If you’re active and mobile, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t continue to mow the lawn as an elderly person. Lawn mowing is a great opportunity to keep fit, get outdoors, and interact with your neighbours.
With that said, if you’re over the age of 65, you should take precautions when using a lawn mower because you’re more at risk of injury and falls in your senior years.
✅Key Takeaways:
Our 7 lawn mower safety tips for elderly people are:
Assess your health and mobility
Take your time
Mow in the right conditions
Choose an easy-use mower
Mulch your grass clippings
Reduce your grass space
Ask for help
Invest in a robotic mower
Table of Contents
📑 How To Safely Mow The Lawn For Seniors: 7 Tips
Here are our top tips for safely mowing a lawn as an older person over 65.
🚑 Tip 1: Assess Your Health & Mobility
Not all older people can safely mow the lawn. It depends on your health and mobility.
The NHS says that people over 65 should partake in at least 150 minutes of moderate weekly activity, including lawn mowing. But if you have an existing health concern or mobility problem, pushing a heavy lawn mower might carry the risk of injury or a health crisis.
Contact your doctor if you’d like to discuss your health and ask for a professional opinion on whether or not you should be able to mow the lawn safely.
Still wondering whether it’s safe to mow the lawn as an elderly person? We’ve answered this question in more detail in our senior lawn mowing safety guide.
⏰ Tip 2: Take Your Time
Our second tip is to take your time when you’re mowing the lawn – no need to rush for a fast finish!
Trying to mow as quickly as possible increases your risk of injury. Listen to your body, walk at your normal walking pace, and stop to take breaks whenever you need to catch your breath.
Even if you split your mowing into a few sessions, you’ll still achieve the same outcome by the end of the day.
☀️ Tip 3: Mow In The Right Conditions
When you mow is just as important as how you mow. We recommend only mowing the lawn in dry, relatively cool conditions.
Try to avoid getting the mower out if the weather is warmer than 23-25 degrees Celsius. The good news is that the UK summers usually only see a couple of weeks of very warm weather, so we don’t have to deal with scorching mowing conditions for months on end.
If you have no choice but to mow during a heatwave, make sure to take regular breaks in the shade and drink plenty of water. Mow at around 8am or 7pm, when the weather is cooler. This will reduce your risk of dehydration or heatstroke.
You also shouldn’t mow your lawn if the grass is wet with dew or rain. Not only does mowing a wet lawn potentially damage the growing grass, but it also poses a safety risk, especially if your lawn is hilly or on an incline, because wet grass is slippy.
🤙 Tip 4: Choose A Mower Type That’s Easy To Use
If you’ve been using the same bulky, heavy mower for years, consider upgrading to a new model that’s better suited for use by elderly gardeners.
Choose a mower that’s suitable for seniors, which will make it easier to mow as an older person.
Some of the features to look for in the best lawn mower for seniors are:
A lightweight design – Ideally less than 10 kilograms to prevent strain and reduce the risk of injury.
Ergonomic handle – An ergonomic handle will reduce back, neck, and shoulder strain from pushing the mower.
Wheel-less design – A wheel-less mower, like a lightweight hover mower, is easier for older gardeners to manoeuvre in small, unusually shaped gardens because you can move the mower in any direction.
Self-propulsion – Available on larger petrol lawn mowers, self-propulsion eliminates manual pushing effort because it drives the wheels forward with a built-in mower.
Electric start – If you find it difficult to pull the starter cord on a petrol-powered mower, look for a mower with an electric push-button start.
For a small-to-medium lawn, your top priority should be a lightweight lawn mower that’s easy to push and maneuver. The lighter the mower, the better control you’ll have, and the less likely you are to become injured or overexert yourself.
If you have a large lawn, you’ll need a bigger mower with a powerful engine (such as a petrol lawn mower) and a wider cutting width, so you can finish mowing faster and with fewer laps.
Pushing a heavy petrol mower is possibly dangerous for people over the age of 65. We recommend buying a self-propelled lawn mower that you simply walk behind and steer. Make sure the mower has multiple self-propulsion speeds so that you can adjust the speed to your comfortable walking pace.
We’ve reviewed the highest-rated lawn mowers for seniors in our guide to the best lawn mowers for the elderly.
♻️ Tip 5: Mulch Your Clippings
Emptying the grass box is a difficult task when you’re older and struggle to bend and lift heavy objects.
We recommend buying a lawn mower with a mulching function, which cuts grass clippings into small pieces and feeds them back into your lawn. These grass cuttings act as a natural fertilizer and will quickly decompose on your lawn, so you don’t need to sweep or rake them up after mowing.
Mulching mowers eliminate the hassle of emptying a grass box and help you to get the job done faster and with less effort.
🟢 Tip 6: Reduce Your Grass Space
Mowing a very large lawn might become too challenging as you get older.
One way to reduce your lawn mowing requirements is to reduce your grass space. You could convert an area of your lawn into woodland or a mini wildflower patch, or hire a landscaping professional to break up your grassy areas with stone paths, gathering areas, or decking.
This will cost a lot of money, so it’s not an option for everyone – but it might be the best solution for you if the alternative is downsizing to a home with a smaller outdoor space and you don’t want to do that.
🛠 Tip 7: Ask For Help With Assembly & Maintenance
Don’t be afraid to ask a neighbour or family member for help in assembling a new lawn mower or performing maintenance or servicing on an existing mower.
In your senior years, you may find it difficult to get down on the floor and do activities that take a lot of strength, like attaching various stubborn mower parts together. You might also struggle with maintenance tasks like topping up or replacing the petrol.
Know your limitations, and make sure to ask for support if you need a younger person’s strength or flexibility.
🤖 Tip 8: Invest In A Robot Mower
Finally, if you’re concerned about your safety when mowing the lawn, or you simply don’t want to be responsible for your lawn upkeep, look into buying a robot lawn mower.
Robot mowers mow autonomously, meaning that your mower will independently cut your grass to a set schedule (usually every 1-3 days) without your input.
The mower will return to its charging port once it’s finished mowing, which will recharge the battery, powering the mower for the next use.
The upfront cost of a robotic lawn mower is high – around £400-£600. However, if the alternative is hiring a gardener, a robot mower will quickly pay for itself and be a more cost-effective solution in the long term.
🏁 Final Word
Lawn mowing isn’t something that you necessarily have to give up as an older person. If you’re keen to stay fit and mobile for as long as possible, pushing a lawn mower once a week is a great activity to add to your exercise timetable.
If you’re in the market for a new lawn mower, choose one of the best lawn mowers for the elderly. Lightweight electric corded lawn mowers, hover mowers, self-propelled petrol mowers, and robotic mowers are all good choices for senior gardeners.