Five Influential Gardening Technologies of the 21st Century

While it might not seem so, gardening technology is under constant development. In today's world, both backyard gardeners and large-scale produce farmers need not depend on the Farmer's Almanac for their basic needs any longer. Today, there exists a plethora of futuristic tech designed to improve comfort and efficiency, and no one is left out. This means that those who wish to develop large, high tech indoor vegetable gardens are now capable of doing so, as are those who only wish for a simple garden weather sensor. Indeed, if gardening is your hobby or livelihood there exists a world of gardening technology designed to make your life a bit easier and more productive.

Soil Tracking Sensors

Soil tracking sensors are one of the most influential garden technologies. Soil tracking sensors alert the grower to changing content of the soil. Such garden technology is available for all levels of gardening enthusiasts, from indoor gardeners, urban patio gardeners, backyard gardeners and large scale farming. For instance, the sensors being developed for produce farmers passes on invaluable information to farmers, such as measuring soil property such as nitrates or pH. For the home gardener, products like XLUX Soil Moisture Meter provides the gardener with wireless, real-time monitoring of water conditions, temperature, alerts and even gardening advice. As it's real-time, all results are immediate. All one needs to do is place the meter into the soil. If you're concerned about damaging the root system, don't be. All probes are designed to be slender without causing soil disturbances.

Robotic Lawn Mowers

Let's face it, who wants to spend a glorious, sunny Saturday mowing the lawn? After all, weekends are to be set aside to have fun with family, relaxing in front of the TV or going out on the town. If mowing the lawn is not on your list of top activities, then check out the stable of automatic lawn mowers such as the Flymo Easilife 200 mower. As you can see, automatic lawn mowers are easy to use, don't require much if any programming and can run on rechargeable battery or solar power. Other brands include, Worx Landroid M 20V Cordless Robotic Lawn Mower, Husqvarna Automower 315X, and the Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD. Whereas you could only purchase robotic lawn mowers at special sites, they can now be found at almost any Home Depot or other home supply or hardware store. These mowers come in variable sizes to tackle both small urban gardens to sprawling suburban lawns. These mowers come complete with Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connectivity, and can be operated via apps for your convenience. Most also come with a variety of sensors, such as anti-theft and weather. So, if you reside in an area such as Seattle which receives a good amount of precipitation, the rain sensors will pick up on that and not mow during a storm.

Gardening Cams

While they can't monitor your soil properties, or automatically weed your garden, today's high tech gardening cams provide a very important function for the gardener. After all, why bother having a garden if you can't enjoy it fully, where you are in real-time. In days past, one could labor in their garden for days on end, but only be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor by sitting in a lawn chair. Today, gardeners can sit in their living room, on a city bus, or even in another country, and admire their gardens from afar by the use of gardening cams. Examples of gardening cams also include smart bird boxes. For many gardeners, a garden isn't complete without a bird house or two. But before you go shopping for your standard model, why not go high tech? It might surprise you, but brands such as Gardenature and Akche make that happen. For example, with the Gardenature Smart Bird Box, you'll secure everything you'll need to hook up a bird house that gives you an insider view of what goes on inside. That's right. You and your family will be privy to everything from nest building, hatching, to the feeding of chicks. An all-around fabulous way to teach your kids about the wonders of nature!

Ergonomic Technology and Gardening Tools

You can't have a garden without digging a few holes, and the Kikka Digga is a bit of garden technology that makes digging a breeze. Ergonomically designed to reduce body strain while digging, aerating, weeding or planting, it's the perfect choice for those of you who are searching for a way to spend longer hours in the garden without aggravating arthritis or back pain. The Kikka Digga does this by what they call "Innovative Lever Action Function". In other words, the design reduces bending and back strain by using a "pedal and lever-action". The Kikka Digga is only one of the many gardening assistants designed to take the pain and suffering out of the hands of gardeners. Such ergonomically designed tools help the gardener by preventing unnecessary body injury and strain, as well as increasing the efficiency of the process. Ergonomic gardening technology has developed items such as reach extenders, adaptive tech for arthritis sufferers, and assistance for disabled gardeners of all disciplines.

Automatic Weeders

The robotic weeders in the agricultural world is predicted to be a big business. According to an article in Agriculture.com, they believe that this new industry will be worth $400 million by 2025. These bots will use special sensors to detect everything from current climate conditions to area and are being developed to tackle everything from corn fields to vineyards. To see one in action, check out the RIPPA as it weeds a 200 acre farm. As such, it's no wonder that these weeding wonderbots would be downsized for the average, backyard gardener. Thus, enter their smaller cousins, the weed warriors of the earth, such as the Tertill, the Garden Weeding Robot. With Tertill, you'll get your garden weeded automatically, every day. This solar-powered garden gem weighs in at a mere 2.4 pounds and has a cutting width of 4 inches. Ease of operation is a snap, as it's button operated, so there's no need to program it. Weatherproof, you don't need to worry about sprinkler systems. This little guy packs a big punch as just one Tertill can weed up to 200 square feet of garden space. Made by the same company that gave us the Roomba, the Tertill is a great solution for the busy gardener who'd rather spend time tending flower beds than weeding.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, one needn't be a high tech genius in order to take advantage of one of the many gardening technologies available today. The items chosen were specifically targeted based on their assistance to the gardener directly, rather than a futuristic vision of what can be. Instead, we chose "what is" and how it is applicable to you directly. Gardening technology such as soil sensors, robot mowers and weeders will assist you in attaining quality of life, as does emerging tech of ergonomics. While it might not monitor the moisture of your soil, a good garden cam can provide you with enjoyable hours of real-time activity as well as time lapse imagery of your garden's growth and progress.