MOST gardeners agree that there is little more rewarding than sitting down at peace on a freshly-mowed lawn amid manicured borders and well-maintained shrubbery.
However, getting to that stage is the hard part - with hours of back-breaking toil often required to make sure everything is blooming and under control.
But now scientists say that technology could be the solution to keeping a garden in check, with help coming in the form of a green-fingered robot which can prune roses and trim bushes, making light work of gardening chores.
Dubbed the Trimbot, the machine is capable of doing the busywork which can make gardening a daunting task.
Trimbot in action
Using mapping mapping software to find its way around the garden, the busy 'bot performs horticultural tasks with an advanced toolkit of blades attached to a flexible robot arm.
Capable of navigating even difficult corners thanks to its five camera 'eyes', the robot is based on an automated lawnmower already in production by electronics company Bosch.
READ MORE: Meet Pepe: the robot who shows children how to wash their hands
It can even understand when it is time for foliage to get a trim, thanks to a computer memory of what the 'ideal' shape should look like, and it is capable of handling delicate flowers with incredible precision.
Researchers created algorithms which enables the robo-gardener to compare overgrown bushes with with a perfect template as it cuts, and it can prune roses by pinpointing the exact part of each plant's stem that should be cut.
The team behind the Trimbot project, co-ordinated by University of Edinburgh researchers, said prototypes could be used to maintain communal green spaces, support farmers and help people with mobility issues tend their gardens.
Professor Bob Fisher, from the university's School of Informatics, said: "Getting the robot to work reliably in a real garden was a major feat of engineering.
"The eight partner teams developed new robotics and 3D computer vision technology to enable it to work outdoors in changing lighting and environmental conditions."
The four-year project was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme and involved scientists from Bosch and universities in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.
However, experts said that while the any help in the garden is welcome, it is not yet time to hang up their trowels and surrender their green spaces before a rise of the robots just yet.
Guy Barter, Chief Horticulturist at the Royal Horticultural Society, said: “It sounds interesting and definitely serves a purpose in commercial crops where timing is vital, such as where ripe fruit must be picked quickly.
READ MORE: Scientists develop robot inspectors for offshore wind farms
"It could also be very useful in cases where gardeners have mobility issues, where they are dealing with thorny plants such as Berberis or where there is an actual cost saving in repetitive work.
"But it is important to remember the many health and wellbeing benefits of gardening and the way in which community gardening can pull people together and change lives for the better."
He added: "Increasingly research is showing that gardening relaxes us, eases stress, provides exercise and improves psychological wellbeing.”
Kirsty Willson, Herbaceous Supervisor at Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Gardens also did not fear being replaced by a machine any time soon.
The Royal Botanic Gardens is currently trialling an automatic lawn mower which can trim grass without a human operator sweating behind the controls, and can even be programmed to start and finish work on its own.
READ MORE: ‘Shark cam’ reveals secrets of the deep to help save mammals
Ms Wilson, who has watched the auto-mower in action, believes that while technology can help, a garden will always need a human touch.
"It seems a very interesting idea and we're always interested in new technology which can save us time and effort," she said.
"But while this might be useful for pruning back branches or trimming verges, there are always going to be things which need the hands of a trained horticulturalist."
The 'bot can get around under its own power
The flower specialist added that using a robot to tend the garden also prevented people from the benefits of going outside and "getting their hands in the soil".
She said: "We all love being one with nature and working with plants, and gardening has proven to have benefits to both mental and physical health for those who take part.
"There are good reasons for doing the gardening yourself - we can't give it all over to robots."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here