Gardeners rejoice! The weather is warmer, the sun is higher in the sky, and it’s time to get outdoors. There’s no better time to start shopping for those gardening gadget ideas. Whether you’re seeking a useful garden gadget to simplify your work or looking for better results than last year, there’s no shortage of new products to consider. While a weather station is a great buy, we have several other suggestions.
The sheer number of garden gadgets with so many bells and whistles is overwhelming. Do you want to monitor the moisture in your soil? Are you considering adding or extending an existing watering system? Or have you decided to focus on enhancing the beauty of your garden or landscaping? No matter your gardening goals this year, these garden gadgets will make planning easier and improve your results.
How is technology used in gardening?
Technology has revolutionized gardening, making it more efficient and accessible to a wider audience. Numerous gadgets can simplify your outdoor tasks, from smart irrigation systems to plant monitors.
Gone are the days of manually dragging hoses and adjusting sprinklers. With smart irrigation systems, you can program your watering schedule and target specific areas of your garden, saving time and water. These systems can adjust their watering based on recent rainfall, ensuring that your plants receive just the right amount of moisture.
Plant monitors are another useful gadget for gardeners. These devices track humidity and soil moisture levels, providing valuable information on when to water your plants. They can also alert you if the soil is too dry, helping you prevent under-watering.
In addition to these practical gadgets, gardening apps and e-books provide valuable tips and information. These resources can help you plan your garden, identify plants, and troubleshoot common gardening problems.
And let’s not forget about the smart mowers! Similar to the popular Roomba robot vacuum, these autonomous mowers can be programmed to trim your lawn while avoiding obstacles. They make lawn maintenance a breeze, allowing you to spend more time enjoying your garden.
With technological advancements, gardening has become easier and more enjoyable than ever. By incorporating these garden gadgets into your outdoor routine, you can simplify your tasks and achieve better results in your garden.
Best Garden Gadgets
Rachio 3: 8 Zone Smart Sprinkler Controller
Automatically waters lawn and garden based on weather conditions, plant type, soil type, and more.
Your days of constantly watching the weather are over with the eight-zone Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller. One of the best garden gadgets we’ve recently come across, this device monitors the weather for you. It creates watering schedules that will maximize your water usage efficiency while at the same time lowering your water bill. If your area has water restrictions, just set the schedule so that watering occurs within the permissible times.
With its built-in exclusive Weather Intelligence, this amazing gadget skips unnecessary watering if there has been ample recent rain, very windy conditions, or frost or freezing conditions are expected.
Easily installed in 30 minutes, you can control the Rachio 3 Controller from anywhere with the smartphone app. Check out the watering schedule, adjust, or remotely turn your sprinkler on or off.
Tailor the Rachio 3 Controller’s smart schedule to deliver water to your plants and lawn based on the plants in your garden, the soil type, and how many hours of sun your garden or lawn receives.
Luster Leaf 1630 Dial Soil Thermometer
A great tool for determining soil temp for early season and transplanting.
Checking the soil temperature doesn’t get any easier than this. The Luster Leaf 1630 Thermometer is perfect for an early season temperature check to ensure the timing is right for planting or transplanting. With its easy-to-read dial, you can view the results from the top. Just insert the stem 2-3 inches into the soil, and you’ll have results in a few seconds.
Fruits and vegetables are grouped according to the required temperature for planting, and many popular varieties are included. Cabbage, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, cantaloupe, and watermelon are some specific plants listed.
The Luster Leaf 1630 features a durable stainless steel probe and glass lens, and the 6.5-inch probe gives you more than enough length to obtain your readings. The Rapitest dial thermometer is accurate and affordable.
XLUX T10 Soil Moisture Sensor Meter
Knowing soil moisture content is essential to your plants well-being.
The XLUX Soil Moisture Meter is ideal for determining whether your plant’s soil is dry, moist, or wet. Easy-to-read results are displayed on the clear, large dial, and there are ten scale levels to quickly see the dryness, moistness, or if the plant is overly wet. The XLUX does not require batteries.
Ideal for indoor or outdoor use, the XLUX Sensor is reliable and accurate, providing instant results upon inserting the probe into the soil. Designed to disturb a minimal amount of dirt, using the probe just a single time will give you the result you’re looking for, with as little contact with the plant’s roots as possible.
Ecowitt WH5360B Wireless Rain Gauge
The Ecowitt WH5360B is one of the better digital rain gauges on the market.
You’re correct if you think the Ecowitt WH5360B looks a lot like the instrumentation from the Ambient Weather WS-5000. Ecowitt licensed its stations to Ambient Weather in the US, but you can still purchase a few weather instruments from Amazon that Ambient Weather doesn’t sell here in the States.
The WH5360B includes only the rain gauge from the WS-5000, with a 300-foot wireless transmission range to a console that includes a temperature and humidity sensor. This is displayed on the included console, along with rain rate, daily rainfall (weekly, monthly, and yearly), a graphical display — and the support for metric measurements for those outside the US.
A rainfall alarm alerts you to events exceeding a set rate or amount, with flood watch alarms when rainfall may cause flooding.
It is much cheaper to buy than the WS-5000 — so if you want the accuracy of the WS-5000 but don’t need all the bells and whistles of a weather station, the Ecowitt WH5360B is a good choice.
- Accurate
- Nice console
- No connectivity options
Husqvarna Automower 115H Robotic Lawn Mower
Husqvarna's entry-level robot lawnmower will make yard care automatic.
Here’s a garden gadget for the homeowner who thought they had everything. A robotic lawn mower that works at the touch of a button from the app downloaded to your smartphone. The Husqvarna Automower 115H allows you to schedule your mowing and adjust the height of the cut. It even features built-in theft protection with an alarm if it’s lifted off the ground that continues to sound until you enter a unique PIN. This robotic mower is genuinely amazing.
Robotic mowing has come a long way in recent years, and the pricing has gotten considerably cheaper, too. The DIY installation kit includes a charging station for the battery and a boundary wire for you to place when determining the perimeter of your yard. The wire can be laid in position or buried if you prefer.
This compact robotic mower is also weatherproof, so you can even mow your lawn in the rain while you stay dry. Able to trim 720 sq. ft. per hour, yards up to 0.4 acres are ideal for its use. Slopes as steep as 17 degrees are no problem, and the Husqvarna 115H has a cutting width of 8.7″.
Luster Leaf 1818 Rapitest 4-in1 Soil pH/Moisture/Fertility/Light Tester
Know the condition of the soil you're planting in.
This fabulous soil analyzer will make your gardening work so much easier. There’s no longer a need for four separate analyzers, as the Luster Leaf Rapitest will measure soil pH, moisture, fertility, and sunlight, helping to improve growing results for your fruits and vegetables, trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, and even grasses. With an easy-to-read scale plate and no need for batteries, this garden gadget makes a great gift for the gardener in your house.
The Rapitest soil analyzer is a garden gadget that will be used nearly daily. Its advanced logarithmic pH scale plate is more accurate than linear plates offered by competitors, and it uses a two-probe design for equal contact with the long. The extensive soil pH preference list for more than 400 plants will help you adjust for a healthier garden. With improved testing accuracy, this garden gadget will assist your garden in thriving all season long.
Elite Screens Yard Master 2 100-inch Indoor Outdoor Portable Fast Folding Projector Screen w/ Stand
Take movie nights outside under the stars with this massive projector screen.
Nothing says summer quite like watching a movie outdoors in the comfort of your backyard. With the Elite Screens Yard Master 2 120-inch projector screen (it also comes in other sizes from 58 to 135 inches), you’ll be set up in an instant to sit back and relax, ending an evening under the stars. The freestanding screen comes with a silver aluminum frame, is easy to clean with just soap and water, and is fully compatible with short-throw and ultra-short-throw projectors.
For screen stability, the Elite Screens Yard Master 2 includes detachable T-legs, ground stakes, and a rigging cord and is transported easily in its padded carrying bag. Of course, this garden gadget is also perfect for indoor use, so you can view movies on the big screen year-round in colder climates.
The CineWhite matte screen has a 180-degree viewing angle, and the color accuracy is a testament to its high ratings on Amazon.
Goplus Garden Cart Rolling Work Seat
Save your back while gardening with this rolling work seat.
The Goplus Garden Cart Rolling Work Seat is a versatile garden gadget that everyone can use. Affordable, sturdy, and with a 330-pound weight capacity, working around the garden is much easier with this scooter. There is even a basket for storing your tools, supplies, and gloves. When seated, the items in your basket are within easy reach.
Simple assembly instructions will have your scooter up and running in no time. The four rubber tires grip the ground, helping to reduce the chances of tipping over. With a sitting height of 18-21 inches above ground level, the ergonomically shaped seat makes it comfortable to sit in for extended periods. The swivel seat is fully adjustable to rotate 360 degrees, making this garden gadget even more desirable.
Knowing that gardeners come in all shapes and sizes, the folks at Goplus have designed a rolling garden cart that will work wonders for nearly everyone.
Brighten up your yard with these bright multicolor LED ground lights.
The world of garden lighting has never been more technologically advanced than it is today. Govee’s Outdoor RGBIC Ground Lights are simple to program, offering millions of colors. Depending on your garden’s size, you can set multiple pathways to different colors, as each set comes with 15 lights. There are no limitations to what you can do with these beautiful lights stretching 36 feet through your garden.
Govee’s outdoor ground lights can be controlled via their Smart Control app, which is compatible with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This garden lighting gadget can be voice-controlled by pairing it with Google Assistant or Alexa. Change colors for special events or just on a whim, and by way of RGBIC technology, garden gadget lovers can sync the lights to music for a dance party, graduation, holiday, or whatever you choose.
Weather conditions are also of no consequence, as the Govee Outdoor Ground Lights are waterproof and sunproof. Just imagine programming them for Christmas, New Year’s, St. Patrick’s Day, and the 4th of July.
The WeatherFlow is still a great option, although a shorter lifespan than other stations in its price range.
WeatherFlow is a relatively recent entrant to the home weather station market, although it has years of experience. Its coastal network of professional weather stations has been delivering vital information to meteorologists for years and has proven useful (and durable) in landfalling hurricanes.
The Tempest Weather System is WeatherFlow's first attempt at a wireless home weather station. For the most part, it's a good start. It's the only one of our stations with built-in lightning detection, one of Tempest's standout features, and operates entirely on solar power.
We found that the real-time lightning data matched better with historical data than from professional lightning detection networks. It regularly detected distant lightning faster than any other station we've tested. In addition to lightning data, the Tempest measures indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, barometric pressure, and UV and light intensity.
Wind is measured by a sonic anemometer which we found to be fairly accurate. And up until the Ecowitt Wittboy, the Tempest Weather System was the only home weather station to use a haptic rain sensor.
See our review for a way to save 10% off your next purchase from WeatherFlow.
- Super quick setup
- Outstanding lightning detection
- Fairly accurate instrumentation
- Ready for the smart home
- The haptic rain sensor doesn’t measure rainfall accurately enough
- No expandability
Wrapping Up
There’s far more to ‘gardening’ than choosing, planting, and maintaining your plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables, trees, and shrubs. Whether you prefer getting your hands dirty digging in the soil or your ideal backyard experience is all about entertaining and relaxing, there are more than enough garden gadgets to keep you busy. Technological advances constantly change how we view and enjoy our gardens and will continue for years.
