Lawn Irrigation or Maintenance — Do It Smartly!

In southern California, we really need to have lawn irrigation if you want to grow anything like grass. It can also help with fire safety, depending on how you have it configured. There are multiple ways this issue can be solved.

Option 1 — Hire somebody! This is probably the solution you are doing right now, but it is constantly leaving you tied to someone else’s schedule and pricing. By using various technology solutions, you can minimize your paid service to only do monthly or seasonal maintenance.

Option 2 — Replace with zero scape yard. For some, this is a mostly rock design, but many of the local plants are designed to work with the current climate conditions. This means you don’t need to water except for a few times a year during the worst of the dry season. These yards can be beautiful with very little maintenance!

Option 3 — Most people cannot or don’t want to redo the entire yard. Most of us need a more balanced update to our yards. This starts by reviewing what you like or dislike about your yard. Now you can start making changes that will achieve what is really not working for you! This might be removing the bushes that require frequent trimming, replace/remove a tree that is near end of life, and review the conditions of your plants to see what is working and what is not.

Now, once you have that data, you can review some technology solutions to see what is the best fit. This could be just a rain gauge to make sure you don’t water when water has fallen from the sky recently. You may want something more accurate and allows you to water in a zone specific manner! This would involve adding soil moister sensors so plants that need different water requirements can be watered specific to their needs, but not a gallon extra.

A major upgrade would be if you tied this to AI or other monitoring technology. Most of them can be accessed via your phone. Very important information for ensuring your yard really showcases your home!

Give me a call if you require some help trying to figure out what type of update best fits your needs!

And don’t forget, if you have a small yard and like to do it yourself, a “robot” lawn mower may be the solution for you!

Robot Vacuum Cleaners

Robot vacuum cleaner technology has come a long way. The quality of the product, features of available, and price (when you consider what you get) have all improved. Now many of the robots include a wet mop features as well.

This technology came from the improvements in using robots in battlefield conditions to find/trip mines. Eventually someone thought about using similar technology commercially for home cleaning and the race was on. iRobot was one of the first brands to hit the main stream market in the US, but many options now exist. As with many of the new technology improvements, you do need to consider your privacy. The devices typically save a “map” of your home. Some of us may find a foreign country entity knowing our home layout to be just a little too much. For most of us, this is not a concern. Typical cleaner robots do not include cameras.

Most of us are always looking for a way to keep your home cleaner for less of your time. Robot vacuums and mops fit that need. The technology for mapping has approved to the point where not falling down steps, actually clean the entire floor area, etc…… The cleaning technology has improved to the point that not just hardwood or tile floors can be effectively cleaned. Adjusting settings automatically, to move from bare floor to thick carpet, are now standard features.

Here is an article covering some major models currently available, including their pros and cons. Link: https://buyersguide.org/robot-vacuum-reviews/t/mapping?l=504&gclid=&sli=1

The major questions you will need to ask are:

  • Budget
  • Just vacuum or do you want wet mopping as well
  • Self-Emptying or not
  • Amount of suction needed (floor type dependent)
  • Type of brushes needed (floor type dependent)

I have used multiple brands over the years, but personally I like the Roborock models. They have everything from entry level models to the latest technology. I especially like the design of their vacuum container. It is easy to clean between users.

Give me a call, email, or use the contact me feature of this website if you require some help figuring this stuff out!