Garden History – Innovation of Lawn Mowers

The lawn mower is another important innovation that changed the face of landscape gardening. Prior to the 1800s, lawns were kept trimmed using skillfully wielded scythes, or grazing animals. This made lawns affordable only for the very wealthy.

In 1830, Edwin Beard Budding (1796 – 1846) filed a patent for the modern lawn mower. He worked as an engineer in a textile mill in Stroud, Gloucester, and was inspired by a machine used to trim the nap off cloth used for uniforms. He thought the same idea could be used to cut grass.

Budding lawn mower (picture from Alchetron)

The early machine was all cast iron, with a large rear roller with a cutting cylinder in front. Cast iron gear wheels transmitted power from the rear roller to the cutting cylinder. According to stories, people thought he was a lunatic for his idea, so he had to test his machine at night.

Budding went into partnership with local engineer, John Ferrebee, and they manufactured mowers in a factory at Stroud. They modified the design to enable a second person or animal to pull the heavy mower. They also allowed other companies to build copies of their mowers under license. When the early patents expired in the 1850s, the other companies introduced their own lines of machines.

An early cylinder (reel) mower. Public domain.

In 1888, the side wheel mower was introduced in England. The cast iron wheels on either side drove the cutting cylinder directly via ratchets inside the castings. This design was very light to operate, and inexpensive to manufacture. The side wheel mower became popular all over the world, including the United States. In the 1890s, motorized mowers appeared with lightweight gas powered motors, as did some small steam powered models.

Here in the Western United States, we are revisiting our love affair with the lawn, but it is interesting to see how the innovation of the lawn mower made lawns more accessible to everyone, and introduced a rise in grass-based sports such as tennis, golf, cricket, soccer, and football.

Learn More:

• The Old Lawn Mowers Club (see the video "Working Steam Mower Spotted" for nerdy fun)
• British Lawn Mower Museum (Victorian and Edwardian eras)