We recently featured an article about the trends and techniques of sustainable home gardening (click here to read). One facet of the modern gardening movement is smart technology. Smart devices and cutting-edge ideas are being implemented to save water and produce more efficient growing results.
Technology is not something that usually comes into mind when thinking about home gardening. It’s generally about putting on your gloves, getting your knees dirty and putting in the work to grow flowers, vegetables and other plants in and around your house. However, just like everything these days, “smart” technology is changing the way some home gardeners do things.
The Purpose of Smart Gardening
The main goal of smart gardening is to utilize modern devices and even AI to make gardening tasks more efficient. You can connect irrigation systems directly to your smartphone, which allows you to control watering from wherever you are. You can pre-program sprinklers or automated feed systems, while also monitoring results and knowing when to harvest fruits and vegetables from your garden. There are a lot of unique opportunities that today’s technology can offer to enhance the gardening process.
Smart Gardening Benefits
Water conservation is a major concern here in Southern California. We’ve been in and out of major droughts in LA for the past decade-plus, so we know how important it is to reduce water consumption. Sustainable home gardening is all about using as little water as possible and taking advantage of renewable resources like compost. Smart gardening takes it one step further by utilizing technology to optimize efficiency. You can avoid wasting water by creating a more environmentally effective garden and having better control over your H2O usage. Here in Los Angeles, we have sunshine almost every day of the year and it gets extra hot in the summer, so water conservation is so important for our community (and our local environment).
Another benefit of smart home gardening is to save money. You may spend a little more upfront to upgrade your equipment and software/apps, but it will be worth it in the long run. You can save money with a more efficient irrigation system and with healthier plants. A lot of people like to grow their own veggies at home to save money at the supermarket and live a more sustainable lifestyle.
Lastly, you can save a lot of time with smart gardening techniques and technology. Though some people enjoy the tranquility of tending to their garden, you may not always have the time and these modern devices can help you out.
Do Your Research
Before diving head-first into smart gardening and buying every smart device you can find, you will want to do some research. Assess your current garden set-up and figure out your long-term gardening goals. This will help you determine what new equipment and technology you need. Then, research the options available. Not all smart systems are created equal. Find one that fits your budget and suits your gardening needs. Once implemented, it may take a little trial and error to fully dial things in, and that’s part of the fun.
Smart gardening is probably not for everyone. Some of us still like to keep it old school and do everything by hand. It’s just nice to know there are new ways of doing things and many modern gardeners are taking advantage of these innovative methods.