Gardena Hand-Held Spreader M: Spreader for simple distribution of fertiliser, seeds, and salt with a spreading width of 1-4 m, for lawn areas of up to about 100 m² (431-20)

When reading reviews for this product bear in mind that Gardena make several different types of lawn spreaders and Amazon have listed them all together. This review is for the type 'L' drop spreader.I first bought a cheap hand held rotary spreader that did spread lawn fertilizer successfully. Unfortunately, it was too easy to spread the fertilizer onto the garden borders and paths too. The problem then is that the fertilizer contains a ferrous compound to kill moss and when it rained it left large rust stains on the concrete flags of the path, despite trying to brush the fertilizer off first. These stains are near impossible to remove even with proprietary acids and rust removers for concrete. Hence I've chosen a drop spreader which spreads the fertilizer only on the lawn.I considered several different makes of drop spreaders before deciding on this one. Gardena is a reputable German manufacturer and I've been pleased with the quality of some of their other products.The spreader was supplied in a substantial cardboard box complete with all the parts including the instructions and the 6 screws needed to assemble it. Assembly was quite simple and took only a few minutes, the only tool needed was a cross-head screwdriver, but a little force was required to insert the self-tapping screws. Another reviewer points out that the spring attaches directly to holes in the plastic and recommends that a metal ferrule would be better to avoid any chance of the plastic eventually splitting and I would agree with this. There is a plastic foot at the bottom of the spreader to keep it upright when stationary. This keeps the footprint of the spreader to a minimum and, unlike another type which uses protruding bars, enables the spreader to be stored more easily. The spreader is quite light in weight and could easily be hung on hooks for storage but no hooks are supplied. Gardena states that all the parts are rustproof, it can even be used to spread salt, and the spreader should be washed down after use.The quantity of fertilizer, seed etc. can be adjusted by slots in the handle that is connected to a steel cable to adjust the opening of a flap on the spreader or the flap can be closed completely by releasing the handle. IMPORTANT: the cable is connected to the handle with an orange plastic clip and two other reviewers have said that this clip detaches in use, one reviewer includes a video showing this. However, this can only be because the clip was not correctly attached to the handle. The instructions clearly show that there's a right way and a wrong way to attach it (see photograph). If fitted correctly the clip will not come off. There are notches in the handle that this clip goes into and this controls the dosage of the product being spread.I tested it with the recommended 32 grams of lawn treatment on a white sheet to ascertain how fast I had to move it and how even it spread the granules. This wasn't successful because it dropped most of it as soon as I opened the flap with the handle. It was more successful when I increased the quantity to 96 grams and covered 3 times the area but still dropped a lot when I first opened the flap. I think to be able to spread it at the correct dosage it needs to have a much larger quantity than a small test area and you need to move the spreader before opening the flap. I also think it would help to reduce the dosage for each pass and to go over the ground again but at 90 degrees across.I've hosed it down (don't do this where lawn treatment may leave rust stains), wiped it and left it to dry completely in the sun.I wanted to review this without waiting too long after I received it because the lawn treatment instructions say to apply it in April so I'll update my review when I've treated the lawn next month.So far though I'm prepared to give it 5 stars for the ease of assembly and quality of manufacture and 4 stars for how easy it is to spread until I update my review.18-05-2024: I need to update my review of the Gardena lawn spreader. Having used the spreader to put weed and feed (Westland all-in-one) on my lawn, I am mostly pleased with the result. I went up and down the length of the lawn and then went over it again from side to side. After a couple of weeks, the treatment has killed the moss and greened up the grass in most of the lawn, however, there were some bare patches where it appears the treatment killed the grass but this may have been down to me not moving it quickly enough.Also, because I only intend to put the treatment down in spring and autumn, I intended to disassemble the spreader and pack it away between treatments. Unfortunately, I hadn't realised that once the wheels are attached and the plastic caps are pushed in, then they can't be removed and the spreader cannot be put back in its box with its wheels on. If you wish to pack it away between uses, I therefore recommend that you leave off the plastic caps in the centre of the wheels.

My previous spreader was a drop spreader that could only be used with certain named products. It continually blocked when in use which made fertilising my lawn problematic. The Gardena spreader is universal which means that it can be used with various makes of lawn fertilisers. It also has a large hopper which makes it perfect for use on my lawn (800m2). The spreader comes ready assembled (only the handle has to be inserted and secured in place) It is a little more expensive than similar products on the market however I feel it to be a good investment which should make my annual lawn maintenance a great deal easier year after year.

I have to mention that I’m a fan of Gardena products as I now have a wide selection of their tools and have found them all to be superior in build quality and long-lasting reliability. This hand-held spreader is no exception, it’s been nicely constructed from sturdy plastic, it sits comfortably in the hand and the handle mechanism operates smoothly. I like that it features an adjustment setting to meet different sizes of seeds/fertiliser pellets being distributed.There are three sizes available: M, L & XL. I have the medium one - which I think is ideal for small to medium sized gardens. In the photo I’ve placed a baked bean tin close to mine so you can get an idea of the size.I really can’t fault this product - which is why it gets my full five star rating. Highly recommended. 👍

Very easy to use

Very good design for spreading fertiliser pellets on the lawn. Easy to use and adjustable for different sized pellets

It came well packaged and was very easy to assemble as all I had to do was put the handle in place. It worked very smoothly but I have given four stars as it dropped too much grass conditioner in one place, however, that may be partly due to me not being used to it's operation. The settings are easy to select but they don't have the fine control that the Scotts spreader would have. I am impressed with the overall quality of the spreader and I particular like the fact that there is a guard to stop it throwing chemical or seeds where they don't belong, which is one of the reasons I decided to buy it.

Wow - first impressions on putting it together are that this should actually last, and that this is well-made (unlike the previous two fertiliser spreaders I've bought). Easy enough to assemble, requiring just a cross-head screwdriver.

Whilst this is a robust tool compared to others I’ve used, it has a significant problem. It does not ‘scatter’ the fertiliser / lawn feed at all, it just drops between the wheels the width of the opening. This has led to striping and untreated areas where the wheels run. Yes, with very careful planning you could overlap the areas treated, but that risks overtreating the overlaps.