The type of lawn mower that has become the standard is the rotary lawn mower. But the first lawn mowers were not rotary mowers, but rather reel lawn mowers. Edwin Budding invented the reel lawn mower in 1830.

Unlike the rotary mowers you're used to, reel lawn mowers don't have an engine, relying instead merely on sharp blades and the muscle-power of the operator. Their blades also spin differently than those of a rotary mower. While a rotary mower's blades spin on a plane parallel to the ground, the blades of a reel lawn mower spin at an angle perpendicular to the ground.

The environmentally conscious extol reel lawn mowers as a pollution-free alternative to gas-powered rotary mowers. Reel lawn mowers offer many benefits in addition to being easy on the environment, including benefits in safety, noise-level, maintenance and cost.

Today's reel lawn mowers are easier to use than older models, because lightweight plastics and alloys incorporated into their construction have made them easier to maneuver.

There are, however, some drawbacks to using reel lawn mowers. Reel lawn mowers don't chop up twigs as do rotary mowers. In fact, twigs get stuck in the blades and you'll have to remove them by hand. Nor can reel lawn mowers be used in fall to shred leaves for the compost pile.

Rotary mowers are also better at cutting tall grass, an important consideration for those who don't mow the lawn religiously. These limitations argue that, for all but the most industrious and idealistic, reel mowers may be most suitable for those who tend small urban lots.

With more and more people becoming environmentally conscious, many are turning to electric mowers for trimming their lawns.

Dragging around the cords of corded electric lawn mowers is a nuisance. It's also potentially hazardous, with the potential of accidentally running over the cord with the mower. Fortunately, electric lawn mowers are no longer synonymous with cumbersome cords.

The new cordless electric lawn mowers are safer and more flexible. An added benefit is that they start with a switch, not a pull-cord, facilitating startup. Cordless electric lawn mowers run on rechargeable batteries. Not as quiet as reel lawn mowers, cordless electric lawn mowers are still less noisy than gas-powered mowers.

Cordless mowers work best if your lawn is 1/3 of an acre or less, and if you keep your lawn mowed regularly. They're not effective for larger lawns or for tall grass, since either condition puts a lot of strain on the battery. And pushing them up hills can put a lot of strain on the operator, so make sure you purchase a self-propelled model. Cutting moist grass also strains battery-powered mowers, although, technically, you shouldn't be mowing at all if your lawn isn't dry.

Usually, when we hear the term, "mulching," we think of spreading mulch around by hand, using a shovel. But mulching mowers give the term, "mulching" a new twist. "Mulching" lawn mower is a bit of a misnomer. They don't make mulch; if anything, the product they leave behind is more "compost" than "mulch."

The alternative to a mulching lawn mower is a lawn mower that comes with a bag attachment to collect grass clippings. If you opt for the latter, you should deposit the clippings into a compost pile, so as to acquire free compost for the garden and avoid wasting community landfill space.

The grass clippings left behind by a mulching mower essentially function as a lawn fertilizer, as if you were applying compost to the lawn. For this reason, it makes more sense for most urban and suburban homeowners to use a mulching mower, rather than bagging their grass clippings and dumping them in the compost pile.

Essentially, mulching lawn mowers eliminate the "middle-man," namely, the compost pile, instead providing you with compost directly. This means less work for you.

Mulching lawn mowers are designed so as to leave behind finely shredded grass clippings. Such clippings can be left on the lawn with impunity. By contrast, because lawn mowers without mulching capabilities produce clippings that are bulkier and readily mat together, their clippings need to be removed from the lawn, so that the grass doesn't suffocate under them.