GARDENA robot mowers

Yes. Gardena's three-year warranty on its SILENO robot mowers only applies if you register the mower at gardena.com/registration within three months of buying it. Gardena doesn't state a separate warranty period for mowers that aren't registered, so without registration you're relying on your statutory rights under UK consumer law.

The cover has limits. Gardena excludes batteries, blades and other wear parts, and the warranty is for private use only. To make a claim, Gardena asks for proof of purchase plus the registration and warranty confirmation emails, so save those somewhere safe.

Most SILENO product pages on Gardena's UK site mention the three years, but the pages for the GARDENA smart SILENO free and the smart SILENO life 750 m² don't state a period. Registering promptly is the safe approach for any model. See the Gardena brand page for support contacts.

Two of Gardena's current UK models are wire-free: the GARDENA smart SILENO free and the GARDENA smart SILENO sense. The GARDENA SILENO minimo, GARDENA SILENO city and GARDENA SILENO life all need a boundary wire, even the versions with LONA mapping.

The two wire-free models take different approaches:

• SILENO free: satellite RTK positioning, with no antenna or beacons to install. It connects through the smart Gateway and your home broadband rather than a SIM. Gardena rates it for 1,200 m² and quotes about 140 minutes per charge. Obstacle sensing needs the optional radar accessory.
• SILENO sense: satellite RTK plus a camera with object recognition, and a built-in SIM with free lifetime data according to Gardena. It's rated for 600 m², mows for about 40 minutes per charge and only works in daylight.

As a rough guide, the free suits a larger, open lawn with a clear view of the sky, and the sense suits a smaller lawn near buildings or trees, or one where toys and pets are often on the grass. Neither has an anti-theft alarm listed.

Our wire vs wire-free guide explains what you gain and lose by dropping the wire.

Yes, as long as your home broadband is working. The current GARDENA SILENO city set includes Gardena's smart Gateway, a small hub that plugs into your router and talks to the mower by radio. The GARDENA smart App then reaches the mower over the internet, so you can start, pause or reschedule it from anywhere.

There's no SIM or mobile data in the mower itself, so if the router or broadband goes down, remote control stops until it's back. Place the Gateway where its radio signal can reach the charging station; a garden office or a window facing the lawn is often better than a cupboard at the far side of the house.

Gardena mentions no paid plan for the smart App or LONA features on its UK pages. The app also links to Alexa and to Gardena's smart watering products.

Gardena rates the GARDENA SILENO city for slopes of 35% inside the lawn, but only 10% where the boundary wire runs across a slope. That second figure is the one that catches people out.

A 35% gradient is roughly a 19° incline, which covers most gentle banks in a typical garden. The 10% limit applies to the strip along the wire, because a mower turning at the edge of a steep slope can slide over the wire and leave the lawn. If the edge of your lawn drops away, you may be able to route the wire along a flatter line a little way in and trim the remaining strip by hand.

Our slopes guide explains how to measure a gradient and convert percentages to degrees.

Yes. The GARDENA SILENO city is a boundary-wire mower, and the LONA version doesn't change that. Gardena's spec table lists the boundary type as a physical wire, and the current 500 m² set comes with 150 m of wire and 200 hooks.

LONA is best thought of as an extra layer on top of the wire. It adds GPS position tracking, which Gardena uses for zone management (up to 4 zones with their own mowing frequencies) and for "Area Protect" no-mow patches drawn in the app. The wire still marks the outer edge of the lawn and any beds or ponds the mower must never enter.

If you'd rather skip the wire entirely, Gardena's wire-free models are the GARDENA smart SILENO sense and the GARDENA smart SILENO free. Our wire vs wire-free guide sets out the trade-offs.

Choose by lawn size first and theft risk second. The GARDENA SILENO city is the small-garden model, and the GARDENA SILENO life is the step up for medium lawns, with a wider cut and an alarm.

Both are boundary-wire mowers, both current sets include the smart Gateway for app control over your home internet, and both share the same slope rating: 35% inside the lawn and 10% along the wire. The LONA versions of each offer up to four zones and no-mow areas.

The differences on Gardena's spec sheets:

• Cut width: 160 mm on the city, 220 mm on the life, so the life covers more ground per hour.
• Rated area: the current city is sold as a 500 m² set; the life comes as 750 m² and 1,000 m² sets.
• Security: both have a PIN code, but Gardena lists an anti-theft alarm only on the life.
• Weight: 7.3 kg against 8.3 kg.
• Wire in the box: 150 m for the city set, 200 m for the life sets.

As a rough rule, the city suits lawns up to about 400 m² in a garden that isn't visible from the street. Above that, or where the mower can be seen from a road, the life is the safer choice. Gardena publishes no UK RRP for either, so compare retailer prices on the model pages.

The GARDENA SILENO city sold new in the UK is rated for 500 m², but it's most comfortable on lawns of up to about 400 m². Gardena states its area ratings with a tolerance of plus or minus 20%, and the figure assumes a simple, open lawn.

Two things eat into that rating in real gardens. First, the cut is narrow at 160 mm, so the mower needs many hours to cover the ground. Gardena quotes about 65 minutes of mowing per charge followed by roughly an hour on the charging station. Second, every narrow passage, island bed and awkward corner adds time, because the mower has to find its way in and out of each one.

You'll also see older 250 m² SILENO city models, smart and non-smart, as old stock or second-hand. Gardena lists those as legacy products and no longer publishes their specifications.

If your lawn is over about 400 m², look at the GARDENA SILENO life, which has a wider cut and larger ratings. Our lawn size tool helps you measure the area first.

Not on its own, going by Gardena's published sensor list. The GARDENA smart SILENO free ships with satellite RTK for positioning and a lift sensor, which stops the blades if the mower is picked up. Gardena sells an Anti-collision Radar as a separate accessory, and it's that add-on which gives the mower a way of sensing objects in its path.

Without the radar, the mower knows where the lawn is but not what's lying on it. Toys, balls, garden hoses and dog bowls need clearing before a mowing session, and so does anything left out overnight. Gardena's UK site doesn't have a product page for the radar, so check with your retailer that it's available and compatible before relying on it.

For hedgehogs, the most reliable protection is the schedule rather than any sensor. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society notes that hedgehogs are active from dusk through the night, so set mowing windows during daylight hours and avoid early mornings and evenings. The smart App lets you choose those windows and pause the mower remotely. Check long grass under hedges yourself before the first cut of the season, as that's where hedgehogs often shelter.

Our hedgehog guide covers schedules in more detail, and if hands-free obstacle avoidance matters to you, the camera-equipped GARDENA smart SILENO sense is the Gardena to look at.

No. Gardena says the GARDENA smart SILENO free has no subscription costs, and it doesn't use a SIM card at all. Instead it gets online through the smart Gateway that comes in the box, which plugs into your router and links to the mower by radio.

Gardena's UK page says an internet connection is needed, so your home broadband effectively replaces the 4G connection that some wire-free rivals use. That keeps running costs down, but it means the Gateway's radio needs to reach the charging station and the lawn. Check where the Gateway can sit before buying.

If you'd prefer a Gardena that carries its own mobile connection, the GARDENA smart SILENO sense has a built-in SIM that Gardena says includes free lifetime data. Our 4G and network RTK guide explains how the different connection methods compare.

Gardena says the GARDENA smart SILENO free can cut close to solid edges such as walls and fences using a feature it calls Trim-to-Edge, but it doesn't claim the same for every kind of border. Expect to trim beside soft flower beds, lawn edging strips and around obstacles by hand, as with most robot mowers.

Gardena doesn't publish a distance in millimetres for how close it gets. The cutting deck uses two discs with three blades each, giving a 220 mm strip. Height runs from 25 mm to 45 mm, which is a narrow range and suits a lawn kept short with frequent cuts.

A mowing strip of paving or brick laid flush with the lawn gives any robot mower a hard edge to follow, which reduces the trimming you'll need. Our blade guide covers blade care and replacement.

Gardena gives two figures, and until it clarifies we'd plan around the lower one. The technical table on the UK page for the GARDENA smart SILENO free lists 35%, both inside the lawn and at the boundary, while the feature list on the same page says slopes of up to 30%.

The gap is about 17° against 19°, which matters only if your steepest bank sits close to the limit. Remember that wet grass reduces grip, so a slope the mower handles in dry weather can become a problem after rain.

Unlike Gardena's wired SILENO models, the free has no separate 10% limit along the edge, because there's no wire for it to slip across. Our slopes guide explains how to measure your gradient.

It depends how much of the lawn is shaded from the sky. The GARDENA smart SILENO free steers by satellite positioning with RTK corrections, and Gardena lists no camera or LiDAR to help when that signal is weak. Open lawns suit it best; a plot boxed in by tall conifers, a large tree canopy or a three-storey house is a harder case.

RTK works by comparing satellite signals with correction data to fix the mower's position to within a few centimetres. When trees, walls or dense hedges block part of the sky, the receiver sees fewer satellites and accuracy drops. In practice that tends to show up along the edges of a lawn and in shaded corners, which are also where the mower is closest to borders and fences.

Some points worth checking before you buy:

• How much of the lawn has open sky overhead, especially near the edges.
• Whether narrow side passages run between the house and a tall fence.
• Whether you're happy to exclude a few difficult spots as no-mow areas in the app.

If your garden is heavily shaded, a mower that combines satellites with a camera may cope better. Gardena's own GARDENA smart SILENO sense does that, though it's rated for a smaller lawn. Our navigation guide explains the differences between RTK, vision and LiDAR systems.

It is if your garden has areas that need mowing at different frequencies, or patches you want to protect without extra wire. The two GARDENA SILENO life sets sold new in the UK share the same cutting deck and the same spec-table figures: 220 mm cut, three pivoting razor blades, height from 20 mm to 50 mm, an alarm and a PIN.

What separates them:

• LONA: the 1,000 m² set is the one Gardena advertises with LONA. That adds GPS position tracking, up to 4 zones with their own mowing frequency, and no-mow areas drawn in the app. The 750 m² page doesn't mention LONA and its sensor list has no GPS.
• Generation: the 750 m² set is an older smart model; the 1,000 m² LONA set is newer.
• Rated area: 750 m² against 1,000 m², each with Gardena's plus or minus 20% tolerance.

For a simple rectangle up to about 600 m², the 750 does the job. Choose the 1,000 for a lawn up to about 800 m², or for a garden split into front and back sections, a play area you want mown more often, or a wildflower patch to leave alone.

Both sets need the boundary wire and include the smart Gateway. Gardena publishes no UK RRP, so check the price gap at retailers before deciding.

Reasonably, for a wired mower. Gardena's spec table for the GARDENA SILENO life lists both a PIN code and an anti-theft alarm, which is more than the smaller GARDENA SILENO city offers. The PIN makes a stolen mower hard to use, and the alarm is there to draw attention, although Gardena's UK pages don't detail exactly what triggers it.

What it doesn't have is a mobile data connection or a published GPS tracking feature, so Gardena doesn't advertise a way to find the mower once it's gone. The LONA 1,000 m² set adds GPS for zone management, but Gardena presents that as a mowing feature, not theft tracking.

Practical steps still help: keep the charging station out of sight from the road, record the serial number, and check that your home insurance covers garden equipment. Our security guide lists more options.

Very little in the hardware. Gardena's spec tables for the two versions of the GARDENA SILENO minimo show the same mower: a 160 mm cut from one disc with three blades, the same 6.1 kg weight, the same sound level and about 70 minutes of mowing per charge.

The difference is how long each one is allowed to work. Gardena lists a daily active time of up to 5.5 hours for the 250 m² model and up to 12 hours for the 500 m² model, and the energy use figures differ to match. In other words, the 500 m² version covers more ground by running for longer, not by cutting faster.

How to choose:

• Lawn up to about 200 m²: the 250 m² version is enough, bearing in mind Gardena quotes area with a tolerance of plus or minus 20%.
• Lawn between about 200 m² and 400 m²: go for the 500 m².
• Lawn much above 400 m², or with lots of beds and corners: look at a larger model with a wider cut, such as the GARDENA SILENO life.

Both versions need a boundary wire, both have the same slope limits, and both carry the same warranty terms. If the price gap between them is small at your retailer, the 500 m² version gives you more headroom for a lawn that turns out bigger than you measured. Our lawn size tool can help you check.

Only by Bluetooth. The GARDENA SILENO minimo pairs with the GARDENA Bluetooth App, and Gardena gives the range as up to about 10 metres, so you need to be in or near the garden to change its schedule or settings. There's no Wi-Fi, no smart Gateway support and no mobile data.

That keeps things simple: nothing to connect to your router and no paid plan mentioned by Gardena, although you do need a free Gardena account. Once a schedule is saved, the mower follows it on its own, so you only need the phone nearby when you want to change something.

If you want to start or stop the mower from work or while on holiday, the GARDENA SILENO city is the next model up. Its set includes the smart Gateway, which puts the mower on your home internet.

Start with the battery and the paperwork. A used GARDENA SILENO+ is unlikely to have any warranty left, because Gardena's three-year cover applies to mowers registered within three months of purchase and excludes batteries in any case.

Things to ask or see before handing over money:

• The article number on the label: 19064-68 is the smart 1,600 m² set, 19065-68 the smart 2,000 m² and 4050-68 the non-smart 2,000 m². Gardena's legacy page for the 1,600 m² set carries a 2,000 m² heading, so the label is the reliable guide.
• The battery's age and how long the mower now runs on a charge.
• The smart Gateway, if it's a smart set, and confirmation that the seller has removed the mower from their Gardena account.
• The PIN code, so you're not locked out.
• Blades and cutting disc for chips or bends.

Gardena's UK legacy pages still carry manuals and spare parts lists for each article number. Our winter storage and maintenance guide covers battery care.

Yes. Gardena's UK site lists all three versions of the GARDENA SILENO+ (the smart 1,600 m² and 2,000 m² sets and the non-smart 2,000 m²) as legacy models, with no buying option and no spec table. Gardena doesn't name a direct replacement.

The awkward part is lawn size. The SILENO+ was rated for up to 2,000 m², and nothing in Gardena's current UK range goes that high. The closest options are:

• The GARDENA smart SILENO free, rated for 1,200 m² and wire-free, using satellite RTK through the smart Gateway.
• The GARDENA SILENO life, a wired mower rated for up to 1,000 m². If you already have a SILENO+ boundary wire in place, it may be reusable.

If your lawn is well over 1,200 m², you'll need to look beyond Gardena. Our large gardens shortlist covers current mowers rated for bigger areas.

By mowing little and often. Gardena rates the GARDENA smart SILENO sense for 600 m² and quotes about 40 minutes of mowing per charge, so the rating assumes many short sessions spread through the day, with trips back to the charging station in between. Gardena doesn't publish the charge time on its UK page, which makes it hard to work out how many sessions fit into a day.

Two other limits squeeze the working window. The mower relies on its camera, and Gardena says it needs daylight, so night-time runs are off the table. And the cut is 160 mm wide, which means more passes to cover a given area than a wider-deck mower.

Put together, the 600 m² figure is best read as a ceiling for a simple, open lawn with a generous daytime schedule. Gardena also states its area ratings with a tolerance of plus or minus 20%. For lawns of about 500 m² or less, the sense fits comfortably. For something closer to the limit, or a garden with lots of beds and corners, look at a model with a longer run time, such as the GARDENA smart SILENO free, which Gardena says mows for about 140 minutes per charge.

Our lawn size tool helps you get an accurate measurement before choosing.

Gardena describes it as free lifetime connectivity but doesn't define "lifetime" in years. The GARDENA smart SILENO sense has a built-in SIM, and Gardena's UK page says there are no hidden costs or subscription fees. It doesn't say whose lifetime is meant (the product's, the SIM contract's or the network's), or what happens if a mobile network used by the SIM is switched off in future.

The sense can also connect over Wi-Fi instead of mobile data, which is a useful fallback if the garden is within range of your router. It doesn't need Gardena's smart Gateway.

If long-term connectivity matters to you, keep your purchase paperwork and the registration emails, and check the terms shown in the smart App during setup. Our 4G and network RTK guide explains how mower data plans work more generally.