Gardening tools are evolving to incorporate technology — including artificial intelligence — to help us keep plants healthier, avoid unpleasant tasks and even grow crops indoors over winter. And we can use them without losing the stress-relieving, analog benefits that nature provides.
Here are just a few examples:
Mowing
If you don’t enjoy mowing the lawn, you can buy a robot that will do it for you. Many self-guided mowers, like the Segway Navimow, Husqvarna Automower, the Sunseeker X7 and others, will handle the task on a schedule, run quietly, then return to a charging station without human intervention (beyond setup). And many can be controlled with a mobile app.
Some autonomous lawn mowers use AI technology to adapt to your grass’ growth. Sensors reroute them around pets, children, patio tables and garden decor.
Monitoring and caring for plants
Unsure about whether your plants need watering or are getting sufficient sunlight? There are apps for that.
If you’re a busy type who could use watering, fertilizing, pruning and repotting reminders, apps like Planta or Plant Parent can help keep you on track. Provide info on an individual plant or create an inventory of all your green friends, and it will tailor a schedule for each, then notify you when it’s time to provide those maintenance tasks.
Physical monitoring devices can take things a step further. A gadget like FloraPod, for example, when plunged into soil — indoors or out — will send your phone real-time details about moisture levels, humidity, temperature and light exposure, plus care recommendations for thousands of plant species.
Hydroponics and beyond
So-called smart gardens are self-watering, self-fertilizing and self-lighting units that enable users to grow herbs and vegetables indoors year-round.
They’re available in a variety of sizes to accommodate a single plant or even dozens. Some, like Gardyn and AeroGarden, rely on soil-less hydroponic systems; others, like the Click & Grow system, use pods filled with traditional growing media.
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Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.
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