Britain’s most desired smart garden technology

Fortunately, with the development of smart technology specifically for the garden, these products have the real potential to make gardening more efficient and less stressful.

Interested in smart garden technology, outdoor furniture specialists FarawayFurniture.com surveyed 1,524 British homeowners and renters with gardens to identify the smart garden products that most appeal to them. 

Faraway Furniture found that a ‘plant sensor’ (71%) is the smart garden device which has most captured the interest of Brits. Perhaps unsurprising, given the depth of data (e.g. soil moisture, fertiliser levels, and light intensity) they can transmit on plants and their surroundings to a dedicated app by simply placing it into the soil. Consequently, enabling individuals to acquire the information needed to better look after their plants. 

Thereafter, ‘smart sprinklers’ (66%) ranked second. These sprinklers replace the controller of any existing irrigation system and utilise weather reports to create an optimal watering schedule for the garden. Also, beneficially reducing any unnecessary water usage, as they will never run in conjunction with rainy weather conditions. 

Brits placed ‘smart weather station’ (58%) in third spot. A smart weather station can be kept outdoors to relay real-time data to a supported app on aspects such as temperature, humidity, wind speed/direction, soil moisture and CO2 levels. 

In fourth came ‘smart outdoor lights’ (53%) – where multiple functions (e.g. brightness, colours, on/off timings) of these smart light units/bulbs can be controlled at any time and place through an app on a smartphone or tablet. 

The Robot lawnmower, which can cut grass without human assistance within a set boundary established by wires hooked alongside the sides of the lawn, was in fifth position at 47%. 

Contrastingly, a ‘weather-resistant Bluetooth speaker disguised as a rock’ (35%) garnered the least enthusiasm among Brits. Slightly above, more took a fancy to a ‘solar LED lights parasol’. With 42% wanting the outdoor umbrella, which uses electricity generated from the solar panel situated at the top of it to charge its control mechanism and therefore, enable functions like the LED lights underneath the canopy. 

Additionally, Faraway Furniture sought to find out the main factors which would influence the decision process of Brits to purchase a smart garden product. 

The results showcased the following: 

1. Price of smart garden product, 32%
2. Ease of use/understanding smart garden product features/functions, 26%
3. Build quality of smart garden product, 20%
4. Range of smart garden product features/functions, 14%
5. Level of post-purchase smart garden product support, eight percent

Naomi, Managing Director of Faraway Furniture, commented: “Smart technology has already revolutionised the way Brits live in their homes. So, it’s only natural the technology is transitioning to make waves in the outdoor space. The current products available on the market, are nothing short of exciting. 

“Aiming to simplify the effort individuals must go through to sufficiently maintain and improve different parts of their garden. The encouraging takeaway from this research is that Brits already have a good awareness of the current products and are keen to experience them. As more innovative products become available and prices more competitive, the smart garden market will surely thrive”.

Top three tips from Faraway Furniture for evaluating smart garden products:

Assess weather durability 
Considering any smart garden device is more than likely to be kept in the garden, you want to ensure it can withstand particularly hot or cold climates as well as treacherous weather conditions such as heavy rain. So before buying, make sure to check the operational temperature capacity of the product.

Check compatibility 
To control and interact with most of the smart garden devices, you will be required to download a corresponding app on a smartphone or tablet. Subsequently, you want to make sure the portable smart device you own can effortlessly support the products app and all its functions/features. 

Source of power 
Depending on the smart garden device, some will require normal batteries (e.g. AA or AAA) and others have internally fitted batteries which need to be charged via a plug outlet. If the products power capacity is a major variable in your specifications criteria, then discovering how long external batteries would typically last depending on usage or what level of charge the internal battery usually holds, could prove to be very important information.