Retailers are reporting increasingly strong sales of battery-powered robotic lawn mowers as French households embrace the trend for trim lawns without lifting a finger.
Recent figures are hard to come by, but those most cited in French media point to a rapid rise in popularity. While only 2,000 robot lawn mowers were sold in France in 2014, four years later this had soared to 55,000, according to media outlet Les Echos.
A study by the German market research company Gfk, published last year and based on 2022 figures, showed the total lawn mower market in France was nearly €713 million, and that robot mowers took €127 million of it.
In unit terms, it meant 87,000 robot mowers were sold at an average price of €1,458, matching the number of ride-on mowers sold, where the average price was €3,390.
By contrast, 408,000 petrol push mowers were sold, at an average price of €482, 177,000 electric (battery) push mowers at an average price of €352, and 284,000 electric (cable) mowers at an average price of €166 were sold.
Husqvarna, a Swedish firm selling outdoor power products, which is well established in the French market, is considering pulling the plug on petrol lawn mowers to concentrate on robotic ones.
“Sales of robotic mowers for the professional market and battery powered products were strong,” its first quarter results announcement said.
“However, sales of petrol powered wheeled products continued at a low level.”
Honda, which has a factory in France making lawnmowers, is offering discounts on its petrol models this year, but not on the new range of robot mowers.
The company said its new line of robot mowers represents between 5% and 15% of all its garden equipment sales, which as well as push and sit-on mowers, includes products such as strimmers, hedge cutters and chainsaws.
It even offers a system where a “flock” of robot lawn mowers can be set up to mow large gardens, such as those in stately homes – but does not say how much they cost.
Generally prices are easier to track than sales, with top-of-the-range models in 2018 costing €8,000, plus another €2,000 for the installation of the boundary wires essential for operation.
Now, by comparison, they cost €6,500 and any competent gardener can install the boundary wires in a weekend.
More basic models start at under €1,000.
Some robot lawn mowers do away with boundary wires altogether and rely on GPS signals and sensors to avoid mowing the dahlias.
Read more: What items can I take to local tip in France? Are any banned?
Robot mowers are most suited to small gardens without slopes and well prepared lawns.
Larger spaces need larger machines and dealing with slopes also needs more power and wheels with deeper treads.
Almost all of the mowers operate on a “return to base” principle, with the mower cutting autonomously until the battery starts to get low, at which point it returns to a charging unit and hooks itself up to the charger for a couple of hours or more of charge.
It then sets off on its own to carry on mowing from where it stopped.
French consumer magazine UFC-Que Choisir devoted much of a recent issue to robot mowers, and said that on average for a garden of 400m2, they used €5 of electricity if used twice a week for six months.
If left to roam the garden continuously the bill rises to between €10 and €50.
Most petrol sit-on mowers use between three and five litres of petrol an hour, while push mowers usually use three litres an hour.
The magazine warned that, although they are billed as being low maintenance, robot mowers need regular cleaning, and that the blades, usually made of plastic, need to be checked and replaced periodically.
It also advised the savings on petrol be put aside for new batteries, which are typically needed every two to five years, and cost around €200.
What to do with your grass clippings
Several areas of France have started to refuse grass clippings at local tips or in door-to-door collections over concerns their disposal contributes to climate change.
If this is the case in your area, solutions can include:
- Mulching – use a mower with a ‘mulching’ attachment, and then leave the clippings where they are. This makes the lawn greener, and more resistant to drought and heat.
- Drying clippings in a container – the dry grass can then be spread around like straw to prevent the garden from drying out in the summer months.
- Composting – put grass clippings in a compost bin
A spokesperson for the Rennes metropolitan area (Ille-et-Vilaine), which was the first area in France to refuse grass clippings on January 1, 2024, also suggested that people simply grow different, hardier varieties of grass that grow more slowly, or plant an alternative type of lawn with plants such as moss, clover or carex grass.
