Hand push lawn mowers

The natural choice of the green gardener of the future, or last refuge of the neanderthal? Yes, that's the question I'm always asking myself of hand mowers. If we are not concerned about the environment what are we doing in our gardens in the first place? Look on these simple zero-emission rotary cylinder machines as a lifestyle choice. Though once you count the cost of food consumed, hernias induced etc. then perhaps push mowers aren't such a good environmental option after all.

And yes they can make you look butch. Just as long as you make the wife do the mowing after dark when the neighbours can't see.

Cordless lawn mowers

If you want the benefits of electrical power without the restriction of the mains cord then cordless mowers will naturally be your choice. I mean cordless electric mowers of course (a note for the pedantic).

There's not much to say about them that hasn't been said about electric power in general. The batteries make the design heavier so this is a disadvantage. You will have to look at battery life and charging time as well as just engine power. For the smaller garden cordless lawn mowers can often be a wise choice.

Electric powered grass mowers

For the occasional gardener electric mowers have become the design of choice. The motors are cheap, simple and reliable as well as being quiet. Of course the big disadvantage is the power cord. It's not just a restriction on the distance of your lawn to the power point, there's the hazard of cutting through the cord as well. Clumsy, oafish people will find this a particular problem, but it could happen to anyone. Cordless battery-powered designs are to be had, and I'll give them their own section.

There's a wide choice of electric mowers on sale. I mentioned low cost; budget electric mowers are very prevalent these days. For those who enjoy the ease of use of the design electric hover mowers are available. There are rotary mulching electric mowers to be found too.

They used to be looked down upon by the serious gardener, but the big brands make electrics too. Some models of Flymo electric mowers are very cheap nowadays, and though Bosch electric mowers tend to be at the top of the market it doesn't put them out of everybody's price range. If you want a name famous for traditional quality then Hayter electric mowers might be your choice.

Petrol lawn mowers

The great advantage of petrol mowers is their independence. Engines are typically single cylinder four-stroke designs with manual pull-cord starters. The arrangement of the power train varies, with the motor driving the cutting blade and optionally the roller or wheels as well, saving the operator the trouble of having to push.

Some frightening statistics have been put about concerning pollution from petrol mowers. The noise pollution is obvious, but the fumes are very problematic even compared to car engines. I think petrol hover mowers are a particular poke in the eye to the green brigade. There's something about the look of them that thrills.

Rotary lawn mowers revealed

For the garden rotary mowers are a comparatively new design. A steel cutting blade rotates at high speed above the lawn. Basically this rather crude blade beats the grass in two rather than slices through it. Here lies the problem. The remaining grass stalk is damaged and can lead to unhealthy discoloured patches on the lawn.

A second disadvantage of the rotary mower is that it can't cut as close as a cylinder design. The rotating blade covers a larger area of lawn at once than the cylinder design, meaning the blade is more likely to come into contact with bumps on the surface, leaving bare 'scalped' patches. It can also lead to stones and other debris being sent flying out of the sides, leading to lame statements from the operator such as "Oops. Well I used to have a greenhouse".

A sub-design of the rotary class is the familiar "hover" design. This has a fan that creates an air cushion beneath the mower, lifting it clear of the ground so that it can be pushed without being impeded by wheels. Some people like this.

Rotary grass mowers sometimes have a "mulching" feature. This makes a virtue of leaving grass cuttings on the lawn. The mulcher chops the cuttings up very finely before depositing them on the lawn as a simple kind of compost.

All about cylinder lawn mowers

The cylinder mower is the original design dating back to 1830. The key is the rotating cylinder with the curving blade. A straight blade would find itself intermittently having to cut a whole row of grass blades at once. This would make for a very choppy motion and limit the amount of grass that could be cut at once severely.

With a curved blade a very small number of new blades of grass are coming into contact with the steel cutter continuously as it rotates and advances along the lawn. This means the minimum force is needed to cut them, therefore the cutting is cleaner, smoother, and takes less power.

The cylinder is usually coupled with a roller. This smooths out the wheel marks and fixes the new-mown grass into that distinctive striped pattern.

Getting my lawn mowed

Should I get someone in to do it? Or is that too pathetic? I suppose it is really. That means I'm going to have to buy what we gardeners call a LAWNMOWER.

As far as I can tell there are just two basic cutting designs, with two (or perhaps three (at a push (no pun intended) four)) different ways of powering them.

The big face-offs are these:

Cylinder cutting versus rotary

Surprisingly there are just these two basic designs available; this after getting on for two centuries of lawnmower design and development. If it was up to me we'd have had lasers by now. The cylinder design gives the finest cut, while the rotary is better on rougher or uneven ground.

Petrol power versus electric (mains or battery), perhaps versus hand powered

You can have a noisy, filthy petrol engine, or a clean, quiet-ish electric motor. With a mains cord that's an invitation to disaster if ever I saw one. There are cordless battery designs of course, but they're heavy and you're forever recharging the things. And yes if you're butch and really insist you can still push the thing yourself.

I'll be devoting a whole post to each of these key lawnmower elements.