Robotic lawnmowers for small lawns – my top picks

The great thing about having a small garden is that you aren’t limited on choice when it comes to choosing a mower. You don’t need to worry about whether you’ll need an extension lead or if the mower will reach every corner of the garden, so you could go for a corded or cordless model. It was not that long ago that robotic mowers would only be considered for larger lawns due to the amount of work required to keep the lawn short and in good condition. These large robotic mowers would cost thousands of pounds and were definitely not an option for smaller lawns. However, manufacturers now produce robotic mowers that are specifically designed for smaller lawns and will cost, depending on the features, only several hundred pounds. Robotic mowers are great for small lawns as they eliminate the need to pull a large lawn mower out of the shed just to mow a small patch of grass. It’ll save you a lot of hassle, storage, and what’s more your lawn will always be very well maintained, healthy with no effort on your part.

The deck of your robotic mower for small lawns should be around 16cm to 18cm. Having said that, you should also take into account the overall size of the mower itself to ensure that it can navigate the narrowest passages in your garden.

Because you have a small lawn you may not require a host of features and functions that you are never going to use. However, you should ensure that at the very minimum your robotic mower has some form of anti-collision control, rain sensor, cuts close to the edge and will support multiple zones if you are planning on cutting separate areas of lawn in your garden.

Robotic lawn mowers are an excellent choice for people who live a busy lifestyle and don’t always have time to get their garden chores done. If you do not mow your lawn regularly then it will not be as healthy, lush and tidy, but since a robotic lawn mower is programmed to do little and often, it’ll easily maintain a healthy lawn and is, for this reason, a worthwhile investment.

No. All robotic lawn mowers use mulch mowing which means that the grass clippings whirr around the blade, so that they are chopped into very fine pieces. They are then delivered back to the lawn where nutrients are released. This is a much better and more beneficial method of mowing as your grass will be greener and healthier. What’s more it is more environmentally friendly and you will not need to dispose of the cuttings.

Robotic lawn mowers come in all shapes and sizes not to mention they differ in quality and what features they have. It goes without saying that the higher end robotic mowers will come with a bigger price tag and it isn’t uncommon to pay four figures. That said, there are some cheaper robotic lawn mowers that you can pick up for a few hundred pounds. It all depends on what you’re looking for and how much you want to spend.

Your robot lawn mower is a robust and reliable piece of equipment and when it is well taken care of, it will serve you through many mowing seasons. There are some robot mowers that claim to have up to a 10-year lifespan, although this relies on annual servicing and excellent care. However, you will have to replace the batteries much more frequently and this will typically need to be done between every three and six years.

Yes. Many small robotic lawn mowers are designed to handle a variety of different terrain types. You’ll often find that each product comes with a maximum incline so always make sure you choose something that will be compatible with your lawn, otherwise it may struggle to cut these harder and steeper to reach areas.

It is very uncommon for a robot lawn mower to be stolen from your garden as there are a number of anti-theft features on most devices. Primarily, your mower may be fitted with an alarm as well as GPS tracking, so even if the person did manage to run away without you noticing, you would be able to locate the mower on your app. Moreover, a lot of robot lawn mowers require the user to input a PIN code, so even if they are stolen, the thief wouldn’t be able to use them. Most people know this and so know that stealing a robot mower isn’t going to be a lucrative crime.

When you are choosing a robot lawn mower for your small garden, it’s important to go for one that has a cutting width compatible with this. You don’t want to choose something too large as it might struggle to get into tight gaps or manoeuvre around obstacles. There are plenty of other things you will need to consider such as what features are within the app, how long the robotic mower is designed and programmed to run each day, what area it is designed to cover, does it support multiple zones, the build quality of the mower and much more. I have a detailed guide on choosing a robotic lawn mower here on the EasyLawnMowing blog, however in summary WORX and Flymo produce a great range of robotic lawn mowers for small lawns.

Your robotic lawn mower is designed to cut your grass more regularly than you would if you were using a push mower. As a rule of thumb, you’ll want to set it to go over the lawn at least every couple of days, but some users like to run it every day for ultimate maintenance. With most robotic mowers you can schedule them to run when most convenient for you i.e. at night, thanks to their flexibility and quiet operation.

Not all robotic mowers have the ability to connect to an app on your smartphone. There are some more basic models that are configured via a small screen on the robotic mower itself. If, however your robotic mower does have Wi-Fi and an accompanying smartphone app, you will then need to connect to your mower during the initial setup and if you want to make any changes. However, once you have done this, the lawn mower will store schedules, so there is no need for it to be continually connected to the Wi-Fi, unless of course you want to track its progress and coverage on a more regular basis.

Some robotic lawn mowers are coming out now that are waterproof and will still cut regardless of the weather conditions. However, for the most part, these mowers will return to their charging station when they sense rain as they simply aren’t compatible with poor weather conditions and would not cut effectively and may even cause damage. For this reason, it’s always advisable to make sure that the charging station is somewhere covered, or you purchase an additional robotic mower charging station cover or garage.

Because your robot lawn mower will be working much more frequently than other types of lawn mower, you will need to replace the blades more often. Usually, this will need to be done every two months, but it will depend on which blades you’re using. Husqvarna have released endurance blades which are far more durable and need to be changed less often. The cost of robotic mower blades are negligible and the replacement itself is easy and requires no special tools.