"PigPOg" wrote in message
...
Hi, can anyone help please?

I've tried the FAQ for this ng at
(http://www.tmac.clara.co.uk/urgring/urgfaqs.htm)regarding lawns but
it doesn't really address my situation. First, I am not a gardener,
I'm truly a novice at this so please excuse my ignorance.

I've had my garden landscaped recently with a new circular lawn. It
looks fantastic. What I'm after is recommendations for a book(s) or
online resources that can tell me how to maintain the lawn and to
advise on the type of lawnmower I should purchase. For the record, the
lawn has a diameter of 8 metres - just in case this has any bearing on
the kind of mower I should get. I've been told that a small electric
cylinder mower with a heavy roller is probably the best.

Your lawn has an area of about 50 square metres, which isn't very big and
even the smallest electric mower should be able to cope with it easily.
Therefore you don't need anything top of the range (unless you have another
lawn elsewhere in your garden, of course!)

They type of mower depends on the sort of grass it is, and the kind of lawn
you want.

There are two basic mower types - cylinder (the 'traditional' sort, in which
several blades are mounted in the shape of a cylinder and cut the grass by
bearing on a plate fixed to the base of the mower) and rotary (in which the
blade(s) rotate parallel to the lawn and cut the grass by literally knocking
the top off it).

Rotary ones come in 'hover' type, where the whole thing sits above the lawn
on an air cushion, and wheeled varieties. By their nature, cylinder mowers
are always wheeled. Most cylinder mowers, and some non-hover rotary models,
are fitted with a roller which creates the traditional striped effect.

If the lawn contains fine-leaves grasses and you want it as a 'show lawn'
(i.e. not for regular walking on) then cylinder mowers will probably give
the best results. They can cut the grass shorter than rotary models and give
a neater finish.

On the other hand, if the lawn is regularly walked on or used as a
children's play area, or you aren't bothered about a bowling green finish,
it should have been made with coarser grasses which need to be allowed to
grow a little longer than the finer-leaved varieties and in this case a
rotary model will be fine.

If you want 'stripes', get a mower with a roller, otherwise don't!

Hope this helps.

--
Neil

Visit my Peak District walking website - www.peakwalking.co.uk