The joy of tending to and enjoying a beautiful garden and lawn is sometimes tempered by the regular need to mow. Precious time at the weekend, when you want to relax, can be taken over by the chore of having to cut the grass. What if you could have a beautiful lawn and keep your weekends free of lawn maintenance?
Enter the robotic mower – your firm friend in the garden.
Let's say you spend two hours a week mowing your lawn and undertaking associated tasks. Two hours a week over a year and that's over 100 hours of your precious free time. What could you do with all that free time?
Even if you decide to employ the services of a regular gardener to spend your free time as you wish, and keep your lawn looking lush, average hourly rates are around £25 (checkatrade), and if your lawn is smaller, you'll still be charged an hourly rate. A gardener employed for one hour a week would cost around £1,300 a year, halved for a two-week session. At an average cost of £850-£5,000, a robotic mower would pay for itself very quickly.
How do they work?
There are tweo different methods of controlling robotoc mowers. The traditional installation involves wires that are set up at the edges of your lawn to ensure the robotic mower doesn't deviate from the specified lawn area. An onboard sensor is then used to mow to the boundary of your lawn, navigating obstacles with the minimum of fuss. The mower is programmed to seek out a base station (located near the edge of your lawn) and will move towards the base station when the battery needs charging. New GPS guided mowers have recently entered the market, transforming the method of installation, where mowers can be programmed individually to specific mowing areas and are directed by satellite navigation without the need for the installation of wires.
Robotic mowers can be programmed, sometimes from your smart phone, with weekly routines and times, meaning you can set it to mow your lawn at a time that suits you. They even work in the rain, which is an important consideration in the North West!
There’s little need to worry about a robotic mower being stolen, as they can’t be moved without a pin, and they are environmentally friendly – no fuel or emissions.
We spoke with Lee Gill, Business Development Manager and automower specialist at Chelford Farm Supplies to get his expert thoughts:
“I’ve been in the industry for over 32 years and have been selling and installing robotic lawnmowers for the last 14 years. The concept of automatic lawn maintenance is not new – robotic lawnmowers first came on to the market over 28 years ago with Husqvarna launching their first model in 1995, and since then they have gone from strength to strength. Husqvarna Automower now has 11 domestic models and six professional models to choose from, which allows us to tailor make a solution for any of your grass-cutting requirements. This includes things like wireless RTK EPOS technology allowing zonal programming and even being able to cut in a systematic pattern – in other words you can have the traditional quintessential English striped lawn!”
If you’d like to find out more about robotic mowers, or even to arrange a free site survey, speak to Lee at Chelford Farm Supplies. You can call 01625 861588 or visit Chelford Farm Spupplies.
