Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.
LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry
LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.
For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
Replies
My guess is not for quite a while yet!
It seems that practical skills are waning in society; more people seem to prefer to 'get someone in' to do things that previous generations would have had the skills to do themselves (some may recall from one of my previous topics that I could really do with learning about vehicle maintenance!). My guess is that more technology will come into horticulture generally, but some of the skills that we have will not be replaceable, and will one day command a premium.
Take, for example, cutting a hedge. A tractor with a flail can cut a hedge in minutes, but to get the neat and tidy look you need someone with the right kit and the right skills to cut in a straight line etc.
I think we can all sleep soundly for the foreseeable future.
(Would love a lawn mowing robot though!)
Does it edge lawns, will it get nicked, does it know not to mow over spring bulbs, does it do strips, will it collect leaves, does it remove dog pooh,pine cones twigs/branches & hose pipes etc ?
I don't think you'll need to worry just yet ;-)
Is your mower the only tool you use when you turn up at a garden?
We have jobs for life if we're hones, reliable and competitive.
Lets see it 'stripe' a lawn! I think this is one of the few industries that will remain labour intensive and offers more job security than most would
imagine.
"Will it get nicked"? I can imagine it screaming "Help, help, put me down, put me down...dont put me in the van!!"
Mark said:
Anti-theft combustion would help prevent theft and deal a small hand in justice at the same time.
I would suggest a 'Tazer' like function, somehow controlled by being 'lifted' or by GPS :-)
I have seen one of these at work when I was in Holland. They are ok on a flat surface and that's about it. But don't forget they run on batteries which take hours to charge, they are slow to cut the lawn, don't collect the cuttings, cost about £1000, and easy to steal.
That could confuse the owners pace maker a bit should the owner need to take it for a service there Gary Lol or say a satellite went down your mower may tazer your dog, postman, wife etc in error !!
We have RAF fighters low flying over here with the amount of electrikery on those they would probably set of self combusting Bot mowers for miles around Lol