Mowing the lawn is, for many people, a chore. It is something that has to be done from time to time and the faster the better. A quick trim and forget about it for a while. But what about the old adage, “If a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well”? What about giving yourself a lawn to be proud of? While a rotary mower will do the job with no problem as you race it around your green square metres, it doesn’t give you the best result possible. For that, you need the help of a roller to apply a bit of pressure to the freshly cut blades and give the smoothness that makes all the difference.
Sports: The Inspiration of the Roller Lawn Mower
Two of the sports that flourish in Australia are cricket and tennis. Both of these are, or were originally, played on grass, and although the latter can also take place on hard courts, the sport is still officially lawn tennis.
In cricket, the appearance of the cut square that is the focus of the action is just one facet of the task. With a hard leather ball with a rugged seam being bounced off the surface, wooden bats being banged into it and spike-soled boots careering up and down, for the sake of safety, the surface needs to be stable, and rollers are used for that. They may be considerably more substantial than what you will need on your domestic patch, but the principle is the same.
Lawns are not purely for looking at; they are for walking on, for entertaining on, for adults to stand around on while enjoying a barbecue and for kids to kick a ball around on. In short, they need the attention of someone who may not have all a professional groundsman’s skills but understands the basics. And that includes using a roller mower to good effect.
Earning Your Lawn Stripes
That striped effect that looks so good on a lawn was imposed upon us by the simple action of the cylinder mower that was prevalent for so many years. Because the blades cut the grass from front to back and when you reached the end and turned around, they cut the next strip in the other direction, the natural flattening of each created a different shade. When rotary mowers were introduced, with their blades whipping the tips off the grass in a circular motion, the natural one-direction flattening was lost. How to bring it back? The farm equipment manufacturers of the world quickly came up with a solution: put a roller on the mower, behind the blades, so that no sooner were they cut than they were rolled in that smartly uniform way.
Choosing Your Roller Mower
As always, this is a question of horses for courses. The size of your patch and what you use it for will dictate the size and weight of your roller mower. If you are not sure exactly what you need, consult a good supplier and make sure you get the one that punches the right weight.
So, do you really need a roller mower? It’s all a matter of pride in your work. Do you want to knock the job off fast and have done with it or do you want to knock it off equally fast and do a job you can be proud of?
