How to cut garden grass? most basic way?

[nameisme]

Hello all,

I have never cut the garden grass as always paid someone to do this.
It is getting too expensive now and wondering what is the cheapest way to do it?
Can I just buy a strimmer and just use that every now and then or do I also need a lawn mower aswell as a strimmer? Don't use the garden, just want to keep on top of the grass in the summer thats all. Its too long at the moment for a lawn mower right now.
What tools do I need for the grass clippings to put them into the bin? or do you just leave the clippings on the lawn?

Thanks all in advance

 

[Mottie]

Strimmer for the edges (or edging shears) and lawnmower. Check your local Facebook pages for a free or cheap mower or eBay for a secondhand one. If you don’t use the lawn, leave your clippings on it.

 

[Odds]

Is your lawn at the front of house and decorative, or at the back where you tend to walk across it?
It's recommended you don't cut too short as sunlight will bleach the grass and kill the roots, leaving bare patches.
Don't cut it when wet.
Leave it long enough to be springy and don't fuss too much about 'weeds' as some plants are colourful and will flower, like clover - although something like buttercup must be taken out asap as the roots will destroy your lawn.
If it's a large lawn a mower will be best but a strimmer works well for a smaller patch.
If it's a really large lawn maybe you can find a ride-on mower and go racing.

 

[ETAF]

picture my help, to see the size of the area and anything around the lawn

We had a very small lawn in previous house and a cheap electric lawnmower was all we used and clipping taken to the dump which was just round the corner, in a canvas bag - the type used by building companies to supply

in new property I now use an old 2007 Honda Petrol lawnmower & Stihl Petrol strimmer for around posts , paving slabs in the lawn, and where we have a walls, not used that often.
the new lawn is quite large and takes about 1=11/2 hours to do , including a front garden-
I probably cut every 2 weeks in summer, we dont get a lot of rain where i live , I may do it a little more frequently, depending on weather
the quotes (3) i had when first moved in to do the lawn, were really expensive , well over £120+vat (2017 with the price increases, i suspect that has gone up by 50% at least

What tools do I need for the grass clippings to put them into the bin?

the lawnmower collects the cuttings and I empty into a Green Bin
otherwise you will be going over the lawn a 2nd time to rack up the cuttings, more work!

some lawnmowers have a mulch facility and the cuttings go straight onto the lawn

My cuttings go into a green Bin collected by the council fortnightly - actually we have 2 bins
But the nearest tip is 25 mile round trip which can easily take 1-2hrs to do with traffic , plus any queuing at the tip, so green bins at £65 a year each are good value, particularly now with the price of fuel. (18p a mile = £4.50, BIN = £3 every 2 weeks collection)

 

[bernardgreen]

A pair of bionic mowing machines

Lamb chops come later

 

[opps]

Later today, I have to fix a Flymo 1200R "robotic" lawn mower for a customer.

His lawn is only about 64 sq m but he hates mowing it. The Flymo doesn't have a grass collector. The idea is that it runs so frequently that it is only cutting a few mm each time. The tiny amount of grass deposited on the lawn is so small that it doesn't damage the lawn.

 

[opps]

My cuttings go into a green Bin collected by the council fortnightly - actually we have 2 bins
But the nearest tip is 25 mile round trip which can easily take 1-2hrs to do with traffic , plus any queuing at the tip, so green bins at £65 a year each are good value, particularly now with the price of fuel. (18p a mile = £4.50, BIN = £3 every 2 weeks collection)

My west london council takes a canvas bag of garden waste each week for residents (free). Unlike neighbouring councils we do not have to have wheelie bins and all of our rubbish is collected each week . Oh and we get free recycling bags.

And, unlike neighbouring councils the whole borough hasn't been turned in to a massive controlled parking zone, and residents get a free 30 or 60 mins to park on the high streets

 

[Old Salt]

A petrol lawn mower will handle longer grass than an electric mower. If you can get at the lawn from all sides you wont need a strimmer. Just cut it every couple of weeks, collect the clippings and bin them unless you have a compost heap. Dont use the lowest cut and you should be fine.

 

[Tigercubrider]

I haven't cut by grass in a couple of years. It's looking a bit rough now, so needs a tidy but I leave it long for the wildlife

 

[conny]

Later today, I have to fix a Flymo 1200R "robotic" lawn mower for a customer.

His lawn is only about 64 sq m but he hates mowing it. The Flymo doesn't have a grass collector. The idea is that it runs so frequently that it is only cutting a few mm each time. The tiny amount of grass deposited on the lawn is so small that it doesn't damage the lawn.

Just curious what the fault is. We have one of these, (Big Dave, my wife calls it), and the only thing we have needed to do in the last 3 years is change the 3 cutters last year.

 

[opps]

Just curious what the fault is. We have one of these, (Big Dave, my wife calls it), and the only thing we have needed to do in the last 3 years is change the 3 cutters last year.

Initially the charging base unit didn't have any power. I checked the mains transformer and realised that there were breaks in the cable running to the base station. I cut away the middle section of the cable and crimped new cable.

Then I noticed that although the base unit was showing a solid green light for the parameter cable, the mower said that there was a loop fault. I tried to reset it a number of times but it didn't work. I even entered the hidden menu (press 7 and 9 when in menu).

I used a multimeter to confirm that the loop was fine. I hadn't previously realised that the base sends a wireless signal to the mower to report the status of the loop.

On the advice of Flymo, I ended up replacing the loop sensor in the mower.

Initially, I didn't want to put the upper/outer skirt back on until I was sure that it was working but every couple of minutes it kept flagging up a "collision" error. It then dawned on me that the upper body has a magnet in. Without the magnet lining up with the lower body, it wont work.

Glad to say that the machine is now working as it should.

At some point I will try to post instructions for anyone else that needs to work on one.

 

[StephenStephen]

You could just cut paths and leave the rest for pollinators and wildflowers