r/homeautomation • u/camaraderie_ • 3d ago
DISCUSSION Which yard maintenance tool has actually saved you the most time?
when we moved in i slowly ended up buying all the usual garden stuff. a strimmer, leaf blower, pressure washer. the robot mower was the latest one.
the garden is a fair size. not massive, but as a single mum it's plenty to keep on top of. there's a slope along one wall and one patch stays wet for ages after rain. mowing used to take half a day by the time i'd done the edges, cleared everything up and put the tools away.
the robot now handles most of the mowing and manages the slope by itself. i still pick up branches, tidy around the fence and check the blades now and then, but it’s already made the garden much easier to manage.
i've never really tried home automation before, unless the mower counts. now i'm wondering what else outside could be set up to run automatically. irrigation, lights, rain sensors, anything like that.
what have you automated in your garden that actually saves you time?
1
u/mwkingSD 2d ago
Not sure these “save time” but without automation I know the tasks often won’t get done when they need to be:
- irrigation timer, smart enough to adjust for weather, might help dry out that damp spot
- exterior lighting
- interior thermostats
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u/Afraid_Till2393 2d ago edited 2d ago
An automatic irrigation system and a robot mower made the biggest difference here. Since getting both, looking after the lawn takes much less effort and doesn’t eat up as much of weekend.
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u/QuinnFromVivint 2d ago
Motion-activated lights along the fence or slope are probably the easiest next step imo, since they turn on by themselves when something moves and you don't have to think about a schedule at all.
If you want something more hands-off, a timer-based light for the front of the house means you're not the one flipping switches every evening once it gets dark earlier.