Frequently Asked Questions

This is a subjective question—it depends on your garden layout, budget, and the level of ongoing support you might require throughout the product’s life.

Generally, most people would describe the best robot mower as one that:

• Has a strong reputation and positive user reviews
• Offers an intuitive, easy-to-use mobile app
• Is straightforward to install (with or without a perimeter wire)
• Comes with reliable after-care, warranty support, and access to spare parts

As of 2025, we’ve yet to come across a brand that delivers on all of these fronts better than Segway Navimow. In the UK, the brand benefits from an established distributor network and robust UK-based support. This ensures that, when in-app resources can’t resolve a particular issue, local dealerships like ours can step in to assist directly.

The Navimow i-Series was a standout success for small lawns in 2024, introducing breakthrough camera-based navigation technology. It remains our best-selling model in 2025. For larger gardens, the newly launched X-Series extends the same innovation to areas of up to 10,000 sqm.

Ultimately, the best robot mower for your garden will be the one that suits your specific needs. We always recommend impartial research, watching up-to-date YouTube robot mower reviews, and consulting experienced professionals like ourselves. With access to multiple leading brands, we can help you find the right model tailored to your garden, lifestyle, and expectations.

Without a perimeter wire (Satellite guided-robots):

Most RTK robots will struggle with tree cover. It is extremely important to purchase a robot with complementing technology, such as advanced camera systems (found in new Segway Navimow and Mammotion Luba 2 platforms), designed to take over where RTK fails. Even still, extremely large swathes of trees may still pose issues, so professional guidance is essential. Generally speaking, single trees and small groups of trees can be tackled with the use of these new advanced camera-enhanced robot lawn mowers.

Where trees have protruding roots of potentially restrictive trunks, creating no-go zone from within the Mapping software is advisable.

With a Perimeter Wire:

If your garden has trees then it’s not a problem. If the trees do not have any protruding roots then you can just let the mower bump into them as they would do any other obstacle. If the roots are protruding then it could cause the robot to ‘ground out’ i.e. lift the wheels off the ground.  This can be solved quite easily by either creating islands with the perimeter wire so the mower keeps away from the tree or by putting a raised barrier around the tree so it bumps off it.

Most mowers cope with quite steep slopes (20 – 45%) however read the literature carefully and check if it affects the maximum area they can cover!.

Normally a mower will cope with a much steeper slope in the middle of the garden than at the edge (around the perimeter). Also be aware of sudden changes in height that would cause the mower to get caught e.g. the front of the mower hits the slope as the wheels haven’t got there yet.

Whilst robot mower cope admirably with slopes of varying (quoted specific to each model), it should be noted that weather conditions will also limit these. So be sure not to be overly reliant on a robot cutting close to its maximum quoted incline.

A lot of conventional mowers create an updraft when working so not only do they cut the lawn but they suck up leaves etc. into the path of the blades. Robot mowers do not do this so, although they will cut leaves, which are grass height, they will not clear your lawn of leaves.  On the plus side, your robot mower will keep the grass short all the time so the leaves should not get caught up in the grass and will hopefully blow away.

The exception to this is the Mammotion Yuka, with optional collector. It remains unclear how effective this new robot lawn mower technology is, time will tell, however we sell these robots should you wish to try it for yourself.

Robot lawn mowers can mow in the rain so long as they are cutting the grass every day i.e. it is not too long.  Some makes have rain sensors which allow you to send them back to the base when it rains, but this feature is usually configurable. We advise putting your mower into storage for the winter as the grass is not growing and the ground usually gets very soft. We put ours away in October/ November and get it out again in March/ April…it depends on the weather and lawn conditions. You can use a robot mower when a conventional mower would be too heavy and damage the ground.

Most robot now come with a recommended procedure for winterising your robot lawn mower.

Without a perimeter wire (RTK robot mower):

From within the manufacturer’s app, you’ll map the perimeter of each area/zone and route (where necessary) the robot’s path to the zone from its charging station.

With a perimeter wire:

Firstly you need to ensure that you buy a robot mower that can cover the total area you need, secondly that it is built to handle more than one area and thirdly that it can move from one area to another.

1. The manufacturer will state the area the robot will cover.  You can’t say that you have two 600 sq. m. lawns but you’ll use a 600 sq. m. mower and move it between the lawns every other day.  You have 1200 sq. m. so you need to buy a mower that handles that…..sorry! Use our measure my lawn page to find out.
2. Each mower will say how many areas it can cover, our mowers cover between 2 and 8 areas (e.g. the L35 Deluxe)
3. The perimeter wire needs to enclose all the areas in a complete loop.  Where the mower goes from one area to another, it needs a corridor to follow (all the Ambrogios need a 1m corridor although in certain circumstances get away with 50cms).  You need to be able to lay the perimeter wire along the corridor (i.e. not solid concrete) and the robot needs to be able to grip (i.e. not shingle).

Have a look at our test garden and see how complex and area can be managed.  If you are not sure, Contact Us, there are not many areas that we cannot come up with a solution for.

Most robot mowers do not trim the edges of the lawn, meaning an slim uncut border is generally left for a strimmer, edging shear or manual mower to clean-up. Segway Navimow are currently developing a robot mower strimmer; an attachment to the incredibly model new Series X3 platform. This is anticipated for UK distribution in 2025 or 2026.

Robot mowers are not rough cutters. This means that they rely on cutting regularly to keep the lawn length below it’s maximum height of cut. IF you allow you grass to run away, due to not having a cutting schedule with sufficient regularity (generally 2-4 time per week), not preparing the lawn to a tolerable height prior to installation or a prolonged period of rain with the rain sensor engaged – allowing the grass to grow rapidly without cutting – then it is likely that a manual cut would be required. With the correct approach however, the bulk of your lawn shouldn’t require cutting manually again.

You can also make landscaping adaptions to greatly reduce manual input. Robots will generally happily straddle a lawn which is level with a hard border, such as a patio. By edging a lawn with a “straddlable” border, you’ll reduce manual input to redefining the edges, which is a far less frequency gardening duty than strimming a border. As such, new lawns and landscaping should ideally be designed with this in mind. Each robot will require a different border width.

Robot mowers without a perimeter wire:

The easiest and most sure-fire way is create a “no-go” (manufacturers call this different things) from within the mapping software in app. Robot mowers with advanced cameras will also assist with avoidance, however it is advisable to map around flowers such as spring bulbs and flower beds to ensure your display cannot succumb to the razor sharp blades of your new robot mower.

With a perimeter wire:

Simply extend the wire to create no-cut islands. An electrical pulse (very low voltage) is sent down the wire and when the mower reaches the wire, it turns around (just like it has encountered an obstacle). If the power goes off, the mower stops so there is no danger to your flowers. It is possible to create temporary no-cut zone through the use of a switch. This is quite involved and generally a professional would be required to design and install this. With the advancements in RTK robotics, use cases for perimeter wire robots has become reduced. If you have flowers to avoid and your garden is suitable for an RTK robot (no perimeter wire required) our advice is to pursue that choice.

As the mowers are cutting little and often, you don’t need to collect the clippings (mulch), in fact mulching is a great way to return nutrients to the soil. You’ll need around 25% less fertiliser by mulching with lawn clippings. Our range of robot mower fertiliser are specifically designed with this in mind.

To get a great lawn, the trick is to cut ‘little and often’. The recommendation is to never cut more than a third of the blade of grass off in one go.

A robot mower will normally be scheduled to cut every day to ensure the grass stays at a constant height even when it’s growing fast (it can grow up to 3-5 cms per week).

Using traditional mowers, most people don’t have time to ‘cut little and often’  but most robot mowers mow based on a user specified schedule so they take the ‘little and often’ to the extreme.

The Ambrogio range uses its GPS system to ensure that each square area of grass is cut every 3 days.

RTK robots are far more efficient than perimeter wire robots. This means coverage is easier to predict and robots can be programmed to cut less often, however cutting around 3-times per week during the peak season encourages beautifully dense growth.

This is a subjective question—it depends on your garden layout, budget, and the level of ongoing support you might require throughout the product’s life.

Generally, most people would describe the best robot mower as one that:

• Has a strong reputation and positive user reviews
• Offers an intuitive, easy-to-use mobile app
• Is straightforward to install (with or without a perimeter wire)
• Comes with reliable after-care, warranty support, and access to spare parts

As of 2025, we’ve yet to come across a brand that delivers on all of these fronts better than Segway Navimow. In the UK, the brand benefits from an established distributor network and robust UK-based support. This ensures that, when in-app resources can’t resolve a particular issue, local dealerships like ours can step in to assist directly.

The Navimow i-Series was a standout success for small lawns in 2024, introducing breakthrough camera-based navigation technology. It remains our best-selling model in 2025. For larger gardens, the newly launched X-Series extends the same innovation to areas of up to 10,000 sqm.

Ultimately, the best robot mower for your garden will be the one that suits your specific needs. We always recommend impartial research, watching up-to-date YouTube robot mower reviews, and consulting experienced professionals like ourselves. With access to multiple leading brands, we can help you find the right model tailored to your garden, lifestyle, and expectations.

There are a number of factors to consider when looking at the cost:

The initial purchase and installation cost

Robot mowers are generally more expensive than traditional electric or petrol powered mowers although for large gardens, they can be cheaper than a ride on mower that covers a similar area. Since RTK technology has really taken off, in almost all cases, a quality robot mower is more cost-effective that a ride-on lawn mower.

The cost of your time (or maybe your gardener’s time)

This is where the big saving is found. If you have a gardener, how much do they cost – £20-£40 an hour.

If you mow the lawn yourself, how much do you value your time and if you had that extra time, what would you do with it…probably other household jobs but that’s another story. Apparently we spend on average 2 months of our lives mowing.

Moreover, if you’re serious about lawncare, mowing the lawn frequently is essential during the peak months. Often three times or more per week for the perfect lawn. Robots assist with the frequency where your time cannot be relied on. In serious lawn care, robots complement the creation of the ultimate lawn.

The cost of fuel

 Robot mowers cost approx. £20 – £40 per year to run, that wouldn’t run your petrol mower for long!

Cost to the environment

In the US, it was reported that petrol mowers represent Petrol mowers 5% of U.S. air pollution. Hopefully it has decreased since that report but it is still significant. 

Waste is also a huge issue with mowing. Lawns create vast quantities of clippings. On large lawns this can be many cubic metres per cut – smaller lawns will still usually fill an entire compost or wheelie bin. Mulching does away with hassle of this, leverages the nutrition beneficially, lowering waste and fertilisation costs.

Although a number of manufacturers and third parties sell covers, the mowers that we sell in our robot shop are built to be outside with no cover during the season – the only recommendation is that the base is not in constant direct sunlight.

You may want to buy a robot mower garage/ kennel for security reasons or so that you can paint it the same colours as the surrounding buildings…that’s fine, just make sure that you buy one which suits your mower i.e. big enough and won’t get in the way of the mower. With RTK robots it is also important to ensure that the covers do not interfere with signals.

We would suggest installing the mower first and then thinking about the garage after you have seen it working.

If the perimeter wire is buried, the likelihood of the wire being broken is low however it does happen.

Whilst you may have expected rabbits in the garden to cause a problem, it’s the deer and weasels that tend to break the wire…or someone putting a spade through it!

There are a number of ways to find a break, have a look at our article on wire breaks for more details.  The most likely places for a break are joints in the wire…always use a good quality connector  (we supply them with our kits –  never join and tape them) – look at the joints first.

Walk the perimeter and look for obvious disturbances…after an installation, I normally walk the perimeter and take a video so that I know where the wire is.

With older mowers, you can use an AM radio to find a break, newer models work on a different frequency so you need another method – see YouTube “How to find a wire break in a underground dog or pet fence using an AM radio for FREE!”

If all else fails, call in the professionals…we use a special tool to locate breaks.

Whilst extremely rare, a robot mower can look inviting to a thief as it is an expensive piece of equipment. If you are worried about theft, make sure you buy a model that has security features as this will ensure that if it does get stolen, it will be traceable and useless to anyone but yourself. Also check your insurance, you might think that it is covered by your house insurance but many don’t.

We recommend the use of Apple Air Tags or similar tracking devices, complementing manufacturer features. These will usually be reliant of 4G connectivity – for smaller robots such as the Segway Navimow i-series an optional 4G module is available as an add-on. Larger platform tend to have 4G as standard – you just need to ensure that data plans are active.

We have a black labrador.  When she first saw it, she barked at it when it went past but after half an hour, she just ignored it – now she barely notices it.

We also have horses in neighbouring fields, their initial nervousness soon disappeared,  now it’s funny to watch them stand there and follow it with their heads.

If you are concerned, we do offer a unique solution for Ambrogio robots, the Amico tag. This stops the blades turning when it approaches your pet .

RTK robots with advanced cameras with also recognise most pets and actively avoid them.

As for their poo, if you don’t manage to pick it up in time,  it’s still better than a normal lawnmower since the chances of the wheels running over it are less as the wheels aren’t as big as a lawnmower and there is no roller – it won’t stop the machine running.