This week on Tech Tuesday we are getting outdoors and into the garden. Andy O'Donoghue gives his top picks for best technology for your garden.
Husqvarna Automower
If you have a garden, you know it comes with responsibilities – primarily mowing it – and at this time of year that could ideally be every couple of weeks.
The days of lugging the old push mower out of the garage are over – enter the Husqvarna Automower
You install a boundary wire, install the base station and off it goes. When it’s getting tired, it makes its way back to the base station and recharges.
The entry level mower costs about €1100 which is good for an average sized garden, but the higher spec versions will mow more than an acre in one go and use GPS to find their way back to your garage or base station.
They all have a pin code system that makes them useless if stolen without the master code to unlock them.
GoSun Solar BBQ – no smoke garden BBQing
Love a BBQ but hate the smoke? This one is for you.
The GoSun Sport Solar Oven is a cleverly designed, sleek piece of kit that doesn’t need charcoal or gas, using only the light of the sun to cook your food.
It has a ‘cooking tube’ of two feet with two parabolic mirrors that reflect the suns rays on to the tube.
Inside the glass tube is the removable cooking tray with a silicone seal and wooden handle. The mirrors fold up neatly minimising the space required to transport the BBQ in the car-boot or for storage when you’re not using it with clever stainless steel handles protruding at the top of the device.
1.5KGs of food fit in the tray – fish and chicken cooked for me in about 35 mins – with average Irish sunshine. You can even bake with it – I tried those cookie dough packs…and it worked!
€250 RRP
The Garden Igloo 360
The Garden Igloo is ideal for those who want to enjoy there gardens all year round!
The unique Garden Igloo is a multi-purpose portable dome shaped structure that can transform your outside area and can be used as a stylish conservatory, gazebo, greenhouse, play area, storage space or hot tub cover. As seen on The Gadget Show, the Garden Igloo shelter is sure to be a talking point at your next BBQ. The German-designed Garden Igloo Bio-Dome can be used in both winter and summer. The Coppa Club London have made these eye-catching structures famous in the creation of their 'Igloos by The Thames' winter outdoor dining area - now you can re-create your own snug haven, and enjoy being outside all year! It;s recommend you do not leave the cover on your igloo in extremely windy conditions/
€649 – online from the UK
Plant Sensors
The cheapest way to start making your garden smart, plant sensors are inconspicuous (usually) and sit in your garden and monitor weather and most importantly, soil conditions. They are growing increasingly popular in Ireland, but I haven’t seen them in a retailer here yet, so everyone must be buying them on Amazon.
You’ll get notifications to water plants and the sensors will send reminders to your phone to add feed or specific minerals if your soil is lacking.
They’re also useful if you’re away – as you might get a water alert and ask someone to go round and water the tomatoes if of course, you don’t have an automated sprinkler system.
Nimble, Edyn and Parrot all make good ones and they start at around €65.
Skydrop – smart sprinkler system
This plugs in on top of a standard garden sprinkler but connects to WiFi and gathers data from weather stations to water when it’s needed, but doesn’t bother when rain is forecast.
Skydrop checks local weather stations hourly for real-time weather data specific to your yard. Never water when it’s raining again.
Push-in connectors, automatic valve sensors, and easy-to-read LCD screen gets you up and running in 10 minutes or less.
Integrates with hundreds of devices through IFTTT, Nest, and Amazon Alexa.
€250 on top of the cost of a regular sprinkler system, but they’re cheap (less than €100) and you can buy them at Woodies, Homebase etc or even an expensive one like Karcher is less than €200.
Andy is on The Last Word every Tuesday.
