DIAL-A-MOWER IS YOUR SILENT SLAVE

Husqvarna Automower 450X, £3,100

A State-of-the-art, natty little robot mower that looks a bit like a toy car. It plots its own route around your garden and gets on with it, leaving you free to crack open a cold beer and watch.

You can also control the robot using your smartphone by downloading an app. Then, wherever you are, you can order it to stop and start, or adjust the height of cut. You can also monitor exactly where it is in the garden, and receive alarms and track your mower’s position in case of theft.

The mower has a docking station, connected to the mains, in which it sits when its battery needs charging or when it’s not in use.

one slight inconvenience is that before use, boundary wires have to be pegged around flowerbeds, paths and borders that you do not want the mower to cross.

When it approaches these, it senses them, slows down and turns round, heading off in a different direction. Using an onboard GPS system, it then creates a mowing pattern to ensure all parts of the lawn are covered.

My family absolutely loved this, although my dog, Dolly, had a bit of a fright when it sneaked up on her — it is virtually silent and she didn’t hear it coming.

I’m very impressed, even though the mower comes at a hefty price.

It leaves the lawn looking fantastic — no stripes but a smooth, carpetlike finish.

A genuine game-changing, sweatsaving godsend. RATING: 10/10