12+ great garden gadgets for an iPhone lockdown summer

by Jonny Evans · March 21, 2021

Change the mood and change the colours

Most of us will be avoiding getting too close for some time longer yet, so as spring rolls in with summer close behind, many of us will be thinking about how to make the most of outside spaces in what we hope will be the post pandemic crisis summer. Here’s a collection of gadgets that might help do just that:

Get smart with lighting

There are a few outdoor lighting accessories available from Philips in the Hue range, including the Hue Calla Pathway light ($129 /£99) and Hue Econic Wall & Ceiling light ($212/£112). Both are waterproof and let you define just the right lighting mood (and color) you need for your outdoor party.

Keep your lawn in shape. Use a robot.

Automate lawn management

If you’re lucky enough to have a huge quantity of disposable capital and a garden you hope to spent time entertaining in this summer, perhaps you’ll be interested in this robotic lawnmower from Bosch.

The Bosch Indego S+ 400 is smart enough to map and cut the lawn efficiently and it uas built in sensors that mean it won’t mow grass in poor weather conditions. (Which means you won’t end up with muddy patches). It’s also capable of handling tight spaces, such as under garden furniture. Oh, and you can control it thanks to an iOS app.

Pros: Your lawn will be in good shape for your next garden party.

Cons: The price, around $1,000.

Buy in the US (c.$1,000 Buy in the UK (c.£749).

Eve make amazing smart devices

Automate your garden irrigation system

You can also pick up intelligent watering systems for your garden. Built for HomeKit, the Eve Aqua smart watering system is incredibly flexible, and can control garden irrigation using the onboard button, via Sir, and through HomeKit and also via its own dedicated app. Use this and a robotic mower and your garden will be lovely no matter how many weeks you’ve spent hiding indoors in lockdown.

Buy in the US ($99.95). Buy in the UK (£89).

Indoor propagators

Smart herbs and seeds

These Smart Indoor Growing kits are becoming pretty popular. Many of us use these to grow fresh herbs indoors, but they are equally useful to propogate seeds for use in your garden later on. They use a self-watering system and LED lights to give your green finger guests a good chance of survival.

Buy in the US (c$89). Buy in the UK (£89).

Blow up the movie

Have yourself an outdoor movie night

Yes, you can have movie nights on your patio, in your garden or in the local park (though watch out for the copyright police if you use these in a public place. Equipped with a giant inflatable screen, a projector and your iPhone as the movie source, you’ve got an instant movie night outside. Though you’ll probably also need…

Buy in the US (c$150). Buy in the UK (£180).

Big noise, small budget

And you’ll need some serious sounds

You can pick up decent outdoor speaker systems at all kinds of prices, including the always excellent Anker range of waterproofs, but for serious sounds to keep your next socially distanced outdoor party bouncing you’ll probably need something a little more hardcore. Why not try 1,000 watts of portable sound via your iPhones Bluetooth connection?

Buy in the US ($215). Buy in the UK (c£269).

Get it right first time with one of these

What about the barbecue?

Everyone’s around and you’ve got the movie and the music pumping. Now it’s time to cook the perfect barbecue with help from the iGrill Mini, which can make sure you cook at optimum internal temperature.

Buy in the US ($49). Buy in the UK (£59).

Natatmo make good smart monitoring

Monitor weather conditions

Netatmo is a bit special when it comes to giving you smart connected iPhne-savvy tools for monitoring all kinds of stuff. The Weather Station constantly measure the kind of data you really, really need just before all your friends visit for your socially distanced garden party – such as, if it’s going to rain…

Buy in the US ($179). Buy them in the UK (£125)

Make sure they grow happy

Keeping up with the begonia’s

This is a brilliant little gadget. It will monitor hydration and soil nutrient levels and if it thinks you need to pay your plant some attention it will send you a notification to let you know.

Buy in the US ($30). Buy in the UK (£25.99).

And an app for that

Smart Plant Home is a little like PlantSnap but gives you a whole lot more information. Take a picture of whatever you happen to be curious about and get advice from experts within hours. You’ll also be able to get info on local climate and soil type and get early warning on pests. That way you won’t have an embarrassing incident with collapsed marrows to discuss when your keen gardener neighbor come round to watch Pennywise, or whatever.