Robotic mowers can save you a lot of time and you will be amazed at how powerful and maneuverable they are. Many of the sturdier mowers are good at coping with all types of surfaces and terrain and, they will happily cross your garden path to mow your lawn!
You may run into some troubles with a robotic mower if you have a flowerbed in the middle of your lawn because the machines may not see the begonias and zinnias you planted as anything other than long grass that needs to be mowed.
A robotic mower can easily mow over flower beds, so you will need to do something to make sure the robotic mower does not mow your flowers.
In this short article, we will provide some suggestions on how to stop your robotic mower from mowing your flowerbeds or other areas of your yard that you want left untouched.
A robotic lawnmower can easily mow A flower bed down
As robotic mowers are manufactured to deal with slopes/grades or uneven terrain, a flower bed that is level with the grass will likely be a target for mowing.
The strong action of the mowing deck, and centrifugal blades of the robotic mower will take out flowers and even low-growing shrubs.
To see just how powerful the cutting action of these automated mowers is, check out this video of a Husqvarna mower in action as it attacks weeds, briars, and vines:
Here are some effective ways in which you can keep your flower bed robotic mower-free
To prevent your robot mower from breeching your flower bed you need to establish that your flowers are in a restricted area.
This can be accomplished with either a physical barrier the mower cannot breach or utilizing any sensor or signal-based navigation systems with the mower.
Here are some methods to try:
Surround the flower bed with perimeter wire
Perimeter wire or boundary wire is a continuous loop of wire that your robot mower depends on to detect its boundary and mow your lawns.
Your peripheral wire is connected to the robotic mower’s charging station and works like a big antenna sending out a continuous signal that the robot can detect and utilize.
If you run the perimeter wire around your flowerbed the robot will simply avoid crossing the detected boundary and will not damage your flowers. You’ll just need to loop some wire and connectors around the edge of your flower bed and peg it into place.
Paving blocks or stones can form a barrier
If you want to help your robotic mower navigate a more complicated lawn configuration, physical barriers can be very useful!
If you put a barrier that your robotic mower has ultrasonic sensors to pick up on, then when it gets close enough to the flowerbed, it will recognize the object there, and change direction.
For the barrier to work with ease, it needs to be a solid object forming a barrier of height that the sensor can detect.
Some ingenious landscaping can surround your best flowered blooms with things like boulders, stones, or bricks that are all impossible to pass through for your robotic mower.
Consider planting flowers in a raised bed
You can also create a physical barrier to protect valued plants by using a raised bed which serves as an immediate obstacle for a roaming robotic mower.
Raised beds help protect your flowers from accidental mowing but they also suppress weeds, have better drainage and keep your soil warmer for a longer growing season. It’s also less likely for a ball or giddy pet to land in the middle of your flowers.
You can easily play around with designs using wooden or plastic walls for a store-bought or DIY raised bed.
In a large garden with multiple flower beds in the lawn, divide the grass up into zones
When you have large grounds with different flower beds, you may want to section off the lawn into specific zones for your mower to mow independently of one another to minimise the risks of flowers being cut up when your mower is cutting areas of the lawn adjacent to the flowers.
Some makes and models of robotic mowers allow you to divide your mowing area into different zones within your garden.
You can designate grassed areas as a main area, adjoining, and separate areas that can start in different areas of the lawn as well as have a different mowing schedule.
Lastly, turf over your flower bed and move it to a more convenient location
If you have purchased a new robotic mower, you may be at a crossroads when deciding the layout of your garden or yard. A flat grass area will be much easier for you and your mower than having flower beds, trees, and other hurdles.
If you are facing this circumstance, you can easily remove the flowers, get rid of the soil, and put down new sod and level your lawn. You can plant your flowers at the perimeter of your lawn or use containers that you can transport easily.
If you want your robotic mower to dodge your flower bed, these features may be of interest
While your robotic mower may navigate around flowerbeds and other garden obstacles, you may find it doesn’t mow some edges or narrow areas as neatly as you’d like.
Many high-quality robotic mowers come with practical features that allow you to get your whole lawn properly mowed. Pay attention to the following features:
- Mowing at the Edge: This capability allows robot mowers to mow the grass all the way to the edge of the lawn, with some mowers specifically moving the cutting blades to ensure that they keep the entire lawn looking neat as possible.
- Mowing in Tight Spots: Some robot mowers are purpose built to mow in narrow passages in the garden. These models are nimble and flexible allowing them to ensure that the grass gets cut in tight spots and corners.
Rounding up
Robotic mowers can coexist with any kind of garden features, but it often takes some ingenuity for the mower not to be obstructed by garden features.
By using the new technology onboard your robotic mowers and simple landscaping to your advantage, your perennials should continue to return and bloom each year!