Lawnmower and leafblower advice

First post here. We’ve just moved to a new house with a lovely south-facing garden in Surrey which is about 12m x 12m. It’s fairly plain at the moment with mature shrubs around some of the borders and a few large trees in neighbouring gardens (including a couple of big oaks). The garden is a bit bigger (with more potential!) than I’m used to so I’m going to be planning a new garden over the next couple of months to be ready for spring. There’s also a smaller front lawn with a couple of bushes.

I’m also leaving a post on the composting sub-forum, but I am looking for advice on lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Seems people here know what they are talking about and can hopefully prevent me making a misstep in what I buy!

I have an old flymo hovermover which was ok in my previous smaller garden but it is not very powerful and clogs very easily. On this larger lawn I think it would be a real pain. I’d therefore love any advice on what type of mower people would recommend and what I should look for. I don’t mind paying for quality and ease of use. Should I be looking for a petrol mower or is that overkill on a lawn this size? Do they take a significant amount of maintenance? I’m relatively fit so weight isn’t a bug issue but I might struggle to get a very wide machine down the side access to the front lawn.

We love the trees in the neighbouring gardens but they have absolutely coated the front and back lawns in leaves and therefore a leafblower seems like a good investment. We have a 9 month old so I don’t really have the time (or patience!) to rake them up each weekend. Do people have recommendations on types and specific models? I’ve heard a few people complain about blowers/vacuums with low suction or that clog so it seems that it’s possible to get this wrong very easily. Again, is a petrol version overkill or the best way forward? Would something like this be a good option:

(sorry, can't post links yet - the link was to a McCulloch MAC GBV345 Leaf Blower 25cc)

I’ve spent a lot of time searching and reading the forum and have gathered a lot of excellent advice but couldn’t find anything specific so I’d love any help people can give.

Cheers

WG

 

I use the forerunner of a Husqyarna 125B petrol blower/vac. I don't use the vac bit as have A LOT of leaves (see photo and these trees are only a few of what I deal with!) The vac bit is good tho if not dealing with mountains of leaves and chops the leaves up so good for composting. I've had the blower for about 4 years and it is used not only for leaves but for blowing the long driveway/pathways to get rid of grass clippings/general dirt. It is a brilliant machine. Will pick up/blow really wet leaves off grass and I would say it's equally as useful as my petrol strimmer/hedge cutter and chainsaw. The equivalent Stihl blower is very good too but a little more expensive I think. I did buy an Einhell blower/vac before going for the Husqvarna as it was a lot cheaper. Absolute c$$p! You killed yourself trying to get the thing started. The vac bag burst the 1st time it was filled with leaves and it weighed a tonne which is something to take into account if you are going to be carrying the machine for any length of time. The old story of you get what you pay for I'm afraid.
I use a sit on mower so can't advise re something good re what you would need but sure someone on GC will be able to recommend.

 

Hi @Wobbly Goblin,

Hubby has just bought a stihl blower, with an extra nozzle he's really pleased with it .
We have a petrol Hayter mower with a roller on the back, it's very good although quite heavy.

 

The Stihl hand held BG86 is a good little hand held blower that can also be converted to suck up the leaf debris but to be honest it's not worth it. The only weak point is the wiring harness which I replace once a year as it breaks due to the vibration mounts which stresses the wire where it leaves the handle section.
That should not be a problem though for domestic use as mine is used daily through the year due to my work.
Worth noting this blower is 2 stroke so you need to mix oil and petrol, Honda however do a 4 stroke blower if you don't want to mess about with mixtures.
As for mowers, it just depends on what you want be it petrol, electric or battery. So many out there and across a range of prices.