Iro App Screenshot

The Rachio Iro App. Users can set up and control their sprinklers right from their smartphone.

Aside from regularly scheduling Mowz service to keep your lawn well groomed, there’s a lot you can do to make sure it stays thick, green, and healthy. With seeding, fertilizing, watering, weeding, and more it can get overwhelming. While we aim to remove the burden of mowing your lawn, there are some other cool tech products coming out that are helping do the same with other aspects of lawn care.

Recently, a number of “smart” sprinkler systems have come out that are bringing lawn care into the 21st century. Blossom, Skydrop, and Rachio Iro are three of those systems that are making a beautiful lawn less of a chore and more of something you can actually enjoy. In addition to automating and scheduling your lawn’s hydration, each of these systems aim to help users save money and help the environment by using less water.

Each system uses weather and geographic data to optimize the watering schedule; no more watering when it’s raining. They all have their own smartphone apps to set up, control, and monitor the systems (Rachio Iro and Sky Drop also have a web interface, Blossom’s is coming soon).

The main factors that separate these systems are the price and the number of zones they support. Blossom is the cheapest of the three at $199 for 12 coverage zones. Skydrop and Rachio Iro both support 8-16 zones with Skydrop starting at $299 for 8 zones or $359 for 16. Rachio is a bit cheaper at $249 for 8 zones and $299 for 16.

The small differences between the systems, while seemingly small to us, are worth noting. Rachio Iro works with Nest, IFTT, Creston, and a number of other home automation platforms; which might make it best suited for smart home power users. Blossom seems to be the most basic but also the most bang for the buck. It also supports two different connections, wifi and Powerline. Skydrop, the most expensive offering, doesn’t differentiate itself much from the other 2 aside from the fact that it has an LCD interface. This doesn’t merit much consideration from us considering you can control all 3 systems from a smartphone app which seems like it would render an LCD obsolete.

We haven’t had an opportunity to get our hands on any of these cool new products just yet, but Wired reviewed the Rachio Iro and Blossom. We’re excited to be a part of the wave of Lawn Care 2.0. Just think, wouldn’t it be great if you could get one of these to schedule your Mowz for you when your grass get’s a certain length? It might like sci-fi, but the reality of that happening isn’t too far away.

Have you tried any home automation or sprinkler systems? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google +, etc.