The best garden smart tech
Yes, you can get the best garden smart tech to take care of all the chores and make your outdoor events even more legendarily entertaining
There are a few key issues you need to think about when you’re considering the best garden smart tech. The most important one is weatherproofing: whether it’s lights or a speaker, you want something that can withstand the worst of the weather. And if you have a pond, you might want to look for the word ‘waterproof’ rather than just ‘water-resistant’.
You’ll also need to think about connectivity. A Wi-Fi speaker has to be in range of your wireless router in order to stream from services such as Spotify; Bluetooth speakers don’t have that issue because they only need to be close to your phone. And if you don’t have outdoor power.
Bosch Indego M+ 700
If you’d rather enjoy your garden than tend to it, a smart mower is undoubtedly the way to go. Bosch’s robot lawn-snipper comes in various sizes, and the number in the product name is the square metres of the area it’s designed to cut. The M+ 700 (yes, that means 700m2 of max cutting area) is compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant and IFTTT, which is quite a decent suite of options.
Because this is quite a compact mower, it can fit through the kind of gaps you might get in a smaller garden, and around and underneath your artisan garden furniture… or, back in the real world, one of those Little Tikes plastic toddler cars that every parent hates.
Bosch’s LogiCut system creates a virtual map of the garden – it can save up to three different lawn areas provided the total of all three isn’t more than the aforementioned 700m2. The Indego then uses that mapping to plan its attack, starting with the borders to get clean edges and then mowing in parallel lanes to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
And as this is a smart mower, it does more than just go where it’s told. Bosch’s SmartMowing system uses the size of your lawn and local weather data to create a personalised snipping schedule automatically, saving you the effort of programming it manually and ensuring the machine doesn’t head out to work if your lawn is about to turn into a lake.
Meross Smart Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener
If you already have an electric garage door opener, you can make it smart with this adapter from Meross. It’s compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant and HomeKit as well as most standard openers, and it gives you app and voice control for entry and exit. You can also set an auto-close time if you’re a bit absent-minded about this stuff.
Bose Soundlink Revolve+ II
If you care about sound quality, you’ll enjoy the performance of this superb Bose speaker: it’s designed to deliver 360° audio with crisp highs and deep bass, and it sounds much bigger than its size suggests. It’s resistant to water and dust, runs for 17hrs between charges and supports Siri and Google Assistant. Let’s get this garden party started…
Click & Grow Smart Garden 3
No garden? No trouble. The Smart Garden is designed for the great indoors, and it’s a fine option for anyone who doesn’t have an outdoor growing area. You can grow herbs and flowers all year round thanks to the biodegradable plant pods that contain all the necessary seeds and nutrients. It takes care of the watering and light itself.
Samsung Terrace 65in
The 65in Terrace is a lot more expensive than Samsung’s other 65in 4K tellies, but that’s because this model has been designed for outdoor use – with a very bright and anti-reflective QLED screen. It’s important to note that the Terrace TV is IP55 water-resistant rather than waterproof: it can handle the odd shower but should be protected from the elements.
Carrie Marshall
