OV9

Yes that is a good point, Dinny. There isn't a particularly close body of water but in London anything not tied down will go walkies and I'm not sure this place will be any different to my previous London houses / flats in that regard...

Thieves don't tend to go robbing in bad neighbourhoods.

It would be a shame if you had to put up a fence - I like the open to the front look of your place

And now you have the perfect excuse for a Malinois

Yeah yeah - get a Maligator.

Garage = ride on mower, shirley?

I bought an Ego Electric Lawnmower 4 years ago (can't remember if it was a 47 or 52 - link below)

Our garden is about 40ft by 100ft and it's able to cut on one charge. I used to have petrol before it and kept forgetting to take the jerry can with me, so more convenient just to charge it.

Folds up, so easy to tuck away. Pretty powerful, less noisy. They are pricey though.

https://egopowerplus.co.uk/products/sel ... -mower-kit

unzippy wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 1:40 pm Garage = ride on mower, shirley?

I mean there is space on the drive so this would be a logical option

Holley wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 2:02 pm I bought an Ego Electric Lawnmower 4 years ago (can't remember if it was a 47 or 52 - link below)

Our garden is about 40ft by 100ft and it's able to cut on one charge. I used to have petrol before it and kept forgetting to take the jerry can with me, so more convenient just to charge it.

Folds up, so easy to tuck away. Pretty powerful, less noisy. They are pricey though.

https://egopowerplus.co.uk/products/sel ... -mower-kit

Where are you taking the jerry can? Mine lives in the shed with the mower! My lawn is about the same size and I fill the jerry can about twice a year and fill the mower every other cut or so.

My Mountfield “M3” was about half that fancy pants electric one and has happily mowed for the last 8 years with only the odd Maguyver style fix here and there.

Rich B wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 3:28 pm
My Mountfield “M3” was about half that fancy pants electric one and has happily mowed for the last 8 years with only the odd Maguyver style fix here and there.

I bet you haven't even changed the oil (you monster).

mik wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 3:41 pm

Rich B wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 3:28 pm
My Mountfield “M3” was about half that fancy pants electric one and has happily mowed for the last 8 years with only the odd Maguyver style fix here and there.

I bet you haven't even changed the oil (you monster).

Not once….

…yeah, i should probably do that.

I did mine last year (had never bothered with my previous (2nd hand) petrol mower). It's a doddle, so makes sense.

mik wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 4:22 pm I did mine last year (had never bothered with my previous (2nd hand) petrol mower). It's a doddle, so makes sense.

Yep, particularly with mine being a high revving performance ///Mower…

Rich B wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 3:28 pm

Holley wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 2:02 pm I bought an Ego Electric Lawnmower 4 years ago (can't remember if it was a 47 or 52 - link below)

Our garden is about 40ft by 100ft and it's able to cut on one charge. I used to have petrol before it and kept forgetting to take the jerry can with me, so more convenient just to charge it.

Folds up, so easy to tuck away. Pretty powerful, less noisy. They are pricey though.

https://egopowerplus.co.uk/products/sel ... -mower-kit

Where are you taking the jerry can? Mine lives in the shed with the mower! My lawn is about the same size and I fill the jerry can about twice a year and fill the mower every other cut or so.

My Mountfield “M3” was about half that fancy pants electric one and has happily mowed for the last 8 years with only the odd Maguyver style fix here and there.

When I had a petrol car, I’d always forget to take the Jerry can with me when I needed to fill up. As nearest petrol station is 8 miles away it was very annoying.

My old mountfield needed changing anyway (never changed the oil!)

I did a walk with my daughter this weekend near Nettlebed and saw my first robot mower in action.. couldn’t really hear it from 50m away and it seemed to be doing a good job on a hilly garden…

My name is mik, and (as the lawn was still ever so slightly damp, which makes collection a pita) tried the mulching plug in my mower for the first time ever.

So. Much. Fast.

Mulching is worse when the grass is wet isn’t it?

It definitely wasn’t wet - very slightly soggy.

As a first time mulcher however, I am not well placed to answer your question.

The more moisture the less well it chops up finely as far as I'm aware. Early in the year I have to collect the clippings or put up with clumps if I mulch. Now you can't see anything at all when mulching because the grass is quite dry.

So I bought a Bosch corded mower in the end (https://www.bosch-diy.com/gb/en/p/unive ... 06008a6571). It is pretty decent - quite lightweight, however (predictably) the cord is a PITA.

To avoid incessant and ridiculous morris men type flailing to move it out the way, I essentially do half the small grass area at a time and go forward and then pull in reverse so it isn't "lawnmowing" in the traditional sense

I may be tempted to upgrade to a battery powered one but may just live with this. The bigger issue is that the grass itself is far from healthy. It has suffered pretty badly in the heat so I'm spending more time watering it that cutting...