Five smart gardening tools that will save you time

For those horny-handed sons of toil who equate gardening with hard labour, or technophobes who prefer to call a spade a spade rather than a non-automated digging apparatus, the proliferation of gardening gadgets on the market may seem bewildering, even unnecessary.

But taking advantage of technology that handles routine jobs leaves you free for the more interesting horticultural pursuits, such as propagation or sowing seeds.

Here are five garden tools to save you that most precious of resources – time.  

1 Cordless hedge trimmer

A well-kept hedge gives a garden an elegant look, and formal box or privet hedges will need trimming two or three times a year during the growing season. Battery-operated trimmers do away with the need for cords that can get in the way and slow you down, but a disadvantage in the past has been short usage time. New models on the market are offering extended battery life so you can get the job done in one go. Husqvarna’s 536LiHD60X is a powerful, lightweight pro-lever hedge trimmer that gives you the convenience of a 36V battery with the oomph of a petrol hedge trimmer.

2 Robotic mower

The ultimate time-saving garden tech has to be the robotic mower, which will not only cut the lawn for you, but dispose of clippings – so no raking or emptying grass bags. It does this by cutting little and often, producing grass “shavings” that are simply left on lawn to act as a mulch; so it saves time on feeding the lawn too. Many models in the Husqvarna Automower® range can be connected to an app on your mobile phone so you can control them while you’re out and about. And from September 1, Husqvarna robotic mowers will be compatible with Amazon’s cloud-based voice service Alexa; users will be able to start, stop, park and get status updates from their mower by just asking Alexa. The upgrade will be available to the many thousands of connected Husqvarna robotic mowers already in gardens and parks around Britain.

3 Watering system

For those who want to hand over total lawn-care duties to the robots, the Gardena Smart System is a fully automated package which comprises irrigation control, a robotic mower and a bunch of sensors that will keep track of rainfall, sunlight, temperature and grass growth. Having gathered the necessary data, it will determine how often your lawn needs to be watered and mowed, and get the jobs done. Using WiFi, the system’s components all “talk” to each other via an app. If you think the system’s getting a bit too smart for its own good you can intervene, and control settings and schedules.

4 Steam weed killer

Weeding can be one of the most dispiriting tasks, so if you’re averse to weed killers and flame guns make you jittery, try steam power. The Batavia SteamBoxxer electric steam cleaner and weed killer is a handy multi-function tool that builds up a head of steam to break down the cellular structure of weeds, killing them down to the roots. It comes with three different attachments designed to zap weeds growing in various places, plus it can be used for steam-cleaning tasks indoors, making it a versatile timesaver.

5 Power barrow

If you have a largish plot or a sore back, a motorised wheelbarrow may not be a cheap option, but it will save you a heap of time and effort traipsing around the garden transporting heavy compost, logs, garden plants and debris. The three-wheeled Greenworks Self-Propelled Garden Cart is powered by a 40V 2Ah battery that runs for 20 minutes on one full charge (45 minutes if you buy a 4Ah battery), and can handle loads up to 100kg. It’s easy to use, with two forward speeds and reverse, has a simple lever function for easy unloading and will even haul loads of up to 90kg up a hill.

A perfectly cut lawn, effortlessly

Keeping your lawn healthy can be a lot of hard work. Husqvarna Automower isn’t just a lawn mower, it’s a robot that does the work for you – unsupervised, round the clock.

Automower trims your lawn day and night, handling gardens of any size. Best of all, it’s manufactured in Britain. Prices start from £1,000. Locate your nearest Husqvarna dealer by visiting husqvarna.com.