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If you’re lucky enough to have quite an open, expansive garden or field-like space, you’ll be needing a lawn mower that can contend with both the size of it and the potential unevenness of the ground. Unlike small residential gardens, larger gardens are often less perfectly flat and may be liable to dips and bumps.
Using the same mower you’d use on a small, even garden on a large, uneven one is a recipe for disaster and you risk damaging your lawn and your mower. Because lawnmowers can range in price and get quite expensive (especially if you’re buying new), you want to make sure yours is properly taken care of so that it lasts as many seasons as possible.
To better understand the risks involved with using the wrong type of mower for a specific type of lawn, keep reading!
If you’ve only got a small garden which you know is quite even and flat, you’re likely to be able to get away with having a lawn mower that only has a few cutting height settings. With regular upkeep, your grass should be at a suitable height for one of these height settings to be appropriate without cutting too much or too little off your grass.
However, if you’re dealing with a larger area that is likely to be less closely controlled, it’s very possible that you’ll also be dealing with some uneven terrain. This unevenness will require a greater range of cutting height settings so that you can be sure you’re able to cut all grass to the same height, even if it’s growing in a dip or on a hill.
Alternatively, if the ground is unpredictably uneven, then you’ll need a cutting height that is high enough to ensure you don’t hit rocks, other debris, or even the ground itself while you’re mowing as this can cause extensive damage to your mower as well as introduce a risk to your personal safety.
If you were to drive or push your mower over an unexpected bump using a cutting height that was too low, you risk the blades making sudden contact with something they shouldn’t, and at the speed they spin, the resulting shock could reverberate through your crankshaft and potentially break through the mower deck, sending shrapnel flying outwards.
I think we can all agree that this is not a desirable outcome, so cutting height is a key consideration to make.
On the subject of blades, when dealing with uneven lawns and larger gardens, you’ll have to make sure that the blades in your mower are up to the task. Whilst it’s always important to have sharp, strong blades on your mower, regardless of garden size or type of terrain, it’s even more vital with large, uneven ones.
With larger gardens, there is generally more of a chance that you’ll encounter debris such as sticks and clumps of mud, as well as tougher types of grass and other plants. Your blades’ performance will depend on a few factors including sharpness, strength of metal used, revolution speed, and crankshaft balance.
Supposing all of these features are of a decent quality, your mower should have no trouble slicing through most types of grass and other plants, as well as chunkier debris like large roots. If one or more of these features are insufficient however, you risk causing damage to the blades, bending your crankshaft, and possibly other issues too.
Larger gardens will also, naturally, require more mowing time and therefore, more effort from your mower. We all know that continued use will eventually cause lawn mower blades to chip and dull over time, and mowing a large garden accelerates this process. This is another reason why quality metal is so important.
It probably goes without saying that with an expansive and hilly lawn, you’ll need a lawn mower with a powerful engine that can stand up to being used for longer periods of time over wider areas. Lawn mower engines come in various types and capacities, so finding the right one for your lawn will go a long way in ensuring you end up with neat and healthy grass.
Whether you opt for an electric mower, petrol mower, riding mower, or self-propelled mower, a powerful engine will give you enough drive and control to get the job done! Trying to mow a huge lawn with a lawnmower designed for small gardens will not only wear the lawnmower out sooner but will also require more user effort.
If you know you’ve got a lot of ground to cover, then do yourself a favour by choosing a product that will be able to cover the expanse without overheating, getting undue damage, or creating a situation where the effort of pushing the mower is overwhelming for you as the user.
In terms of what to look for when it comes to engines, keep an eye out for high wattage, high cc, and high stroke engines as these will give you more power and more reliability. These may come at a higher price but at the end of the day, a lawnmower is an investment.
It is also key if using a fuel-powered engine that you use fresh fuel and drain out any stale fuel regularly, as this will keep the engine in tip-top shape. Engine oil is also very important for all lawn mowers as engines require constant lubrication to avoid undue friction, overheating, and subpar operation.
This product by big brand-name, Hyundai, offers a powerful engine of 2.6KW and a lightweight body of only 19kgs giving you a great combination of power, control, and drive for a very reasonable price.
This mower has 6 cutting height settings, giving you ample options for trimming grass at different elevations so you can be sure you’ll get a neat and even result. There’s also a 40l grass clipping collector to help you tidy as you mow which is collapsible to aid easy storage.
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This self-propelled mower is another innovation by Hyundai and boasts an easy-start system and low fuel consumption making it a fairly sustainable option for bigger lawns, not only for your wallet but also for the environment.
With a 139cc 4-stroke engine, this mower packs a lot of punch and offers the user easy control due to its’ self-propelled system, meaning you’ll be able to mow for longer without getting as tired. It also has 6 cutting heights ranging from 24mm to 75mm.
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This mower is a solid combination of two top brands with components from Murray as well as a Briggs & Stratton engine, providing reliability, power, and functionality in equal measure. Covered by a 2-year warranty, this lawn mower comes with access to a wide network of specialist Murray and Briggs & Stratton dealers and support professionals.
Whether it’s bagging, rear or side discharge, or mulching, this product has all the necessary attachments you could want for dealing with a larger lawn and rough terrain, including having 6 cutting heights for navigating depressions and elevations in the ground.
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Another collaboration with a Briggs & Stratton Engine, this product by Einhell is a great mid-range option in terms of price that will still give you a lot of power at 1650W, recommended for gardens up to 1400m2.
With a 50l grass collection bag, an unparalleled 9 cutting height settings, and a range of other quality features, this mower is the ideal companion for tackling different types of grass, rough terrain, and uneven lawns. With a more compact size than some of its counterparts, storage will also be easier.
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Overall, when you take into account the features, power, functionality, and price of each of the abovementioned lawn mowers, there’s one winner that stands out to us – and that’s the Einhell 3404585 GC-PM 46/1 S B&S Self Propelled Petrol Lawnmower.
With parts made from premium materials and a Briggs & Stratton engine providing increased power and stamina, this mower is the ideal combination for larger gardens with the ability to mow lawns over 1000m2. If that’s not a glowing recommendation, what is?
With a spacious grass collection attachment, wide deck, 9 cutting heights giving optimal cut variability, and blades made from strong steel, the price tag of this Einhell product is a more than reasonable investment! Because it’s a self-propelled lawn mower, it’ll also be easier to use for extended periods than traditional push mowers.
Just as mowing a small garden will leave grass clippings scattered across your lawn if you don’t use a grass collection attachment, the same will happen in a larger garden. It’s frustrating enough trying to rake up and collect grass litter in a small space without having to think about what it would be like to have to clear 100s of square meters!
If you want to avoid the hassle of having to clear away grass clippings from your freshly mown lawn, a grass collection bag or box is essential. Of course, for a larger garden, you’ll want a grass box or bag with a bigger capacity to ensure you don’t have to empty it every five minutes.
There are many lawn mowers on the market nowadays that are suitable for large gardens because they have large grass collection capabilities. This means you can tidy up as you mow without having to stop and empty the clippings too often. Mowing the grass shouldn’t have to be more of a process than it already is!
There is an alternative to grass collection that is just as important in many cases. Whilst you may not always want your lawn covered in clippings, there will be times when you want to add a bit more nutrient value to your soil which is where mulching comes in.
Mulching is the act of spreading a layer of nutrient-rich organic material over soil in order to enrich it and support plant health and growth. Where mowing the lawn is concerned, grass clippings can be used as a mulch where microorganisms in the soil will then break it down and make the nutrients available to the grass that’s still growing.
Using grass clippings as mulch is an inexpensive and sustainable way to give your garden some additional TLC, which can be especially important in large gardens with more grass. Most lawn mowers come with mulching attachments that chop the grass trimmings into smaller bits to make decomposition easier and faster.
Mowing the lawn entails a lot of going backwards and forwards to ensure you’ve passed over all the long grass. With a larger garden, you’ve got to make even more passes up and down to make sure you don’t miss any strips.
If you’re using a small mower in a really big space, you’re going to have to make an unnecessary number of passes more than if you’re using an appropriately sized lawn mower with a decent cutting width. The larger your garden, the greater the cutting width you want – up to a point of course, no one wants to push a machine around that’s so bulky and wide that it’s too awkward to manoeuvre and control.
There are plenty of mowers available that even have cutting widths that extend beyond their wheels, meaning you can get near-edge cutting for borders which is an added bonus.
Spending potentially hours mowing a large lawn can get exhausting, especially if the lawnmower you’re using isn’t self-propelled. After a while of pushing, you might start to experience back and neck ache, and muscular fatigue in different parts of your body.
Having a lawn mower with adjustable handle length and machine height can help to reduce the strain you feel over time, as you can customise the product for your own comfort. There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through mowing the grass when the aches and pains catch up with you and you have to stop midway, leaving sections of unruly growth for another time.
The expanse of your garden isn’t even the only factor at play – rough terrain can make for an even more strenuous mowing experience. Wide, densely-treaded wheels can help with this, helping the mower to glide more easily over rocky or bumpy ground.
