Finding the best lawnmower for you can be a bit of a challenge. There are lots of different types and sizes out there, and getting the right one is a case of balancing a number of factors.
The thing is, you’re not really buying a lawnmower for yourself. Your new mower is a gift for your grass, and your choice needs to be tailored to the precise needs of that rectangle of verdant green. A mower that’s too small won’t have the grunt to cut through any weeds and thicker growth it encounters. One that’s too big will be a pain in the neck to store - a problem that could have been avoided by getting a smaller one. And one with the wrong power source will be inconvenient for all sorts of reasons.
So here’s how to narrow down the choices and find something that suits you and your lawn.
Cutting method
Actually cutting the grass requires blades, and there are two main ways of achieving this. You can have a spinning blade under the mower body, like an upside-down helicopter, or you can have a cylinder with five or six blades on it that rotates and presses the grass against a single blade at the bottom, acting like a giant pair of scissors.
One benefit of the cylinder approach is that you get a good quality cut - as long as the blades are sharp, they’ll cut the grass cleanly.
The other type of mower, with a rotating blade underneath, is just as common. They’re better for rough, uneven ground than a cylinder mower, and can tackle longer grass thanks to an adjustable cut height.
If you want a striped effect on your grass, you’re going to need a mower with a roller at the back. The stripes are an optical effect caused by the grass stems bending in different directions and reflecting sunlight to give the appearance of different coloured sections. You’ll need a bit of discipline to achieve this effect, as you need to position your stripes exactly next to one another at a right-angle to the edge.
Power supply
There are four main ways of powering a lawnmower. There’s petrol, rechargeable batteries, a main electrical supply, or the energy you’ve stored from eating your lunch.
Manual lawnmowers are the simplest, containing no motor at all and relying on the power of the gardener to push them along. They need the least maintenance and are easy to store, but the idea of having to strain as you push it along isn’t one that many lawn-keepers consider a good time.
They’re not good for cutting longer grass, so are best used to trim the tips of a lawn and keep it looking good, though you may be able to make one work as the only mower for a small, flat lawn. They’re also able to be used in wet conditions that would make you think twice about using an electrical mower.
Plug-in mains electric mowers are the most popular category, but are constrained by the length of their cord and the location of the nearest plug socket. You can use an extension lead to get them where they need to be, but owners of larger gardens, or awkward places away from main power, will need to consider whether a mains-powered mower is right for you.
Rechargeable mowers can be a good alternative - they’re electrically powered, but use a battery you charge from the mains. They lack nothing in power, as long as the battery is charged up, and can generally manage an average-sized lawn on a single charge. The batteries can often be reused in items such as grass trimmers, and their cordless nature means they’re easily transportable. With a few extra batteries, you can mow all day.
Petrol mowers are on their way out, as rechargeable mowers with powerful batteries begin to take over. They tend to be larger models, and more suitable for professional gardeners who can trade off the hassle of storing the petrol and the maintenance of the motor for the ability to mow anywhere, anytime.
Size
The width of your mower is something you need to take into account, because it not only determines how much grass you’ll cut in one pass - a narrower mower will mean taking more trips up and down the lawn than a wider one - but also how easy the mower will be to store. It can be worth getting a smaller machine if you only have a small lawn, so it can be tucked away in a smaller cupboard or storage unit.
A smaller mower can tackle a large lawn, it’s just going to take longer, and the lighter weight machines aren’t going to be happy being asked to cut through thick weeds or grass that’s been left to grow and is filled with wildflowers and baby tree saplings. Likewise, a larger mower is quite capable of cutting a tiny city lawn, but won’t be as nimble in the corners and will be heavier to carry around. Getting the right mower for your situation can pay dividends in terms of saving you work.
Extra features
While it’s possible to get a robot lawnmower that will trundle all over your lawn without you needing to lift a finger, these are expensive and best suited to large, flat surfaces that benefit from being cut every day. The vast majority of lawnmowers are ones you push along, but extra things to look out for include self-propulsion, which is found on large heavy models and means the mower can supply its own motive power, relegating the operator to a more supervisory role, taking full control only in the corners.
The ability to cut right into the edges is a useful one in a mower. Some leave a strip at the sides, where the blade doesn’t reach to the edge of the chassis, meaning you’ll need to do extra work edging or re-mowing areas you thought you’d already done.
Consider also getting one of the best grass trimmers to accompany your lawnmower - a trimmer can take the pain out of edging and cutting around plant pots, garden gnomes or other features, and can sometimes be bought as a bundle with the mower.
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Flymo EasiStore 300R 40V
Best for: showcase lawns
Included: Dual 20v batteries provide longer run time
Run Time: 35 minutes
A name as synonymous with gardens as Percy Thrower, Charlie Dimmock or Monty Don, depending on how old you are, Flymo have been market leaders in garden care kit for the best part of 60 years, so they know a thing or two about what makes a lawn mower work.
Take for timely example the EasiStore 300R, a miniscule mower that, as the name states, stores easily away due to it size. But despite its scale, this Flymo still features a 30cm rotary blade, has a 30L capacity clipping box, can cut at heights between 25- and 65mm and even includes a rear roller should you fancy giving your grass some classy football pitch-style stripes.
Battery-wise, the EasiStore 300R is good to go for up to 35-minutes, with is ample time for the sort of size garden it was clearly designed to service, and recharge time in 180-minutes.
Solidly built and perfect for whipping out whenever the lawn needs a quick trim, the Flymo EasiStore 300R is the pinnacle of almost 60 years of lawn mower design perfection and it shows.
Buy now £178.00, Amazon
Bosch universalverticut 1100 electric lawn raker
The Bosch UniversalVerticut 1100 Electric Lawn Raker might just be the fastest - and most satisfying - way to rake your lawn without too much effort exerted. Its powerful 1100 watt motor makes it easy to use and capable of tackling even the toughest overgrown areas and, with its adjustable tine speed, you’re free to control the intensity of raking so you achieve just the right level of grooming on each area.
Buy now £167.94, Amazon
Hyundai HYM510SP
Best for: Grander gardens
Got a bigger back garden that requires a regular run-over? Not a fan of the time it takes to traverse with a trimmer? Also, far too lazy to empty the grass catcher? Then the pimped-up hot-rod alike Hyundai HYM510SP could well be the gras guillotine for you.
With a large 196cc engine, a whopping blade width of 51cm and a 70L grass catcher, you are good for acres of green, and thanks to the option to employ its mulching plug, you can do all of that without having to stop to empty the (vast) grass catcher even once.
Featuring a self-propelling system that means you just have to guide the thing rather than push its 38.7kg of weight, the Hyundai gives you six cutting heights running from 25cm to 75cm accessible from a single lever, meaning that ploughing through your medium-to-large pasture will take considerably less time and infinitely less effort, which is a win all-round.
Quick to collapse down for storage and easy to clean by just flipping it over and taking a hose to it, the HYM510SP is a world of grass cutting convenience wrapped up in a petrol mower design that – without wishing to come over as any weirder than people may already think I am – is just a little bit sexy to boot.
Tech Spec
Engine: 196cc
Cutting width: 51cm
Cutting height: 25 – 75mm
Lawn area: Above 2000sq.ft
Mulching: Yes
Grass catcher capacity: 70L
Weight: 38.7kg
Buy now £339.99, Amazon
Bosch Indego S+ 500 Robotic Lawnmower
If you are drawn to the Honda model above, this iteration from Bosch may just find itself in your basket – because they’re almost exactly same. Yes, that’s right, in the same way car brands rebadge certain models of car and sell them under different names (for example, the Toyota GT86 is also known as a Subaru BRZ), it turns out the same robot mower can be given different names, too.
The immediate obvious difference is the colour. The Bosch Indego S+ 500 has a more muted black and green colour scheme, while the Honda’s had a monochrome paint job.
Then there’s the price – Bosch’s mower will cost around £100 less. Honda states that only customers purchasing their version – the MIIMO 40 Live - can opt for an installation service, and this will cost another £200 or so. We were able to install both mowers ourselves in a matter of minutes but Honda’s installation option could well be a godsend for gardeners who aren’t tech-savvy. By opting for this service, customers would certainly ensure they’re getting the most out of their mower.
Installation aside, unless you’re particularly partial to monochrome mowers, we’re struggling to work out why you’d pay £200 more for Honda’s version.
The brand has an expansive collection of robot lawn mowers at different price points.
Buy now £629.22, Amazon
Flymo EasiLife Go 150 Robotic Lawnmower
Our favourite thing about the incredibly quiet EasiLife Go 150 Robotic Lawnmower? The FrostSense function, which ensures it “stays at home until it’s warm enough to mow.” Because let’s face it, we’ve all had those days when we’ve peeked through the curtains and decided to stay in bed. In all seriousness, it’s a brilliant feature which prevents unnecessary damage to rock hard, frozen lawns.
Setting up this mower, designed to mow gardens of up to 150m2, was easy, and it’s another mower which has a guide wire, allowing it to quickly find its way home after the lawn has been mapped or mowed.
We also loved the positioning of the wheels. Often, three-wheeled mowers have the larger wheels at the back, but having the larger two at the front meant it happily rumbled over uneven terrain. We admittedly struggled to pair it with the app at first and ended up relying on the manual controls, the upside of which was the realisation that although it’s a mower designed to be used paired with your phone, the manual controls are incredibly easy to operate.
The top of the range model also deserves you attention - the EasiLife 800 is available for £729 at Amazon.
Buy now £372.99, Amazon
