Don’t destroy your lawn, Scott’s GRO and Connected Yard have you covered

By Bruce Brown April 2, 2016

scotts gro connected yard 900x600 — Scotts GRO for the Connected Yard Image used with permission by copyright holder

Confused and frustrated by your lawn and garden? Does the difference between pre-emergent crabgrass and broadleaf weed control leave you dazed or disinterested? Scott’s new GRO application and Connected Yard automation platform may be the cure for your landscaping nightmares.

If you don’t want to hire professional gardeners, landscape designers, and maintenance crews — and who does? — GRO promises to give you the exact information you need based on your location. Designed especially for yard care newbies, GRO may be your best chance for your lawn to look awesome instead of a scene straight out of Mad Max Road Fury.

Using what it calls “micro climates” based on block-by-block data, GRO monitors your weather information. The application checks for rain, and if you don’t need watering the system is designed to shut off connected automated watering systems. The Connected Yard platform currently can talk to watering controllers from Blossom, Rachio, Green IQ, and Lono, according to Scotts, as well as soil sensors from PlantLink and Parrot.

More lawns are likely ruined by over-watering or watering at the wrong time when you and I are in charge than any other cause, so why not turn it over to an expert system that combines deep knowledge banks, accurate weather data, and local soil moisture sensors?

The GRO system curates info on your local soil, learns what’s happening with insect infestation, and even knows what grows best in your specific location. The ultimate goal? To amp up your gardening plans and let GRO help you keep your turf, shrubs, and flower, herb, and veggie gardens healthy and blooming.

The program is designed to grow along with you and can provide step-by-step instructions based on what you want and choose, so if you want to keep it simple GRO still can help — unless your idea of simple is plastic grass or green-painted concrete.

Scotts announced GRO and Connected Yard as an open platform at SXSW and is inviting anyone developing home and yard automation systems to build in hooks needed to work with the platform. The initial smartphone application will support iOS, and you can get on the app notification list at getgro.com.

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Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…

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