The Sun Shines On Robomow

Look out in the coming month for the chance to win a Robomow in The Sun.

Earlier this month we delivered a Robomow to Steve Bradley, gardening correspondent at The Sun newspaper. He's been watching it mow his lawn for several weeks now and is due to share his thoughts with the paper's readers as well as giving them a chance to win the mower he's been using.

As well as The Sun, we also delivered a Robomow to Neil Pope. Neil is editor of Garden Answers and Garden News and, again, he's been enjoying putting his feet up or doing other more enjoyable garden pursuits whist the Robomow cuts his lawn. Neil will be sharing his thoughts on the Robomow in a forthcoming issue.

Gardeners with mobility difficulties are the latest group of people to discover the world of robotic lawnmowers.

We've recently seen an upsurge in the number of people with mobility difficulties making enquiries and subsequently buying a robotic lawnmower.

The Robomow® is ideal for wheelchair gardeners or those with back problems or arthritis as all the operator needs to do is press a button.

Introduced in 1998, the Robomow® was the first mower of its kind and to date over 50,000 units have been sold.

Featuring a battery powered, three blade, 53cm cutting system the Robomow® is comparable to a 5.5HP petrol mower. Furthermore, as the Robomow® is a dedicated mulching mower, there are no grass clippings to be collected, with cuttings blown down deep into the lawn roots where they decompose and act as a natural fertilizer.

Retail prices start at £599 for the entry level, RL350, which is ideal for lawns of up to 400m2 (4300ft2) and would normally require a 43 or 47cm mower. At the top of the scale, the fully automated, the RL1000 retails for £1549 and is suitable for lawns of up to 21,500 square feet.

All three of the models in the range come with an extensive guarantee, including a 10 year mowing deck guarantee, 2 years’ protection on the robot and 1 year battery cover.

“We’re currently selling about one Robomow to a person with mobility difficulties every fortnight and believe that this unique machine could be the answer many people’s problem of how to keep their lawns in excellent condition without having to pay a gardener or handyman,” says John Hall of Mower-Magic.co.uk.

This month Mower Magic is offering you the chance to pick up a free wheelbarrow worth £39.99 with every Ryobi Shredder RYOBI RSH-2455 Electric Quiet Shredder.

Powered by a 2400 watt electric motor, this excellent shredder allows you to shred solid branches of up to 40mm diameter quickly, easily and quietly!

The shredder also features a secondary mulching feature, so you can produce ready-to-use mulch and with your free wheelbarrow, moving it around your garden will be a doddle.

Ryobi has an excellent reputation for producing high quality and dependable garden machinery and this shredder is no exception.

Perfect for producing composting material, the RSH-2455 also features an innovative auto reverse unblocking system, self-feeding, overload protection and a safety cut off switch.

For more details click here.

Ryobi Cuts It With Mower-Magic.co.uk

As well as the shredder, Mower Magic is also offering a great deal on Ryobi's latest chainsaw - giving away a sawhorse, worth £39.99, with every one purchased.

The RCS-4046 is a 40cc, 18 inch bar, petrol chainsaw. With a zip start for ease and a tip on the end of the blade for safety, this model also offers three anti-vibration points on the handles for greater comfort.

A blade sheath, spanner and carry case come as standard as well as the free sawhorse to make light work of any job.

For more information about the RCS-4046 from Ryobi click here.

This Month's Garden Jobs

August is normally a month of enjoying the sun and hot weather, making sure your plants have enough water and going off to foreign shores for a well deserved rest. This August has been slightly different to say the least.

August is the month for deadheading roses as their blooms fade. Make sure you cut off the flowers just above the uppermost leaf. Lavender bushes will also need deadheading and you should be removing the faded flowers from your perennials and annuals as well.

If you're a fan of dried flowers, then this is the month to be cutting everlasting flowers, like helichrysum and achillea. Once cut, place them upside down in a warm, airy spot, where they will be able to dry naturally.

August is also the month for hedge trimming. Leylandii is a really good hedge but has its well publicised problems. If you're looking for a hedge that will more controllable then we'd recommend Thuya Atrovirens as it is a slower grower and clips well. You could also opt for Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus Rotundifolia). It is an evergreen with large, glossy, dark green leaves and can copy with shade as well as sun.

Finally, you could try Beech (Fagus sylvatica.) It’s not an evergreen but when the leaves turn green, they will stay in place until pushed off. It is a fast grower, between 30 and 60 centimetres a year, so you will need to trim it in summer and autumn (especially if you want cover throughout winter.)

Don't forget to mow the lawn and if we do get a prolonged hot spell, raise your cutting blades slightly, as the extra grass will help to protect the roots and give you a better lawn in the future.

Grandparents Lead Gardening's Robotic Revolution

iPods, MP3 players, SatNav and other gizmos are usually associated with the young and trendy but when it comes to gardening gadgets it’s grandparents that are the trend setters.

According to our research, sales of gardening’s more technologically advanced equipment are strongest amongst those over 60.

Items, such as garden vacuums, blower vacs and pressure washers are increasingly purchased by older gardeners but it is the take up of robotic lawnmowers that really sets senior gardeners apart from their younger counterparts.

For every robotic lawnmower sold to someone under 60, we’re selling nearly two mowers to older customers.

“For some time we’ve seen more and more orders coming through from 'olde'r people so we decided to conduct a survey to find out the average age of people buying robotic lawnmowers and more technologically advanced garden equipment,” says Jon Hall, Managing Director of Mower-Magic.co.uk. “We were very surprised to see that for every robotic lawnmower, such as the Robomow, we sell to someone under 60, we sell two to people over 60.”

As there is no need to push the mower or empty grass cuttings, robotic lawnmowers are ideally suited for use by the elderly, disabled or those that simply don’t like mowing.

 “You normally associate state of the art technology with younger people but our experience suggests that when it comes to gardening, it’s the so called silver surfer that not only buys online but purchases the most advanced lawnmowers available.”

Robomow owners love their robotic lawnmowers so much that they'll even make a home movie about their favourite gadget!

Following one Mower Magic customer sending in a short film about their Robomow we put an appeal for more videos and we've been inundated.

Visit http://www.mower-magic.co.uk/acatalog/Robomow_Media_Zone.html to see some of the funniest mowing movies ever made!

If any of these short films inspire you to make a movie for Mower Magic staring your Robomow or lawnmower then please do send it to us - just email it to jez@mower-magic.co.uk. There are prizes on offer for the best ones!

Did you see us mentioned in the Daily Telegraph the other weekend?

We sent one of our innovative Weed Balls to the Daily Telegraph's gardening correspondent to see what she thought of it,

In short, Helen Yemm loved it!

Helen received a letter from a reader with bad knees looking for some help with low level gardening. Helen recommended using the Weed Ball to apply pesticides and weed killer. Helen said that the Weed Ball could well be the answer for gardeners who have trouble bending.

We completely agree and are also very impressed with the fact that the Weed Ball can reduce chemical usage by around 80%.

For more information about the Weed Ball click here.

Flex It!

If you're looking to save a bit of space in your garden or just want one machine rather than two then this month's featured product is for you!

By simply connecting the Ryobi Expand-It Flexi Mower Attachment to your Ryobi Expand-IT strimmers and brushcutter and you've turned it into a mower.

This neat little attachment features a 30cm blade and a flexible deck mount. With three cutting heights (ranging from 15 to 25mm), the Flexi Mower attachment is recommended for use with machines of 30cc or higher.

For more details on June's Product of the Month click here and visit our website.

This Month's Garden Jobs

In years gone by July would be the ideal time to be soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the fruits of your labour from months gone by. Not this July! With heavy rainfall in June, this month could be all about repairing your garden rather than relaxing in it.

You may find yourself having to get the secateurs out to remove suckers and shoots that are sprouting from the base of trees and shrubs. Make sure you cut them off cleanly with a pair of sharp secateurs as these suckers will be draining your plant’s strength.

You should also be cutting out plain green shoots from variegated shrubs to stop them spoiling the appearance of your shrubs.

Weeds will be a major problem with hot temperatures and rain combining to make the perfect growing conditions. Try and remove any flowering stems before they get chance to seed. You might even want to consider using a weed killer, applied with one of our weed balls!

Ideally, at this time of year, we’d all be mowing the lawn once or twice a week and applying feed but with the rain this could be quite difficult to achieve!

Finally in this month’s essential tips is to use a mulch to protect plants. Composted bark, cocoa shells and other ornamental mulch will look good and help limit weed growth. You should always apply mulch over a moist soil, so at least that won’t be a problem!

Welcome To Our Newsletter

Welcome to the very first email newsletter from Mower Magic.

This newsletter aims to bring you interesting articles, details of new products and information on the latest developments from the world of garden equipment. Look out for special offers and exclusive competitions too.

In this issue we look at the results of a recent survey conducted by Mower Magic. We ask how gardeners can be more environmentally friendly. There is info on a really useful product to save your back, and offer some advice for looking after your garden.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and future newsletters. We'd love to hear your feedback, so if you have any ideas or comments please email news@mower-magic.co.uk.

Best wishes,

Angela
Mower Magic

The weekly chore of mowing the lawn is the nation’s most hated garden job.

We recently ran a survey on mower-magic.co.uk asking you to let us know which garden chore you disliked most. We had a fantastic response, with 58% of people saying mowing was their least favourite garden task. Weeding and cutting back hedges came second and third, with 19% and 12% respectively.

We also discovered that on average a person spends 90 minutes mowing the lawn each month and during the ‘mowing season’ (April to October) over a third of us (38%) will cut the grass once a week, though 18% give their lawn a trim twice in seven days. The poll also found that there is a small number of ‘mower-holics’ (3%) who use the lawnmower three times a week to keep their grass looking its best.

Rather than mowing, weeding or pruning, our survey reveals family time is what the garden is really all about. Playing with the children or spending time with the family came top of the list of most enjoyable garden activities. Planting came second, followed by reading the paper. Surprisingly, watching the handyman came fourth – as people employ a gardener and attempt to increase their leisure time and enjoy their gardens more.

There is an understandable and growing trend for people and businesses to reduce the amount of CO2 they produce in an effort to stop climate change and this includes gardeners.

Statistics released by Stockholm University concluded that cutting your grass with a lawnmower running on unleaded petrol produces the same quantity of polluting emissions as a journey of 100 miles in an average car.

Given this alarming statistic the Swedish boffins are recommending fitting lawnmower engines with catalytic convertors so that lawnmower emissions are reduced by 80%.

An obvious alternative, until someone invents a mower than runs on hydro-electrics, solar or wind power is to use a conventional electric mower or a super-efficient Robomow.

If you have any tips for environmentally-friendly, CO2 reducing gardening then let us know by emailing: news@mower-magic.co.uk.

Take A Load Off


Back pains, strains and aches are one of the most common ailments suffered by gardeners. Moving heavy bags of compost around, carrying too many tools at once or not lifting properly can be a real pain in the back.

Mower Magic has just the thing to move those heavy loads from the shed or garage to the garden - the Handy 4 Wheel Garden Trolley.

Available in two sizes, large and small, the four wheeled trolley features drop down sides, steering front wheels and sturdy tyres.

The large trolley, which can carry up to 700kg is perfect for larger homes and outdoor spaces - it can even be pulled by a small vehicle, such as a quad bike or garden tractor!The smaller version will carry up to 350kg making it ideal for home use.

For more details on June's Product of the Month click here and visit our website.

This Month's Garden Jobs

June is the month when we really start to see gardens coming alive but it doesn’t mean you can relax!

Hoe your borders regularly to prevent weeds and whatever you do, don’t let them flower.

Prune back tender shrubs such as Deutzia, Kolkwitizia, Weigela and Philadelphus after they’ve flowered. Clip evergreen hedges if needed.

Plant your summer beds and seed-raised plants if you’ve not already done so and make sure they’re well watered.

Cut back any dead bulb foliage but wait until it dies down naturally, as cutting back too early can stop the plant flowering next year.

Mow your lawn regularly to keep them in shape - 'little and often' is the key. Apply a high nitrogen summer lawn fertiliser to create a healthy-looking lawn. Move garden furniture and other objects around regularly to keep the grass in top condition and prevent yellow patches.

Conserve rainwater by using a water butt – it will help the environment and save you money if you’re on a water metre.