Establishing a new lawn or re-seeding a patchy one can be fairly fiddly and time-consuming – especially if you’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Getting an even spread is vital if you want healthy and smart-looking turf.
Luckily, lawn spreaders can make the job much easier – and many are available for under £60. These manual, hand-operated tools drop or spray out your lawn seed efficiently, making it easier to cover every inch of ground.
Once you’ve got a lawn spreader in your tool shed, you can also use it to distribute fertiliser, feed and de-icing grit throughout the year.
Drop vs. rotary lawn spreaders
Lawn spreaders come in the form of small, hand-held tools and larger push-along devices on wheels, which normally use either a ‘drop’ or a ‘rotary’ (sometimes called ‘broadcast’) mechanism. So, what’s the difference?
- Drop spreaders, as the name suggests, drop the seed underneath the spreader as you go. As they allow for controlled distribution, they’re a great choice for small and medium-sized lawns – especially if you want to avoid spraying grass seed into your borders and flowerbeds.
- Rotary and broadcast spreaders spray out the seed across a wider spreading width. They make it easier to cover a large area quickly, but it’s harder to control the distribution, so rotary spreaders are better suited to big gardens, paddocks and orchards.
The best lawn spreaders to buy this year
Miracle-Gro Drop / Rotary Lawn Seed Spreader
Miracle-Gro is known around the world for its high-quality compost and lawn feed, so it’s no surprise the brand makes one of the best lawn spreaders you can buy. It sells both a drop and a rotary spreader, so you can choose the right model for your outdoor space.
While the drop spreader has a 45cm coverage width, the rotary model scatters seeds between 1.2m and 3.4m away, depending on how fast you walk. According to Miracle-Gro, you should cover around 1m per second when you move at the recommended pace.
Both lawn spreaders come with a few functions, so you can alter the settings for seed and fertiliser, for example. They also have a grippy handle, which folds down to fit into small sheds and cupboards.
Discover our pick of the best lawn mowers.
18V ONE Cordless Lawn Seed Spreader
- Buy now from Ryobi (£71.99)
Ryobi’s garden tools regularly make it into our outdoor equipment round-ups: the many cordless kits offer high-quality construction, smart looks and are often interchangeable with the brand’s batteries and chargers.
This is Ryobi’s hand-held lawn seed spreader, but it also works with fertiliser, salt and feed. It holds up to 4L in the open-top hopper and has an anti-clog mechanism to stop any blockages. Handily, you can adjust the flow rate and change the distribution width between 2.5m to 3.5m to suit the space.
You’ll need one of Ryobi’s 2.5Ah batteries for this lawn spreader, so don’t forget to add it to your basket if you haven’t already got one. You’ll get up to 3 hours of power once it’s fully charged.
Einhell Power X-Change Universal Spreader
Einhell is another one of our go-to brands for gardening equipment and its lawn spreader has a variety of useful settings to set it apart from other models on the market. At 3.3L, its capacity is slightly smaller than others you can get, but it does come with six speed options and a choice of eight volume flow rates, allowing for precise control over the distribution.
This model has a maximum spreading width of 5m, which makes it one of the best lawn spreaders for gardens up to 800m² in size.
Don’t forget to buy one of Einhell’s 18V Power X-Change batteries when you buy this lawn spreader.
Handy Broadcast 23kg Spreader
One of the best lawn spreaders for working in poor weather conditions, this model from The Handy Store sits on large pneumatic tyres, which are designed to provide plenty of grip, even on muddy ground. It also comes with a corrosion resistant frame and a hopper cover to protect the seed or fertiliser in rain showers.
As for the key stats, the hopper has a 22.7kg capacity and spreads the contents out over a maximum distribution width of 3.65m. To limit the spread, just walk slower.
Plus, there’s a useful hopper screen to help avoid blockages.
Looking for a futuristic garden tool to make your life easier? Check out the best robotic lawn mowers.
Wickes Hand Held Lawn Spreader
Buy from Wickes (£10.00)
Priced at under £15, this is one of the best lawn spreaders to buy if you’re on a budget. Unlike similar hand-held designs from other brands, this one is manually operated rather than battery powered.
As it’s made from durable plastic, it should be fairly lightweight. There’s also an ergonomic arm support to make the job easier.
It comes with five settings to accommodate 2L of seed, fertiliser or de-icing salt – perfect for small and medium-sized lawns.
Agri-Fab Broadcast Spreader
- Buy push spreader from Amazon (£310.00)
- Buy tow behind spreader from Just Lawn Mowers (£319.00), Machine Mart (£329.00)
For large areas of lawn, try Agri-Fab’s Push Broadcast spreader, designed for areas up to 2,322 square metres – or half an acre – in size.
It comes with a higher price tag than some other models, but you get a huge, corrosion-resistant hopper, a commercial-grade gear box and chunky pneumatic tyres.
While the lawn spreader as a whole weighs 16.8kg, the large hopper allows for up to 58kg of seed, and has precise controls to adjust the spread rate.
This spreader uses a simple push mechanism, but you can also buy Agri-Fab’s tow-along version, which comes with a universal hitch to connect to most tractors and all-terrain vehicles like quad bikes.
Scotts EvenGreen Drop / Rotary Spreader
If you’re after an alternative to Miracle-Gro’s lawn spreaders, consider Scotts’ range. There’s a drop and a rotary model, so you can buy the right one for the job. They both come with various settings to accommodate seed and plant food, as well as a hand-operated on/off switch.
Plus, the handles fold down for easy storage.
Opt for the rotary spreader and you’ll get a coverage width of 122-340cm.
Prepping your garden for new lawn seed?
See our choice of the best aerators and scarifiers to get it in tip-top condition. Once you’re ready, grab some fresh grass seed from our list of favourites – don’t forget lawn feed to keep it healthy.