12 Little-Known Smart Garden Products Worth Trying For Yourself

Working in the garden brings a harmony to life that's hard to match. Many of us spend the day banging away on a keyboard or calling clients and coworkers on the phone. Still others will head into the office to build things through a variety of technical or physically demanding processes. No matter what sort of work you do, it's likely dominated by time indoors. Moreover, the stressors of the modern workplace and everyday life extend to nearly every household and individual. Plenty of factors have contributed to the rise in home gardening, and stress over the uncontrollable appears to be one of the main drivers of this phenomenon. Throughout the pandemic, gardening retail sales surged to tremendous heights, and plenty of Americans are still growing some of their own food, tending to herb planters, and experimenting with flowers, shrubs, and other landscaping installations to beautify their space and simply take a load off at the end of a long week on the job.

Gardening builds in a natural anxiety defense to your lifestyle, adds new tactile skills, and potentially puts new home-grown food on your dinner plate. What's more, home gardeners today can take advantage of all kinds of tech-infused tools to improve their workflow in the garden. This endeavor isn't just a matter of digging holes and watching plants slowly blossom. Modern gardening is complete with many smart products to make your experience even better, here are some valuable options you might want to try.

A great place to begin when considering smart tools for gardening is an app. The iScape Garden Planning App is a free tool you can download right to your phone, giving gardeners the ability to visualize their garden space in 2D and 3D and make virtual changes to the design. It's a great planning tool for anyone who is just getting into gardening and looking for some inspiration and possibly guidance. Toying around with virtual planning tools can help you develop a quality plan for the way you'll layout your landscaping before you lift a finger to make real, physical changes in the yard.

Crucially, this helps DIYers plan out their augmentations before buying materials and getting started on a revamp. The app comes in a free version that allows you to get started right away. For professional landscapers and hardcore DIYers looking for expansive customization tools, a Pro version is also available for $30 per month. This grants access to a wider range of database tools and app features.

Whether you're focused on growing an immaculate lawn or curating a seasonal bouquet of floral colors, all gardeners eventually learn the importance of not just watering, but watering "correctly," as they navigate the ins and outs of their personal forest of foliage. Many a home gardener has tried in vain to grow basic staples like peppers or tomatoes, only to underwater one pot and overwater the next, killing their charges in a growing variety of unique approaches.

The Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller takes over the task of determining when and how much to water your garden and lawn. Many sprinkler systems in America feature zoned organization and basic timers, perhaps even using an analog clock mechanism to initiate and end the session. This controller pairs up with an app on your phone, allowing you to control the watering procedures around the yard from anywhere you might find yourself. Similarly, the controller can handle up to 16 zones and offers immensely customizable programing options. As a smart system, the controller also adjusts based on seasonality (and is therefore a great addition ahead of the spring growing season), and will automatically adjust for rain, freezing conditions, wind, and more. The controller can also alert to zones that may require additional watering and attend to the whole yard's needs.

Remaining on the theme of watering, overwatering is a real dilemma that gardeners frequently face. Common guidance suggests keeping the soil in just about any new seedling's pot somewhat moist, but this isn't always the best approach, and the actual volume of wetness is often hard to gauge. Too much watering and you subject the roots to rot, fungal growth, or an environment that's just not firm enough to develop in. Some plants like it quite wet while others want a drip of moisture here and there and grow better in decently arid conditions. Either way, you're bound to find gardeners who speak about moisture content and specific metrics when planting their favorite vegetables and flowers online and in gardening shops everywhere. What you do with that information differs depending on the gear you have in your own garden.

With a Rainmoint Soil Moisture Meter (with Wi-Fi connectivity), dialing in the perfect moisture content for your growing medium is a matter of precision, not guesswork. The tool offers accurate and real-time moisture readings in soil of all varieties (dense clay-rich dirt, loamy sandy soils, and everything in between). Sticking the curved meter device into your soil, you'll get a variety of reading sent straight to your phone via the connected app. Moisture content tells you key information about the growing environment, and the meter also offers temperature readings and a sunlight calculation to help you make other decisions about when and where to plant new entries to the garden.

Gardening is wonderful for the mind and body, but your body might not always be quick to thank you for the sometimes awkward and uncomfortable positions you put it in. Kneeling to plant seeds or bending over to transplant a formerly-potted bush can twist your body into all sorts of knots. Anyone with bad knees (as many as 1 million Americans have total knee replacement surgeries every year) knows that getting down to ground level isn't always a simple task. Some homeowners have compensated for this physical limitation by installing raised garden beds, but even this step doesn't completely solve the issue at hand. There just isn't a way to entirely eliminate the need to get down to the plant's height sometimes.

The Try & Do Garden Kneeler goes about tackling this sore spot from another angle. Rather than seeking to raise much of the work of gardening up higher, the tool helps you to make getting low easier. The kneeler features a smart button-press design to fold open and closed. The extra soft EVA pad can be positioned down at ground level to protect your knees or in a flipped position, up higher to function as a seat. The tool also features a side pouch to organize things like garden shears or a trowel, making the whole process more enjoyable.

The Rolls-Royce of automatic lawnmowing robots, for sure, the Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD isn't cheap. It might even find itself on par with some of the most powerful electric lawnmowers around, functionalilty wise. But it pulls out all the stops to ensure that your lawn is consistently beautiful and pristinely cared for. The mower is a premium tool that packs in the features to deliver a perfect cut and then some. Is it for everyone, however? Absolutely not, considering a price tag significantly north of $1,500 on a good day (some purchasing channels list it at $3,000 at the low end).

The mower can be programed with the tool's integrated zone control to adjust for temporary obstructions or areas that you want to build up a bit more. It's also quite a speedy little devil, offering a runtime of 145 minutes on a single charge and coverage of up to 0.9 acres. The mower also features remote object detection to avoid collisions and potential damage (to both the mower and the object in question). It's loaded with a pivoting head and all-wheel drive to tackle slopes and anything else your garden or yard might throw at it. There's not a lot this beast can't handle, but then again for at least $1,800, not including the boundary wire setup, you shouldn't expect a performance much different to that standard of excellence.

For those hoping to automate a portion of their lawn mowing tasks without taking out a second mortgage, there are thankfully plenty of other options on the market. The Gardena Sileno City Robotic Mower is perhaps one of the best choices around, blending a low price tag with quality features for a good overall value. It's also a close cousin, so to speak of one of the best robot lawnmowers available last year (2023). The mower robot is priced at $385 on Amazon. The Sileno City features a 2,700 square foot cutting capability as well as an expanded 5,400 square foot range (offered by Gardena directly for $600).

The robotic mower is hemmed in by boundary guide wire, much like others in its class, and the tool features collision detection sensors to keep people, pets, and objects in the yard safe while the tool gets to work. It's managed through a Bluetooth connection and app control, and features a quiet running motor (rated at 57 dBA) that's on par with the sound of a running dishwasher or typical conversation volume. The mower is even able to run in the rain and can handle a 35% grade for all kinds of tricky landscapes and features.

No garden setup can be called complete without ambient mood lighting. You need to be able to see around the area in the evenings if you have any interest in spending time relaxing in the area after dark. Moreover, front yard areas benefit tremendously from lighting solutions because they not only beautify and add functionality to your home (you're bound to need to park on the driveway or walk up to the front door after dark at some point), but they also act as a preventative measure against some burglaries and other unwanted attention.

Ring's Smart Solar Pathlights are great for illuminating the outer dimensions of a pathway or patio, clearly demarcating the boundary between your grass, flower beds and other growth and the paths around the exterior of your home. They're a relatively new smart home introduction from Ring, offering up to 80 lumens of white light and function via motion detection and through your Ring app. The lights can be synced with other smart tools in your home like Alexa devices and your Ring doorbell for a personalized experience every time you come home in the evenings or as a means to curate the mood for outdoor gatherings. Lighting can elevate the allure of your gardening toils, and solar-powered smart lights that fit into the overall technologically advanced makeup of your home take this another step farther.

Weeding is one of the most frustrating jobs in gardening. It's a never ending battle and weeds often deploy sneaky little tricks to help maintain their grip on your flower beds and lawn. They may rely on brittle root structures that rupture at the slightest inkling of upward pressure, ensuring that a portion of the root system remains embedded and allowing them to live another day. Others go for a more aggressive approach and sting gardeners when they attempt to pull them. Spiny structures on leaves and stems deliver micro-stings to your hands and arms as you make contact with the plant, leaving you in pain and more than likely having to pull the weed all over again a week later.

Rather than meticulously digging out weeds and walking away battered and traumatized, you can burn them out. The Flame King Propane Weed Burner Torch does exactly what it suggests. Rather than pulling weeds, you simply torch them. The tool features a 6-foot hose to connect to your propane tank, and a Piezo self-igniting function paired with an ergonomic handle for easy control. Admittedly, you might not always want to ignite weeds embedded deep in the fabric of your lawn, but it's a great alternative for the most menacing weeds — the ones with hollow stems, disastrously brittle root systems, and stings that leave you blotchy and torn up — and works great on weeds poking through your driveway, pavers or other hard surfaces.

Plants are finicky. They thrive in whatever set of nuanced ideal conditions they're native to, and can passably grow in many others. Gardeners living in northern regions might consider installing a greenhouse to help maintain tropical fruits' growth schedules or simply extend their growing window into the autumn and winter months. However, those in warmer climes also need to consider the specifics of their environment. Lots of specific factors play a role in any planting's success or failure, and the weather dictates much of this. For example, is it too rainy at a particular time of the year to successfully seed a new batch of potatoes, fruit trees, or peppers?

While you can't control the weather, you can predict it and evaluate the unique microclimate the exists overtop your specific patch of the Earth. The Netatmo Smart Weather Station combines published weather data for your area and localized readings from its sensors to give gardeners a precise understanding of the environment they're hoping to yield crops within. It joins Netatmo's other rain gauge tools among a list of quality environmental evaluation tools built on a smart platform for the data-minded grower. With the newest station from Netatmo, you might even consider pairing an old iPhone with the sensors to create a dedicated weather monitoring terminal for your greenhouse or outdoor garden!

This one might not be all that under-represented among smart gardening tools, but its value in the kitchen can't be overstated. The Click & Grow Smart Gardening System is an herb garden setup that allows you to plant three herbs in the included pod locations. It comes with three basil pods, but other herbs and vegetables can also make their way into your growing medium. It's similar to a hydroponic growing tool, but features an automated watering system rather than a true hydroponic bath.

The Click & Grow also introduces an automated grow light to provide your plants with the perfect amount of lighting before calculating when to shut off and simulate nighttime conditions for the plants. It's next to impossible to kill your plants, as well, making this an ideal first step into the world of gardening for a loved one who is interested in the pastime but just can't seem to get anything to take in their growing space. The pods are pre-seeded and simply need to be added to the growing compartments to begin their transformation from humble seed containers to blossoming fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

The Tertill Garden Weeding Robot meanders around your garden in a similar fashion to an automated lawn mower, but it focuses on removing weeds from the landscape instead. The weed control robot features scrubbing wheels and a string trimmer to explore your garden beds and slice and dice unwanted intruders. It traverses flat garden beds and can control the weed population in a garden area up to 200 square feet.

The tool comes from the inventor of the Roomba vacuum, so its fundamentals are based on an already proven formula for scouring an area for unwanted items. The robot's wheels are a preventative measure that helps weeds from becoming established in the first place. This first line of defense churns through the top layer of soil in your garden beds, agitating the growing medium and preventing weed seeds from taking root. Any that do establish themselves are then chopped apart by the robot's string trimmer. The robot runs on solar power and frequently stops to gather energy before setting off on its mission again and again throughout a day of weed removal. It's a unique and potent option for helping you maintain garden beds and other growing areas without bending down to ground level yourself.