‘British stripes’ on your lawn.
Ergonomic design: Some lawnmowers have ergonomic handles which reduce back and muscle strain whilst you are mowing.
Dual safety switch: This provides extra protection to ensure the machine can’t accidentally be turned on. Instead two buttons must be pressed at the same time for the lawnmower to start. A must if you have children playing in the garden!