If you're an amateur gardener like myself, the new Gardencare range is just perfect for you.
'Gardencare Self Propelled Lawn Mower 22" LM56SP'
With products such as Lawn mowers, hedgecutters, chainsaws, blower vacs and many more, you're assured to find what you need at affordable prices.
The Gardencare range was created by Henton and Chattell, the UK's largest garden machinery distributor. Founded in 1931 with over 80 years experience you can be guaranteed quality products and excellent customer service.
The lawn mower I reviewed, the 'Gardencare Self Propelled Lawn Mower 22" LM56SP', was the biggest in the range as I'd be mowing a lawn of over 1500m2 a slightly daunting task you might think?
Out of the box, there is minimal setting up required, just a swift adjustment of the handle made easier with the quick fix nuts, then filling with 4-stroke oil and petrol and you're ready to go.
You have 3 options for the way the grass is dispersed. You can either attatch the large 75ltr grass bag, use the side discharge flap or just the normal cut and mulch as I did. Being 'self propelled', before starting the engine, you can choose the speed at which you want to walk behind your mower with a simple throttle control lever guaranteeing nice straight lines.
The machine is propelled by a powerful 190cc Briggs & Stratton engine (B&S have manufactured small engines for over 100 years) and with an easy pull on the recoil starter I was instantly amazed how effortless it was to use for a big steel mower. Where we've had such inclement weather this year, parts of the lawn have grown sporadically, it certainly made light work of cutting where past mowers have just given up and stalled! With a 22" (56cm) cutting width it doesn't take long to skim around the garden and with 5 preset cutting heights ranging from 27-75mm and large rear wheels making it suitable for all lengths of grass.
I can't fault this high spec, good looking machine. With both speed and ease, it gives you more time to enjoy your garden and I've even found it's actually a pleasure to use rather than a chore!
'Gardencare LR262 Long Reach Hedge Cutters'
If you need to access those out of reach hedges, may i recommend the 'Gardencare LR262 Long Reach Hedge Cutters'. More and more nowadays with our busy lifestyles we forget about the simple things like how tall are hedges are getting and before you know it, you can't reach the top safely without a ladder!
This smart looking trimmer is very flexible to suit your needs. The 26cc engine powers the 16"(41cm) sharp double sided blade through the fully adjustable handle shaft with a max reach of 2.2m. Although weighing 8kg (comes with a support strap), the engine acts as a counter balance to the rotating cutter blade so you can cut in comfort when cutting taller hedges at any angle through 90 degrees for that expert looking finish.
Again, out of the box there is a minimum of setting up required. Simply attatch the trimmer gearbox to the drive shaft with a locating screw and a clamping bolt then adjust the angle of the blades to the desired angle, and then tighten the bolt firmly back in place. For the fuel you will need to mix petrol with 2-stroke oil in a 40:1 mix ratio, but this isn't a problem as it comes with it's own mixing bottle which is cleary marked with the mixing levels.
After doing all the safety checks stated in the owners manual, starting the engine isn't as complicated as I first thought. Once you've added the fuel and pushed the air purge bulb to add petrol to the fuel lines, you follow a simple procedure to start the engine (when you've done this once, you'll remember again for next time).
This is a well balanced trimmer and easy to use. With it's rubber hand grips and grouped controls for ease of use and comfort. The Gardencare LR262 Long Reach Hedge Cutters are a fully featured and exceptionally priced trimmer with excellent value for money they are certainly a cut above the rest!
Visit www.gardencaregb.com for your online Gardencare digital brochure to view the latest products and the new standard in garden machinery.
