Looking for ideas. How to automate the gardener...

[dbhost]

This might, no beyond might, I know it sounds dumb, but let me explain....

My wife insists we have a gardener, You see I don't hadle high heat, or humidity at all well, and am more prone than most to heat stroke. So she has deemed thou shalt not do lawn work in the summer...

Since the HOA won't allow me not to mow or edge my lawn, I have to farm out the job.

Have you tried hiring the neighborhood kids to mow your lawn these days? Not like it once was...

I have a service, which is $25.00 / week, $100.00 / month. Year round....

This has me thinking. I could sure use to cut costs, and honestly, I dig technology...

I am working a home automation / smart home project right now, and part of me is thinking....

They can do roomba to vacuum. Do they do a robot lawn mower, edger and weed whacker, and if so, what's a good one?

It should be obvious that the mower MUST mulch... Non mulching mowers are a non starter for me. I want as little manual cleanup as possible...

So what have you folks seen and are they worth it?

[capncarl]

I doubt that there is much you can do to automate yard cutting. I’ve never encountered a yard contractor that would give reasonable rates if the customer wanted to pick and choose the favorable weather cutting times for himself. Commercial lawn equipment being what it is, built for 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year continuous duty, operated by people that could care less about their employers equipment. Most of their movers are mulching because they do not want to be bothered by handling lawn debris.

[Jim Frye]

There are several "Roomba " like mowers on the market now. They require smooth, fairly level lawns, and are pricey. I know Honda makes one. I've seen it at the nearby implement center that is also a Ryobi outdoor repair center. They mulch mow and are designed to constantly trim the grass so they don't cut much off the top. Home Depot sells several different models too. Here's an article from last year on some.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-t...ot-lawnmowers/

[woodturner]

Do they do a robot lawn mower, edger and weed whacker, and if so, what's a good one?

Lowes sells the Robomow ($600) and Husqvarna ($1600), the Husqvarna includes installation, but no experience with either.

[capncarl]

I didn’t realize that roomba type mowers were readily available. For tract/cookie cutter subdivisions it might be the trick. The drawback I could see with them is if your sidewalk or driveway cut your front lawn into several tracts you would have to figure out how to handle the roomba. The description indicates to me that it doesn’t go over terrain that is not grass.