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About James Laidler
James is part of the digital team at Garden Machinery Direct, a UK retailer of garden machinery, outdoor power equipment, and gardening accessories. He creates much of the company's online content, including blog articles, buying guides, product descriptions, and category pages, helping customers find clear, accurate, and useful information when researching garden machinery.
Working closely with colleagues across the business, James researches the latest products, industry developments, and gardening trends to ensure the information published on the Garden Machinery Direct website is informative, relevant, and up to date. His role provides valuable insight into a wide range of outdoor power equipment, from lawn mowers and robotic mowers to chainsaws, hedge trimmers, and battery-powered garden tools.
Alongside his content responsibilities, James manages Garden Machinery Direct's X account and supports the company's presence on LinkedIn, sharing product updates, industry news, and useful advice with customers and followers.
Latest from James Laidler
Choosing a new lawnmower involves more than deciding between petrol, battery, and electric power. You also need to consider how the machine moves across the lawn. For many walk-behind mowers, that means choosing between push and self-propelled models. Both designs have clear advantages. A push mower offers simplicity, direct control, and often a lower [...]
If you have a meadow, paddock or other sizeable patch of long grass to bring under control, choosing the right machine for the job makes an enormous difference. A conventional lawnmower will be completely out of its depth, leaving you to choose between specialist tools like a brushcutter and scythe mower. Both machines have [...]
Returning home after a relaxing summer holiday can bring an unwelcome surprise. You open the back door expecting to see your lawn, only to discover something resembling a small meadow. During warm, damp summer weather, grass can grow remarkably quickly. Leave it untouched for a fortnight and an ordinarily neat lawn can become long, [...]
Cordless lawnmowers have transformed the way many of us look after our lawns. Quiet, clean and convenient, they provide the freedom of petrol without the noise, fumes or maintenance jobs associated with an engine. Modern battery technology has also come a remarkably long way, making cordless machines suitable for much larger gardens than was [...]
Buying a new lawn mower can feel surprisingly complicated. With so many models available, it's easy to focus on engine size, battery voltage or brand reputation, yet one of the most important decisions is often overlooked: the mower's cutting width. The width of the cutting deck has a huge influence on how long it [...]
Pressure washers make light work of cleaning patios, driveways, vehicles, garden furniture and other outdoor surfaces. Ideal for removing winter grime from paving, washing the family car and freshening up decking before summer, they deliver excellent results in very little time, and with minimal fuss. STIHL offers ten cordless and electric pressure washers, ranging [...]
The summer months are always a busy time for gardeners. Longer days and drier weather provide the perfect opportunity to mow the lawn, trim hedges, shape shrubs and tackle countless other outdoor jobs. Increasingly, these tasks are carried out using cordless garden tools powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Modern battery technology has transformed garden [...]
Sunny days usually present the perfect opportunity to mow the lawn, but very high temperatures can sometimes expose problems that remain hidden during cooler weather. Perhaps the engine dies, the electric motor switches off or the machine begins to struggle before cutting out completely. After a few minutes, it may restart, only for the [...]
A spell of hot, sunny weather is always welcome after a long British winter, but when it turns into a heatwave, this can become challenging for your lawn. Grass that looked lush and green just a few weeks earlier may begin to lose its colour, stop growing and develop dry, straw-coloured patches. At that [...]
Summer is one of the busiest times of year for gardeners, but prolonged periods of hot, dry weather call for a slightly different approach. While it's natural to want to keep lawns neat and hedges tidy, a heatwave isn't always the right time to tackle every gardening job. Looking after garden machinery during extreme [...]
2026 marks a remarkable milestone for STIHL as the globally respected manufacturer celebrates its 100th anniversary. To commemorate a century of innovation, the company introduced a special programme of awards recognising the outstanding achievements of its Approved Dealers throughout the UK. We’re delighted to announce that our parent company, Ron Smith & Co, received [...]
Having a well-kept garden doesn't require a shed full of bulky machinery. Modern battery technology has transformed the way homeowners care for smaller outdoor spaces, making it possible to complete a wide variety of gardening jobs using lightweight, easy-to-store equipment. Few product families demonstrate this better than the Husqvarna Aspire™ range. Designed specifically for [...]
