Tools and Materials

Tools

Materials

Robotic Lawn Mower
Boundary Wire & Stakes (Included With Mower)

Note

Product costs, availability and item numbers may vary online or by market.

Plan the Installation for the Robotic Mower

A Robomow robotic mower on a lawn in front of a charging station.

First, sketch your yard layout to plan the location of the charging station, installation of the boundary wire and guide wire if needed.

The charging station needs to be on a level part of the lawn at the perimeter of the mowing area. Check your manual for details on proper placement. Typically, there'll need to be some open space around the station, and it should be out of direct sunlight. If you have lawn sprinklers, make sure the station is outside of the spray pattern. Finally, the charging station needs to be within reach of an outdoor power outlet.

The boundary wire outlines the mowing area. When the mower reaches the wire, it turns and heads in a different direction. The boundary wire needs to run from the charging station around the mowing area and back to the charging station. Note any areas you want to exclude from mowing — block them off with boundary wire — and any narrow sections the mower will need to navigate, such as areas between flower beds, so you can plan to lay guide wire if needed. If your mower uses a guide wire to return to the charging station, it needs to run across a large portion of the lawn — so the mower is likely to cross it — and connect to the boundary wire and the charging station. Plan the point where the wires will connect so you can place extra boundary wire at the location for easier connection.

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Set Up the Mowing Area

These steps demonstrate in general terms how to set up a lawn for a robotic lawn mower. Always follow the setup and installation instructions for your specific mower.

Install the Charging Station, Boundary Wire and Guide Wire

A Robomow mower beside a charging station installed in the shade at the edge of a lawn.

Place the charging station and check it for level, adjusting as needed. Depending on your mower, the manual may instruct you to connect the charging station to power and begin charging the mower while you continue setting up the lawn. For other mowers, complete boundary wire installation before powering the charging station and charging the mower. Your manual may instruct you to secure the charging station to the ground at this step and connect one end of the boundary wire, or you may connect the wire later.

Caution

Install the charging station power supply in a location where it's protected from weather and won't contact standing water.

Leave a couple feet of extra wire at the charging station and begin laying boundary wire along the perimeter of the mowing area, securing it to the ground with the included stakes or pegs. Check your manual for information on the direction of the wire, the spacing of the stakes, the distance the wire needs to be from the edges of the lawn and how to lay wire around corners. Use a rubber mallet or hammer to tap the stakes into the ground over the wire, making sure the wire is taut between the stakes and as close as possible to the ground. You may need to add extra stakes at low spots to keep the wire in close contact with the ground. As you lay the wire, make sure you're maintaining the proper gap to the lawn edge. Many mowers come with a guide to help with proper spacing.

Your mower may have an option for installing the boundary wire a couple of inches belowground, which can be useful if you want to completely hide the wire or if the ground is particularly uneven. For this type of installation, you can use a flat spade to cut a slot in the ground around the mowing area and lay the wire in the slot.

Caution

Before beginning any excavation, call 811 to check for underground utilities.

Good to Know

If you install the boundary wire aboveground, the grass will grow around it and conceal it from view after a few weeks.

A Worx robotic mower mowing beside a planting bed.

In addition to defining the perimeter of the mowing area, you'll also place boundary wire around areas within the lawn that you want to block off from the mower, such as planting beds or, depending on the mower, obstacles such as trees. You'll run wire from the perimeter of the lawn to and around the water or plant feature and then back to the perimeter. The return wire must be parallel and touching — but not crossing — the wire running to the obstacle so the mower will ignore it and only recognize the boundary around the obstacle. See your manual for specifics. If you have a pond or water garden, you may need a barrier several inches high around the feature.

Some mowers use a secondary wire to guide the mower back to the charging station when it's time for a recharge or when the mowing program is complete. To install this wire, leave one end at the charging station with enough extra wire to connect it later. It may need to run under the middle of the charging station and extend straight out several feet. Run the wire across the lawn to the planned connection point on the boundary wire, securing it to the ground with stakes as you did the boundary wire. Make sure the guide wire extends across a large area of lawn where the mower is likely to cross it. Connect the guide wire to the boundary wire according to the instructions for your mower.

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How to Set Up Your Lawn for a Robotic Lawn Mower