4 Elements to Design a “Smart Garden” for Residential or Commercial Landscapes
We have all watched the commercials on television, where someone arrives home and turns on the television, interior lighting and even the coffee maker, all from their smartphone or assistant like Alexa or Google Home. It’s awe inspiring to think that you can now install devices that allow you to run virtually every function within your home, from your smartphone.
The development of smart technology for both commercial and residential environments is driven by the need to optimize and conserve energy, improve on site safety, and let’s be honest, it is a lot of fun too. And now thanks to new and innovative products, you can achieve the same novelty and convenience for your outdoor spaces.
- Smart Watering Technology
If you have a large outdoor space, watering all the plants, shrubs and trees can be a full-time job. While landscape service providers can help alleviate the work, it’s an additional expense that many homeowners do not really want to contend with.
Is there a way to make sure that your landscaped garden and investment stays beautiful, without spending hours of your time watering every week? Yes. And it’s connected to your smartphone.
New technology allows garden sensors to detect the radial zone where they are located, and report on soil moisture. Some of the sensors available for commercial and residential landscape schemes are about 12 inches tall and resemble a pathway light that is staked into the soil. Other models are smaller and more recessed and colored to blend in visually with the surround landscape.
After installing the system’s application on your smartphone, you can simply launch the app and get a grid readout of the soil conditions in the areas you are monitoring. Then with the push of a button, you can automatically start watering those areas, using the solar devices dispersed throughout your property.
This is not only a time saving method, but it can also help residential and commercial property owners save money, by watering only when required (instead of on a set timer) and conserving water. It’s also easy and convenient to water afterhours, no matter where you are or what you are doing.
Another bonus benefit of some of the smart watering technology devices out there, is security. If you have a problem with wildlife such as squirrels, racoons and skunks, many of the newest models have a motion detector feature.
If they sense movement below a certain height benchmark, they will automatically turn on a short burst of cold water for a natural and cruelty free method to deter wildlife from damaging your flowerbeds and shrubs. It can also be used to deter the family dog(s) from digging in certain areas of your property.
- Smart Outdoor Commercial and Residential Landscape Lighting
Integrating your outdoor landscape lighting to be controlled by a personal assistant, like Alexa or Google Home? High quality landscaping lighting can be integrated through hub switches and networked to provide a variety of different effects that can be customized and controlled from a smartphone.
A professionally designed outdoor light scheme involves planning high lumen and ambient lighting zones. There are some areas of your outdoor space which will require strong spotlights, such as areas with stairs, decks or other safety hazards. In other zones of the landscape, low lumen bulbs and densities are used to create soft and relaxing lighting, that also highlights architectural features, like fountains, stone walls and intricate garden beds or shrubs.
In terms of setting the aesthetic and mood, there are also a variety of different colored bulbs that can be used as part of a color scheme that both compliments the theme of the home and provides accent color to spectacular florals and brightly hued botanicals. But why stop with just one color? There are innovative outdoor lighting options that allow owners to change the colors in specific zones. Set the mood for a party, or a relaxing evening at home by adjusting both tone and coloration of your accent and primary outdoor lighting.
Some of the top-quality landscape outdoor lighting fixtures have security features that have only been available to commercial businesses until recent years. Now, residential consumers can add an extra layer of safety by investing in smart outdoor lighting that provide video surveillance.
Connected to an app on your smartphone, the motion triggered lights not only turn on, but they begin to broadcast video to allow business or home owners to visually check for trespassers. We are already seeing an increased number of new home builders adding smart porch lights with smartphone enabled surveillance for residential customers.
Whether the app is open or not, most devices will send either a text message or an email to alert the property owner of the potential security issue, so that it can be safely and conveniently addressed with the smartphone.
- Fire Up Warmth and a Relaxing Ambient Glow
From James Bond, to just about every big screen hero we grew up watching on television, there is nothing like walking into a room and hitting a switch to turn on a beautiful fireplace. Thanks to new innovations in outdoor landscape design products, our clients in Alberta Canada have some exciting options to consider, when adding a fire element (or several) to their landscape and patio design.
From full sized stone enclosed fire pits to elegant and contemporary fire bowls around the perimeter of a pool or grotto, each element is easily controlled with a smartphone.
For multiple fire elements, separate switches network or connect, so that they can be controlled simultaneously or individually. This allows homeowners to adjust the lighting as required (depending on what area or zone they are sitting in) and provides flexibility to control the density of the fire; from roaring to low and glowing embers with a realistic natural fireplace effect.
- Fountains and Water Features
It doesn’t make sense to keep water features running 24 hours per day. Homeowners can conserve energy costs by programming water features such as fountains, waterfalls and pond bubblers for periods of time when the family will be enjoying the space. Just as commercial clients can enjoy the same benefits for indoor or outdoor water features, that are timed to shut down outside of standard business hours.
Ready to invest in creating a beautiful outdoor landscape with smart technology, to save you time and money? Contact our design team for a consultation at Pure Landscape Design and Construction.
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