Gizmodo: gardens

Vauxhall Sky Garden Building Gets Three-Storey Gardens Inside

Kit Eaton — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:45:00 EST

This 130m skyscraper has been approved for building in London, but unlike "dead" conventional buildings, the Sky Garden includes plans for two three-story gardens to be built inside it. The idea is to "create a space for social interaction" and "foster micro communities," which sounds like a neat way of combining green eco-friendliness and dense urban buildings. The gardens will cover about 2,500 square meters in total: a significant proportion of the building to give up from your normal retail/accommodation space. And it's just going to be way cool to take a stroll in the "park" in your own building. [DesignBoom]

Muwi Concept Lawnmower Turns Waste Grass into Playthings

Kit Eaton — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:18:00 EDT

The electric-sheep lawnmower may have tickled your fancy, but this Muwi concept mower from designer Yuli Sung will have you scratching your head. The concept's roughly the same as the sheep: It automatically assesses the grassy areas, and then cuts the lawn without supervision required. Cunningly, it grabs the grass cuttings inside where they won't lie around setting off people's hay fever. But then it does something strange... it compacts the cuttings into toys. Scratching yet? The second image makes it clearer.

Okay, so the ball could be considered more a plaything, while the grass disks are perhaps more suited for piling up as ad-hoc lawn chairs. Although there's always the possibility of a game of giant grass Frisbee... How many sneezes and streaming eyes would that set off, I wonder? Those grass "bails" would easy to pick up and chuck onto the compost pile too.

Nice lateral thinking here, and for once it's a concept that I'd love a manufacturer to get to grips with for real. [Yanko design]

Zombie Garden Sculpture Keeps Those Damn Kids Off Your Lawn, Might Eat Their Brains

Jack Loftus — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:00:00 EDT

Design Toscano wants you to "expect the extraordinary from your home and garden," and that includes the walking dead. Take this 13-lb. resin undead garden zombie, for example. Designed by British artist Alan Dickinson, it's a life-sized resin sculpture that would be a terrifying addition to any lawn, garden or personal graveyard.

For about $90, Toscano will ship this guy to you in three macabre pieces. When assembled, they'll cover a 31½"x19½"x8" stretch of earth. That is, until the day he and his buddies claw their way completely to the surface, eat our brains, and take over the planet. Then they'll be everywhere, doing their zombie gardening with a silent stoicism, and you'll be the garden gnome. [Design Toscano via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Plant Sensor Tells You Exactly Why You Suck At Gardening

Elaine Chow — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EDT

In yet another attempt to further plant and human inter-communication, a company called PlantSense is now offering a USB stake that monitors the soil around your greens and gives you advice on how to keep them healthy. Great for people like me, who have trouble getting even herbs to grow right.

The user places the PlantSense GardenGro sensor in a spot right next to the plant, and 24 hours later, plugs the USB hub into their computer. The sensor's data will then upload to PlantSense's website, which doles out tips like “water more,” or “pile on less plant food, your peppers are getting fat.”

The service is a little expensive—$59.95 for each USB stake. But isn't that a small price to pay to be able to munch on your own home-grown Roma tomatoes, your black thumb overcome by the wonders of technology? [EverythingUSB]