It seems that whilst the UK population love their gardens, 37 percent of us would like to see their gardens do a bit more for themselves so that gardeners can focus on other aspects of the garden.

I work with Husqvarna and according to a report just released by them, in less than 20 years, we could see gardens that are capable of watering and feeding themselves, lawns that can submit growth development reports and even self-pruning plants. Gardeners will have the ability to simulate different weather and soil conditions, allowing them to experiment with unusual and tropical plants that previously could only grow in greenhouse environments or within their natural habitat.

The report also revealed that city dwellers are expanding their homes and creating their own private country retreats in order to escape the daily humdrum of urban life whilst the next generation of gardeners will focus on self sufficiency.

You can check out the report and future images at http://www.husqvarna.com/uk/homeowne...-21st-century/.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Cloud cuckoo land.

My cousin in California had watering systems installed long before they were being touted by the "experts". Her comment - you are constantly checking to make sure they are working, that they are not running when there are downpours, that of course there is more work in keeping the plants under control and where you want them as they are constantly watered, and that weeds ere becoming as rampant as the required plants.

There is no such thing as a garden that looks after itself unless you are of the school of wild gardens.

On 2009-05-20 13:58:18 +0100, beccabunga
said:


garnerloftin;845937 Wrote:
It seems that whilst the UK population love their gardens, 37 percent of
us would like to see their gardens do a bit more for themselves so that
gardeners can focus on other aspects of the garden.

I work with Husqvarna and according to a report just released by them,
in less than 20 years, we could see gardens that are capable of
watering and feeding themselves, lawns that can submit growth
development reports and even self-pruning plants. Gardeners will have
the ability to simulate different weather and soil conditions, allowing
them to experiment with unusual and tropical plants that previously
could only grow in greenhouse environments or within their natural
habitat.

The report also revealed that city dwellers are expanding their homes
and creating their own private country retreats in order to escape the
daily humdrum of urban life whilst the next generation of gardeners
will focus on self sufficiency.

You can check out the report and future images at
http://tinyurl.com/op28vu.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Cloud cuckoo land.

My cousin in California had watering systems installed long before they
were being touted by the "experts". Her comment - you are constantly
checking to make sure they are working, that they are not running when
there are downpours, that of course there is more work in keeping the
plants under control and where you want them as they are constantly
watered, and that weeds ere becoming as rampant as the required
plants.

There is no such thing as a garden that looks after itself unless you
are of the school of wild gardens.

I really can't see the point of a garden you don't have to work in.
Admittedly, labour-saving devices have been developed over the years
but all require some input or manipulation by the gardener. Why would
you want to 'decorate' a garden as you do a living room and then just
sit and look at it. Surely, half the joy and pleasure of gardening is
that it's a constant form of creativity and renewal with each season
that passes.
--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials
South Devon

Sacha wrote:

I really can't see the point of a garden you don't have to work in.

I can see that there might be some people to whom this would appeal.
Maybe people who would love to have a garden but don't because of all
the ongoing work required.

Personally I wouldn't want such a level of automation. Part of the
attraction of gardening is being close to nature and working with it -
not distancing oneself from it through technology.

The other angle is cost. Many gardeners and veg growers are very cost
aware and like the challenge of making do and converting old bits and
pieces to meet their needs - the old Geoff Hamilton approach to
gardening. If I had the money to afford some new fangled bit of
technology I'd sooner spend the money on some new plants.

--
David in Normandy.

Completely agree that part of the satisfaction of gardening is doing it yourself and being pleased with what you produce and create. I don’t think the report is insinuating that gardeners will be left out of the equation in the future, just that as technologies change, so will the way we garden.

For example, an experimental technology like Botanicalls, a means of enabling plant-human communications through sensors and messaging technology, will enable gardeners to measure more precisely the nutrients and water to be delivered to the right part of their garden.

At any rate, let’s see what the next twenty years will bring…

I reckon that the 37 peercent hate gardening anyway. If you are unlucky and have one living next door to you you will have to cope with their weed seeds, but you could be lucky and they might have paved it over.
Bigal

On 2009-05-20 19:42:09 +0100, David in Normandy
said:

Personally I wouldn't want such a level of automation. Part of the
attraction of gardening is being close to nature and working with it -
not distancing oneself from it through technology.

Some chores are so repetitive and very laborious, you would have to be
a masochist to insist that automation wouldn't be a godsend, freeing
you up to devote more time to the creative jobs.

Digging is nobody's idea of fun. Nor is weeding. Nor is watering when
you have dozens of containers demanding twice-daily irrigation
throughout the summer. Why not distribute drippers around, connect them
to a tap timer and save days of your life? My timer has a sensor
attached which detects rainfall and stops the irrigation program when
Mother Nature is doing the job. Only a Luddite would say no.

Stan The Man wrote:
Digging is nobody's idea of fun. Nor is weeding. Nor is watering when
you have dozens of containers demanding twice-daily irrigation
throughout the summer. Why not distribute drippers around, connect them
to a tap timer and save days of your life? My timer has a sensor
attached which detects rainfall and stops the irrigation program when
Mother Nature is doing the job. Only a Luddite would say no.



I wouldn't be without my rotovator. It continues to do a colossal amount
of work. I wouldn't contemplate turning the amount of veg plot I've got
using a spade - my back aches just at the thought of it! I've been there
and done that all my life on smaller gardens. As I'm getting older being
bent double doing a lot of digging is a no no.

Now if someone could invent an intelligent weeding robot that would be
brilliant. Ideally it would be inexpensive and would know the difference
between weeds and flowers / vegetables and could just be left to roam
and return to a charging station when it had finished weeding.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Stan The Man writes

Digging is nobody's idea of fun.

maybe not your idea of fun, but a bit sweeping to say "nobody's idea of
fun"

Nor is weeding.

Don't mind weeding. You see a lot more of what's in your garden when
you're hand weeding - recognise subtleties of different weeds, find
self-seeded plants, see more insect life.


--
Kay

Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message
from Stan The Man contains these words:


Digging is nobody's idea of fun. Nor is weeding.

I wouldn't describe either as "fun", but I find both very satisfying
and I confess to actively enjoying weeding.

Janet.


I tend to agree, though it depends how many weeds you've got at the
time. Today I spent an hour wandering around the veg hoeing out the odd
weed that had appeared. There is a sense of satisfaction in seeing the
garden growing well and weed free. A couple of years ago I didn't have
enough time for the garden and the weeds got the upper hand. My onions
were lost in two feet high weeds. It wasn't fun clearing them.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On 2009-06-04 17:34:54 +0100, Stan The Man said:

On 2009-05-20 19:42:09 +0100, David in Normandy
said:

Personally I wouldn't want such a level of automation. Part of the
attraction of gardening is being close to nature and working with it -
not distancing oneself from it through technology.

Some chores are so repetitive and very laborious, you would have to be
a masochist to insist that automation wouldn't be a godsend, freeing
you up to devote more time to the creative jobs.

Digging is nobody's idea of fun. Nor is weeding. Nor is watering when
you have dozens of containers demanding twice-daily irrigation
throughout the summer. Why not distribute drippers around, connect them
to a tap timer and save days of your life? My timer has a sensor
attached which detects rainfall and stops the irrigation program when
Mother Nature is doing the job. Only a Luddite would say no.

My back won't let me do digging but when I did, I found it satisfying -
something accomplished and importantly, a feeling of connection with
the earth. Watering for me is just lovely, all dreamy and spacey
because it has to be done and you're justified in taking time out to do
it while enjoying and appreciating the plants you're rewarding for the
pleasure they give. For a gardener boilling it down to bare bones, it
gives you a chance to look at your plants, to see if they need a bit of
feeding, or aphid attention etc. Some philosopher or other remarked
upon this notion of 'saving time'. "What will you do with the time
that you save?" Me? I'll water the garden. ;-) So, masochist?
No. Self-indulgent? Perhaps. ;-)

--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon