Smart tools for the tech savvy landscaper

However, even landscaping has gone hi-tech much of the time and because of all those little (and some not so little) electronic gizmos that have hit the market, it is now possible to use smart tools within landscaping from the planning right through to maintenance of your grounds, residential or commercial.

Here are some ways in which smart tools have become the convergence of nature and technology.

Retaining walls are the perfect example
If you are wondering just how electronic devices and technology in general play such an important role in landscaping, you only need look at retaining walls and gabions. While they can serve two very different purposes, there is much in common between gabions and retaining walls. You would almost always utilise some form of smart tool when measuring the area to be secured.

Retaining walls require a special set of calculations because they will be used to keep land from being displaced by rain waters and perhaps rockslides due to tectonic movements of the earth. Small tremors can send land sliding down a slope but retaining walls built with the right amount of tensile strength can move with the vibrating earth, keeping soil where it belongs and not in roadways below.

Similar in function – Gabions are made more reliable through technology
The same holds true for gabions. We have all seen these, sometimes every day of the week, without ever having known what they are or that the actual name for them is ‘gabion.’ When driving down the interstate, have you seen those wired mesh enclosures over rocks lining the side of the road?

Those are gabions and the technology that goes into analysing the strength required for maximum support is extraordinary. Yes, at one point in time all those calculations were done manually, but it is much quicker, and more cost effective, to utilise software and apps to measure size and strength. There is also less room for error.

Smart apps on site
From property surveyors to landscaping architects, there are a number of smart apps that make their jobs infinitely more accurate. Consider what having a GPS app on a smartphone means to a property surveyor or landscaper measuring out a plot of land. We have all seen those guys (and gals) out by the side of the road with their equipment on tripods, measuring point A to point B, and so on in order to have precise boundaries within which to work.

A surveyor is seeking to mark and document the exact boundaries of a property, typically for matters of ownership and taxation, but a landscaper needs precise measurements in order to plan well, making sure each element is in its proper place and those used for structural integrity are placed exactly where they are required.

With digital technology, everything is done with precision in a timely manner and the savings afforded are literally off the charts. Even landscaping has gone hi-tech. It leaves you to wonder, what’s next?