Yard Gear
Gardena Smart System: Robotic Mowing & Watering
Gardena's smart SILENO robotic mowers and connected watering tools let a phone app handle mowing and irrigation together. How the system actually fits together.
Gardena (part of the Husqvarna Group) sells its robotic mowers under the smart SILENO name, paired with connected sensors and watering controls that share data through one app — the pitch is coordinated lawn care, not just a single smart device.
Verdict: Worth a look specifically if you want mowing and watering coordinated through one app rather than managed separately — the value is in the integration, not any single component being dramatically better than a standalone competitor.
- Gardena's robotic mowers are sold under the smart SILENO name, in several tiers by mowing area and terrain handling.
- A shared sensor can feed temperature, light, and soil-moisture data to both the mower and any connected watering control, so mowing and irrigation schedules can respond to the same real-world conditions.
- Gardena has been part of the Husqvarna Group since 2007 — if you're already comparing Husqvarna's Automower line, it's worth knowing the two brands share a parent company.
- Regional availability and exact product lineup vary by market — confirm what's currently sold in your country before assuming a specific component is available.
Editor’s note: this piece draws on an earlier guest contribution to the site from Lyle MacLeod of Easy Lawn Mowing, refreshed and re-verified for the current Gardena lineup and naming — Lawnaholic hasn’t run Gardena’s smart hardware hands-on, so treat this as a researched overview rather than a first-hand review.
For anyone who’d rather manage lawn care from a phone than a hose bib, Gardena’s connected system pairs a robotic mower with sensors and watering controls that share data through one app. The pitch isn’t that any single piece is dramatically better than a standalone competitor — it’s that mowing and watering respond to the same real-world conditions instead of being scheduled independently.
The Core Idea: Shared Sensor Data
A connected sensor tracks conditions in the yard — temperature, light intensity, and soil moisture — and feeds that data to the other connected components. In practice, that means a watering control can automatically ease off during a cool, wet stretch and increase output during a hot, dry one, and a paired mower’s schedule can be coordinated around the same conditions, all without manually adjusting either one.
Pros
- Watering and mowing schedules respond to shared, real conditions rather than a fixed timer
- Single app for multiple connected components instead of separate systems
- Backed by Husqvarna Group, a major outdoor power equipment manufacturer
Cons
- Full value depends on buying into multiple connected components, not just one
- Regional product availability varies — not every component ships to every market
- Ongoing app/connectivity dependency, same as any smart-home system
The Robotic Mower: smart SILENO Line
Gardena’s connected mowers are sold under the smart SILENO name, in multiple tiers differentiated mainly by rated mowing area and terrain handling. As with any robotic mower — see how Worx’s wire-free approach compares — match the specific model’s rated coverage and slope tolerance to your actual yard before buying, and check current installation requirements, since navigation approaches vary across the lineup and don’t assume every model installs the same way.
Automated Watering Control
The watering side of the system adjusts irrigation output based on the same sensor data driving the mower’s schedule — easing off when conditions are already damp, increasing when the yard is dry, and typically flagging frost risk so a connected watering device can be disconnected and brought inside before freezing temperatures cause damage.
Is It Worth Buying Into?
This kind of system makes the most sense for someone who wants both a robotic mower and automated watering, and specifically values having them coordinated rather than scheduled separately. If you only want one of the two — just a mower, or just smart watering — a standalone product in either category (including Gardena’s parent-company sibling, the Husqvarna Automower line) may be a simpler, cheaper starting point than buying into a multi-component ecosystem for a single use case.
Bottom Line
Gardena’s connected system is a genuinely useful idea for anyone managing a yard that needs both mowing and watering handled with minimal manual intervention — the coordination between components is the actual selling point, not any single device in isolation. Confirm current model availability and navigation requirements in your region before buying, since Gardena’s lineup and naming have shifted over the years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Gardena the same company as Husqvarna?
Not the same brand, but related — Gardena has been part of the Husqvarna Group since 2007, operating as a separate product line. It's worth knowing if you're cross-shopping Gardena's smart SILENO mowers against Husqvarna's Automower line, since some underlying technology and corporate priorities are shared.
Does a Gardena smart mower need a boundary wire?
It depends on the specific model — Gardena's lineup includes both wire-guided models and newer options in the smart SILENO range built around different navigation approaches. Check the specific model's installation requirements before buying, since this affects both setup time and cost.
Can Gardena's smart system control watering automatically?
Yes — that's the core pitch of the connected system. A shared sensor reporting temperature, light, and soil moisture can inform both the mower's schedule and a connected watering control's output, adjusting automatically for conditions like an unusually dry or unusually wet stretch, if you have both components paired through the app.