Recommend me a lawnmower please

Had turf laid in the last number of days, after some drainage issues were addressed in the garden.
Garden is small, around 30m2 - pic attached.

Had been using a flymo but from reading online it seems there are better options than a Flymo in terms of benefitting the grass.

Garden is obviously small and I do not want a lawnmower aimed at mulching, will look into creating own compost bin in time.

Is there something people would recommend that would be under a couple of hundred quid? I get the impression that some mowers are worse than others in terms of their impact on the grass/l

Thanks

 

Hi, since it's very flat and not very big, have you thought about getting a manual mower? I have one I use for the front lawn (which is sloped and bumpy, so not the ideal candidate). I love it! No worries about cables or batteries, it makes a lovely sound and mowing is really relaxing. Mine has a grass collector, but I tend not to use it - when I'm cutting every other week in the summer the amount removed is quite small and I'm happy to let it mulch.
Mine is the Bosch AHM38G.

 

I have the same Bosch push mower as Escarpment. I have 3 lawn areas, none of them huge. I can cut all three in maybe half an hour (much more to trim the edges as well of course). A cylinder mower gives, in my opinion, a nicer cut than a rotary. Downside is you can't let the grass get really long. Mowing little but often is better for the grass anyway.

 

I have a small cordless mower. It's light enough to carry in one hand, has adjustable heights and a collection box. When comparing with other cordless mowers, be sure to include the cost of the battery and charger.

Cordless lawn mower - Collector 132e Kit | STIGA

 

I have kept my ancient Flymo for those occasions when the grass is too long, like the first cut every year. I have a cordless strimmer to do the edges and that just takes a few minutes.

 

I kept an electric mower for the same reason, but I wasn't using it so I gave it away. I do the edges with hand shears mostly. I used to have a strimmer but it didn't really work with the block paver edging so I gave that away too.

 

I have a cheap, bog standard mower I got in Argos or somewhere similar, after the one I had fell apart. It owed me nothing as it had been my Dad's and was decades old. I used to have a Flymp but I really didn't like it as you couldn't adjust the heights [perhaps you can do that now] and it meant you were scalping the grass, and it was worse if it was less than perfect in terms of level. There was one left here when I moved in - think I gave it to my nephew.
For a small site like that, I wouldn't personally spend a lot of money.

I never use strimmers - long handled shears for me. Again, in a small area, it doesn't take long to do.

 

My Flymo is more than 30 years old and you can adjust the heights on it. You do it by removing the blade and inserting spacers. With no spacers inserted there's no chance of scalping anything.

 

Mine did have spacers, but when I put them in [only room for one ] it made very little difference to the height @Escarpment. I think it was a very old, basic model though, so yours was probably a better one! Mine was certainly well over 30 years, as I had it in my first property.
I never liked the action of them either. Just a personal preference.

 

I found that the hover type of Flymo created more work due to the way that it blew grass cuttings everywhere onto the borders and paving .

 

There was a rival brand which used the advertising strapline: "It's a lot less bovver than a hover!"

 

Can you even buy cylinder mowers anymore? Pretty much all I see in B&Q are rotaries nowadays.

 

Screwfix do a manual one, OK for a small garden.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/webb-30cm-hand-push-roller-lawn-mower/6462f

 

Yes - you can certainly get mowers with rollers, but many of them are the heavier duty ones @Jungle Jane.
That reminded me that I had a hand push mower too @AnniD . It was ok, but a lot of my 'lawns' have been a bit lumpy and bumpy as they've usually had trees around, and in, them. They're good for small spaces.
I agree about the hover mowers and the flying grass! I occasionally use a weed and feed [not very often and only in spring] so I don't add the clippings to the compost bin. I prop the doofer [correct horticultural terms...] open with a bit of pipe, but I usually forget that cropped trousers and socks aren't the best idea...

 

One of our neighbours has a push mower @fairygirl .
I love the sound of it, it reminds me of lying in bed on a Sunday morning when I was around 6 or 7, listening to my Dad mowing the lawn outside my bedroom window (he was an early riser even back then).