Summer is here, just like the Irish summers. With that in mind, we’ve been breaking down the essential tech aspects to help keep your garden, both indoors and outdoors, in tip-top condition and ready for entertaining for months to come.
Plant life
Has anyone managed to keep a basil plant alive for more than a few months in their kitchen? If so, we would like to know the secret, because after that, ours give up. Read also : BLACKPINK Announce New Music for August and 2022 World Tour.
However, technology may hold the answer to our garden problems, with a variety of automatic pots and irrigation systems that should be enough to keep even the most delicate herbs going for a decent amount of time.
The Veritable Smart Garden (€250) is one way to make sure your plants make it through the summer. Not only will it automatically water and feed your herbs, it also uses a specially tuned LED to help your edible plants grow. It has a water reservoir that you fill from time to time, and the plants themselves are grown in special ingots that contain organic seeds, soil, and the necessary nutrients. There are over 70 varieties of plants you can grow in the smart garden from these slugs, from edible herbs and flowers to baby herb salads and greens.
You don’t even need natural light to grow the plants; the LED has been specially tuned to colors that promote rapid plant growth. That said, you will need to be close to a power source. The light is automatically controlled and stays on for 16 hours a day to mimic the natural light cycle.
If you want something a little cheaper but just as effective, the Botanium system (€60) offers another option. Like the smart garden, it waters itself, so you don’t have to worry about killing your plants through neglect. It doesn’t have a built-in light, but you can achieve a similar effect by placing it under an LED bulb, and all you need to do is remember to occasionally drop some of Botanium’s liquid nutrients onto the plant. It has its own growing medium, so there are no pests or soil problems to worry about.
The benefit of both of these systems is that, with a little light, you can use them to grow plants year-round; It won’t be limited to just summer.
Garden care
There is a lot to be said for robotic lawnmowers. To see also : Retired QB Ryan Fitzpatrick Joins Prime Video’s ‘TNF’ Show. Not only can you put your feet up and watch the mower go to work while you relax, but they can also help the health of your lawn.
This is because the robots leave all the clippings on the lawn to act as fertilizer or food for the lawn. Grass doesn’t grow long enough to leave visible clippings, and the small amount that remains will feed your lawn, making it healthier over a period of months and improving its overall quality. That also means you don’t have to deal with huge piles of grass when you’re done.
They’re also relatively quiet while they work, so they won’t disturb the neighbors at an odd hour when you decide it’s time to mow. You can set the mowers on a schedule and let them go.
However, they are not perfect. For starters, you’ll still have some areas of your garden that you’ll have to tidy up yourself, such as edging around flower beds, around garden furniture or sheds, areas the lawnmower can’t fit into, for example .
This is because the devices usually require guide wires to be installed on your lawn to tell your mower where it can and cannot go, and the robots will only go so far beyond those wires.
You’ll also need to get the robotic lawnmower out of your flower beds from time to time, or out of a kid’s toy or two when it gets stuck. If your yard has some treacherous slopes, lawn mowers could also be in trouble.
If the idea of getting an army of robots to do your bidding appeals to you, there are plenty of options available, depending on your budget. Husqvarna is an expert in this field, with the Automower range offering devices that will mow everything from your garden lawn to a football pitch.
You may not need enough reach for a football pitch, but the Husqvarna Automower 405x ($2,110) will tidy up a decent-sized lawn, then return to its dock to charge before starting again. The Husqvarna range also uses GPS for navigation and safety. If someone picks up the lawnmower, it will not only trigger the security alarm, but also you will receive an alert on your phone and can track the location of the lawnmower.
A slightly cheaper option, depending on the size of your lawn, is the Flymo Easilife. This can handle lawns from 200m2 to 500m2 and has all the main Husqvarna benefits like app control and PIN protection for your security. In fact, Flymo is part of the Husqvarana group, so you get all the knowledge of the robot experts at a cheaper price.
Other manufacturers that offer robotic lawnmowers include Bosch and Hyundai, although there are many smaller, lesser-known brands as well.
Outdoor eating
Irish summers may not always be the best for alfresco dining, but if recent Covid-19-plagued years have taught us anything, it’s that it’s good to get outside. To see also : 77 of the best TV shows to stream on Prime Video in June. So why not dust off that trusty barbecue and get cooking?
However, not all of us are particularly adept at this, so any additional help is welcome. Barbecue expert Weber has developed a series of smart grills to help you get the perfect steak or chicken every time. The technology is built right into the grill, with a temperature display so you can see the doneness temperature and alerts sent to the smartphone app to tell you to flip the steak or remove the chicken from the heat.
The Weber Spirit EPX-325S is the gas version, from €1,153, but you can also get a wood pellet barbecue with the built-in technology.
They’re not cheap, though no Weber barbecue is, smart or not. The gas-powered Genesis EX-335 will set you back €2,099, while the Genesis II EX-315 GBS smart barbecue costs €1,299.
If you already have a barbecue or don’t want to spend so much money on something that will sit idle for six or seven months out of the year, depending on your commitment, you can choose sensors to guide you through the cooking process. . The Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub ($168), for example, will prompt you to grill, flip and remove your burgers and steaks from the heat. The wearable has two elements: the hardware, which comes with two probes, one for the meat and one for the ambient temperature on the grill, and the app, which guides you through cooking. You can use it with any barbecue, or even in the indoor kitchen.
Outdoor audio
No meeting is complete without some music. Choose your speakers carefully, as you want something that will stand up to the weird turns the Irish weather can take; in other words, it should be resistant to water and maybe a bit of sun without disintegrating. If it’s going to be a more permanent exterior feature, you’ll also want something that blends in with its surroundings.
The Kitsound Diggit outdoor speaker ($50) will work both indoors and outdoors. It is waterproof, with an IP55 rating for water and dust. It also comes with a removable anchor so you can secure it in the garden, or in the sand if you’re at the beach. The wood look gives it a more natural feel, so it will blend in outdoors and look good on your bookshelf too.
An Irish-made option is the OneSonic Quattro (€220). It is IPX6 rated, so it will withstand a stream of water, but it is not dust rated. It’s also rugged and provides powerful audio. With a full charge you will get 12 hours of playback time. And in an emergency, you can also use the speaker as a power bank to charge your mobile devices.
