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Home & garden.

12 August 2021

Top five lawn mowers for small gardens

Which? expert lawn mower tests highlight the models that are light, nimble and easy to store when not in use.

Rebecca Jakeman

If you're shopping for a lawn mower and have a small garden, you'll ideally want a thin, lightweight machine that's easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces. Our rigorous tests have uncovered the best options.

Top lawn mowers for small gardens pair premium cutting power with a portable design, neatly tucking into the corner of your shed.

Steer clear of heavy, awkward-to-use mowers with the help of our expert tests. After all, you don't want to feel like you've run a marathon after mowing a small patch of grass.

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The best lawn mowers for small gardens

Only logged-in Which? members can access our recommendations below. If you’re not already a member, join Which? to get instant access to all our reviews

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74%
£150.00
At less than £200, this cordless mower is an absolute steal. It leaves an excellent finish on both standard and wet grass, and copes well with difficult terrain. It’s lightweight and manoeuvrable, and the battery lasts for a decent length of time, so one charge should easily be enough to cover a small garden.
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71%
£180.33
This electric mower may be best-suited to smaller lawns, but it's sturdy and cuts and collects so effectively that we've made it a Best Buy. It has a mulching option as well, which is great if you don't want to dispose of piles of grass clippings. It's easy to use and has some nice features, which mean it doesn't feel like a budget machine.
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71%
£249.89
Although it's a little pricier than some other mowers of around this size, this Best Buy is one of the only cheap lawn mowers that is actually good enough for us to recommend. It cuts well and leaves your lawn looking smart. It fills the grass box right up, so you won't be running to the compost heap more than necessary. It's light, but feels like a sturdy machine, although it's not the best choice for larger lawns.
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67%
£250.00
Featuring a 34cm-wide cutting blade, this lawn mower is a good size for cutting small-sized lawns of up to 50 sq m. It's fairly cheap for a cordless lawn mower and comes with a rear roller, which pushes your lawn down as it passes over to create stripes on the lawn. Add this mower to your shortlist if you're looking for a machine to cut a fairly small area.
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65%
£245.36
Sure, it's not the cheapest mower you could go for, but this cordless model cuts brilliantly on standard-length grass. We found it very easy to handle, and the foldable features and upright storage option means it won't take up too much space in your shed or garage either. Its lightweight nature makes it easy to navigate around lawn edges and tricky areas such as slopes too.
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Not found the right product for you? Browse all our lawn mower reviews.

Why Which? lawn mower reviews are better

Which? tests around 3,300 products every year, from washing-up liquid to cars. When testing lawn mowers, we measure:

How well each one cuts grass – from short, ornamental lawns to long meadow grass.
We time how long it takes to cut the grass.
How well the mower collects the grass clippings.
How neat it leaves the lawn edges and how smart the finished lawn is.
Our experts also rate each lawn mower on how easy is it to use.

Keep your lawn edges tidy using one of our best grass trimmers.