Best lawn mowers for 2024: Choose from top electric, cordless, push and robot mowers
Few smells are as synonymous with summertime as the heady hum of petrol and freshly cut grass – a transformative whiff that’s akin to Proust with his Madeleines for me.
Thankfully though, the ritual of lawnmowing has come of age since my childhood days of half dislocating my shoulder yanking the stiff starter cord on my dad’s aged Suffolk Punch before promptly flooding the engine – again.
Come the 80s and the UK went electric. As gardeners were lulled by manufacturer’s bold promises of ‘plug and play’ ease, a new breed of plastic mowers filled sheds across the capital. The marketing melee between Flymo and Qualcast became the Blur vs Oasis of its day, the latter mowing into its rival with the cheeky claim its products were ‘a lot less bother than a hover’.
More recently, with electric models seen as a cleaner, greener option, many of us have gone cordless, aided by the development of cheaper, longer-lasting and quicker-charging lithium-ion batteries. As a cordless is only as good as its battery though it pays to aim for at least 4ah (Amp hours), where possible, or preferably invest in a spare.
Meanwhile, the more reluctant mowers among us have invested in robotic lawnmowers, possibly as a companion for that robot vacuum cleaner we bought (and tripped over) during lockdown. This leaves even more time to debate the big burning issues of the day such as the relative merits of mulching vs collecting your grass trimmings.
Yet even in these tech-savvy times, there’s still a place for the humble hand push mower, offering a cheap, quiet and low-maintenance ‘grab and go’ solution that’s perfect for taming small lawns and awkward green spaces. Add one to your spring and summertime time lawncare programme, alongside other classics such as scarifiers and ‘Springbok’ rakes and your lawns will look lavish through autumn.
Shop the best lawn mowers for 2024 at a glance:
- Best for power and performance: Gtech Lawnmower CLM50 - £600, Gtech
- Best for budget hybrid lawnmower: Black & Decker 3-in-1 Strimmer with Mower Base - £75.99, Amazon
- Best for budget hover lawnmower: Flymo Turbo Lite 250 - £74.96, Amazon
- Best for cordless lawnmower under £150: Einhell Power X-Change 18/30 Cordless Lawnmower - £110, Amazon
- Best for affordable lightweight cordless: - £179.99, Amazon
