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Rise of the new GRASS-GUZZLERS

The latest in garden gadgetry is edging steadily through the nation. App-controlled, it promises to look after your lawn like a human. But, says Anna Pursglove, owner of ‘Herbie’, it’s not all roses

furniture where he was having a bit of difficulty negotiating a chair leg).

Jake-the-installer said as much; that when Herbie first ventured out he would wander randomly, bumping into things, gradually mapping his territory – the clever thing can map up to 600 square metres of lawn.

‘He’ll get the hang of it very quickly,’ promised Jake. You’ll note that even seasoned installers are prone to anthropomorphism when it comes to these appealing little horticultural helpers.

And the appeal is growing at pace. From a global value of nearly £1.2 billion in 2021, the robot mower market is forecast to reach £3.2 billion by 2028. There was a surge in sales during the pandemic when our gardens became our sanctuaries but even with Covid in the rear-view mirror, the trend has continued.

Is it, I wonder, a bit to do with the pet-like quality of the machines? It’s almost impossible to resist naming your mower, and even relatively dispassionate owners seem to view them as toys rather than tools. A quick online search uncovers a thriving industry in robot-mower stickers, allowing you to dress yours up as anything from a ladybird to an F1 racing car to (confusingly) a pile of grass.

I confess: I stole the name ‘Herbie’ from lawn-fluencer Eamonn Holmes. Instagram posts featuring him crooning to his machine as it trundles across his lawn are compulsory viewing for anyone wanting to emulate the emerald expanses at his Surrey home.

My Herbie, meanwhile, faces rather more of a challenge than his celebrity namesake. Not even my closest friends would describe my lawn as an emerald expanse. I live in the far north of Scotland where moss is a central component of just about everything and, in last winter’s storms, a giant trampoline was picked up by the wind and somersaulted across our garden, taking some hefty chunks of topsoil with it.

‘Hmm,’ said Jake when he viewed the scarred aftermath. ‘The robot might not cope so well with those holes. Don’t worry, though – he will message you if he gets stuck and you can come and rescue him.’

The idea of a helpless Herbie makes me love him even more. But so far, so good. Every time he reaches the guide wires buried (by Jake) at the perimeter of my lawn, or bumps into a solid object, he changes course. Over time he remembers the obstacles and bumps into them less. About half an hour ago, he started spinning around in circles for reasons that were not immediately apparent – so I popped outside just to make sure he hadn’t got anything stuck in his wheels. He hadn’t.

Obviously, gazing protectively at Herbie from dawn until dusk (or at least during his programmed working hours of 8am until 10pm) is not an option so, like a helicopter mother tracking her children via their phones, I can keep an eye on his doings with an app.

‘Ooh look!’ I squeak, not long after Herbie has commenced operations. ‘He’s tired already. He’s messaged to say he’s gone back to bed.’ (By ‘bed’ I mean his charging station at the edge of the lawn). Husband mutters something about the machine being the forefather of our AI overlords. Since Herbie is struggling to navigate a bucket, however, I doubt world domination is his next move.

Not everyone loves a robot mower. Veteran gardener and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh told Gardeners’ World magazine that they were a ‘dark force’ and others have criticised them for butting up against the trend for rewilding. We are, in fact, still in the merry, merry month of ‘No Mow May’, for which Britain’s gardeners have been encouraged to let their grass grow long.

Husqvana, being an environmentally aware Swedish company, has already thought of this and introduced a new ‘rewilding mode’ whereby you can tell your robot to leave ten per cent of your garden unmown, thus helping wildflowers and insects to flourish.

How does the robot know what ten per cent looks like? With the help of satellites. The user can then place the rewilding zone, move it or make it bigger.

Sadly, however, I can confirm that the Husqvana satellites have no function for detecting what percentage of your lawn is covered in dog poo, which the teenagers were supposed to pick up. But didn’t. Even though you definitely told them to do it

‘THEY’RE SO PETLIKE, IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO RESISTNAMING YOUR MOWER’

before the mower-man turned up. No need to linger over that particular image but the robot is low to the ground and, well, you see the problem.

Stanley (the dog) was not at all sure about Herbie at first. A good sniff, however, revealed the mower to be mineral rather than animal and Stan left off barking at him. So, if you’re considering a robot mower for summer, I wouldn’t worry about your cats or dogs. What I would warn you is that – although the setup of the actual mower is super-easy – the prep for its arrival is not.

Before Herbie’s due date, we had to get electricity out to the perimeter of the lawn so the robot’s charging base could function. Most people don’t have random power supplies popping up under their lawns, nor do they feel inclined to keep a window open all year round. We had to feed an outdoor cable through a hole in the dining-room wall made for a TV aerial by a previous owner.

It was a faff. If the people who we bought the house from hadn’t been telly-in-everyroom types then we would have had to drill one. At one point Jake wondered if we might run a cable through the cat flap. Husband gave that suggestion very short shrift.

It is also worth saying that not all lawns are right for all robot mowers. If yours is very steep or particularly obstacle-strewn, then you need to read the small print carefully. Given that most machines will set you back at least a few hundred pounds and that the more expensive varieties go for over £2,000 then it pays to do your research before you commit to anything. Theft is also a consideration in some areas, although this Husqvana model has a GPS tracker.

All that said, I am very pleased about the advent of Herbie. Once he’s finished the lawn on the longest height setting, Jake has advised me to progress steadily down through the length options until I reach something I like. This can all be done using the app. By the time I reach my preferred lawn length, Herbie will be removing just a tiny amount of grass each day which will be scattered across the lawn, delivering a ‘micro-mulching’ effect.

Even one of the teens did (begrudgingly) concede that Herbie’s tech was ‘pretty sick’, and that he might look good with some F1 stickers. I agreed although I have already promised next door’s four-year-old that he can turn the mower into a ladybird. Hang on. Mayday, mayday, mayday! Herbie has just messaged.

He’s stuck in a hole.

Better go and fish him out.

It was his bedtime, anyway.

The 405X model in the feature costs £1,899 or £2,049 with the installation kit. For more information visit husqvarna.com

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2023-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

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