Question re rotary washing lines

[DoozieDaphne]

I plan to buy a rotary washing line but have a question: does the ground spike sit above the ground or is it flush with the ground? In other words, can you mow over it, or do you have to mow around it?

Mine is supposed to sit flush but won't go in that far.

The most recent one I bought insisted that I dig a hole and concrete the spike into the ground, so it is currently sat in my shed! I have an existing one that is just hammered in, and is below the grass level so we can mow over it.

Flush. Mine came with a little red cap that you put on when it’s not in use/in the ground. Then just mow over. You may need a lot of force to get it to go flush.

That's really handy to know- thank you!
I'll definitely avoid any that require the spike to be concreted in @thenewaveragebear1983 or it will in the shed forever - thanks for that heads up!

Sits flush but never take it out strim round it

You are supposed to concrete them in or you end up with a mud hole getting bigger, more chance of falling over in bad weather etc doesn't take much concrete to do it one medium bag and sorted

If you don't concrete it in, it will eventually fall over.

Ours is concreted in and is flush with the ground. The lawn mower can just be pushed freely over the top of it, or around it if there is washing out.

Concreting in is a doddle. Just dig a hole, pour in the cement, add the base and let it set.

If you don’t want to faff around with a spike and it’s going on your lawn, you can buy ones that use four tent pegs instead. I’ve got one and it’s really handy if you need to move your washing line to follow the sun as well.

Ours is direct into the grass (I put a small piece of wood on it and hammered with a mallet, don't hammer the tube directly or the edges get damaged and you can't get the line in). It has been there for 5 years or so and no hint of a wobble yet even though we routinely put 3 machine loads on it. Probably depends what your soil is like though. The red lid for mowing is super useful, otherwise its easy to lose sight of the hole as it gets covered in cut grass.