Where to Store Your Lawn Mower?

Properly storing your lawn mower can go a long way to making sure it stays in great shape and continues to work as it should every time you wheel it out onto your lawn. And given that buying a lawn mower is often a meaningful investment (I definitely had to save up for a while to be able to buy my last one), you want it to last as long as it possibly can.

If you’re wondering “where to store the lawn mower” to have the best chance of it staying healthy, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to discuss several lawn mower storage ideas in this article and help you figure out which solution is the best fit for your home setup.

The #1 Option is Either a Garage or a Garden Shed

No messing around here – we’re getting straight to it. Without a doubt, the best place to store your lawn mower is in a garage or a garage shed if you have one.

Why? Well, there’s a whole number of reasons.

• Protects Your Mower From Harsh Weather Conditions – Firstly, either of these options will keep your mower nice and dry year-round. That’s very important if you have an electric mower for obvious reasons, and equally important if you have any other type of mower, as moisture will lead to corrosion of metal components. And once that happens you’re going to be paying out for repairs. The indoor environment of a shed or garage will also protect your mower from extreme temperatures (neither freezing cold nor boiling hot conditions will do your mower any good), as well as strong winds.
• Keeps Your Lawn Mower Secure – Both a garage or a shed represents a secure option for storing your lawn mower. We’ve already mentioned that lawn mowers are often costly acquisitions, so you want a storage spot that’s going to prevent 3^rd parties from having access to it and potentially stealing it. Put a lock on the door and rest easy!
• Easy to Access – You don’t want to spend half an hour digging your mower out from under a pile of crap every time you need to cut the lawn. Garages and sheds are designed to store these sorts of tools and the fact that your mower will have its own spot will mean you can easily grab it when you need it. No drama, just mowing.
• Keep the Mess Out of the House – Unless you’re going to spend 20 or 30 minutes cleaning down your mower after each session, there will likely be some clippings stuck to it somewhere (probably underneath the deck) and maybe some mud on the wheels. But that’s ok when you’re putting it in a garage or shed. Perfectly acceptable. But would you want to be trailing that mess into your home?!

Where to Store a Lawn Mower If You Don’t Have a Shed or Garage

Obviously, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a garage or the outdoor space needed to put up a shed. If that’s the situation you find yourself in, below we’re going to outline a number of other lawn mower storage options that you might be able to use instead.

Basement

If you don’t have access to a garage or shed, storing your lawn mower in the basement is your next best option. It ticks most of the same boxes in that it is a sheltered environment that protects the mower from weather threats and it’s a secure spot to store your four-wheeled friend.

There are a few downsides to this arrangement though that you need to be aware of. Firstly, you’ll have to carry your mower through your house. If it’s a basic push reel model or perhaps a small electric mower this won’t be too challenging, since both options are relatively light in weight. But if it’s battery-powered or a gas mower, maneuvering it down to the basement without making a mess or doing yourself any harm will likely be challenging.

The other thing to bear in mind is safety. If you have a gas mower, you’ll need to drain it of gasoline before you store it, otherwise it poses a safety risk. And this extra step can add quite a bit of time onto the process of cutting your lawn.

In summary, storing your lawn mower in the basement is not a bad option if you have a lightweight mower that is not gas-powered, and access to the basement is straightforward.

In a Storage Box Outside

You might have a very small lawn (so no space for a shed) and have no garage or basement. If this is the case, your options start to get pretty limited. One solution could be to buy a storage container specially designed to store outdoor tools such as lawn mowers. They are typically made of some sort of durable plastic, so keep your mower protected from the damp and most other weather threats (although it won’t insulate it from more extreme temperatures), and they’re often not much bigger than the mower itself, so only take up a little space and can be stashed somewhere out of view.

Outside (Under a Cover)

If you find yourself in the situation that we just described above and have very little money to spend, an option you might like to explore is buying a high-quality waterproof lawn mower cover and storing your mower in the yard. When space is at a premium and if the local climate is fairly consistent year-round (and it rains sparingly), this can work. But we’d really only recommend this if all other options are off the table. And even then, if other people have access to your yard, it can be risky to store a mower outside.

If you only have a very small lawn, but have an electric or gas mower, consider trading it in for a push reel mower. Manual mowers are very small, so it’ll be easier for you to find it a home when storage space is at a premium, and they’re more than capable of maintaining small areas of grass.

What if None of These Options Work?

Even though these are all pretty good options and will work for most people, they are not going to work for everybody. Say you live in an urban setting. Your lawn isn’t as spacious as a suburban yard, and you don’t have the room to store a lawn mower outside or have the luxury of a basement or a shed. So, what can you do? Well, there’s only one place left: inside your home. Now, I know lawn mowers can be dirty, and they give off an odor that isn’t going to work in your lounge. But there are ways around this. The first is to pick a lawn mower engine type that doesn’t smell like a battery power lawn mower or a lawn mower that doesn’t require an engine.

Secondly, if you only have a very small lawn, you can pick up a very small mower. Lawn mowers, like electric or reel mowers, come in some pretty small designs and need very little cleaning. A few minutes, and it’s clean and ready to be packed away. The only thing I would suggest is that you store the lawn mower in a good-quality tote box so that any grass clippings you missed cleaning won’t stink up your home.