Lawn mower or robot: what pays off for a small garden

What time costs

An ordinary electric mower for a small garden costs much less than a robot, but it takes the same twenty-five hours every year. A robot gives that time back and in return asks for an upfront investment and one careful installation weekend.

Over three years the price difference usually evens out if you value your time even modestly. Over five, the robot has already paid for itself — provided the plot suits it.

What a robot does well

A robot mows often and a little at a time, so the clippings stay on the lawn as fertiliser and the lawn looks more even than one mown weekly. It needs no collection box and leaves no piles of cuttings.

It also works when it suits you least — early in the morning or in the evening, without noise that would annoy the neighbours.

What a robot doesn't do

A robot does not trim the edges along the fence and paths, so you will still need a trimmer. It copes poorly with slopes steeper than twenty degrees and gets stuck in narrow passages between parts of the plot.

Neglected, tall grass is also beyond it: the first cut of the season almost always has to be done with an ordinary mower, and the robot started only after that.

• Edges along the fence — remain manual work
• Slopes over 20° — most models can't climb them
• The first spring cut — with an ordinary mower

The 400 m² calculation

For an area like this, the simplest robot with basic capacity is enough — more expensive models are designed for 1000 m² and more, and you would pay for what you won't use.

If the plot is regular, without steep slopes or narrow necks, a robot is the logical choice. If it consists of several separate patches with a concrete path running around them, an ordinary mower remains the simpler and cheaper solution.