Consisting of 100 hectares of parkland with formal gardens amounting to around ten hectares, the stately home of Lypiatt Park, situated near Stroud, Gloucestershire boasts historic buildings that date back to the 14th Century. It’s a private estate sited on one of the highest points in the Cotswolds and is surrounded with formal gardens that were initially laid out in the 17th Century. Despite such traditional and historic beginnings, today the well-manicured lawns are taken care-of automatically, by a fleet of satellite controlled robotic mowers. It is the family home of internationally-renowned artist, Daniel Chadwick.
Daniel chose the Husqvarna Automower 550 through the Tallis Amos Group, who are the Husqvarna specialists for the region and provide sales, installation, technical support and after-sales back-up. The Automower 550 offers full remote control which includes theft-tracking via a PC/Tablet, while at the same time providing full mower control via a smartphone. Despite having complex shaped lawns, at Lypiatt Park, the GPS tracked Husqvarna Automower 550 is able to manoeuvre accurately around the entire formal garden area without difficulty. Being lightweight, there are no wheelings - even in soft-ground conditions and they operate at a very quiet 61dB(A) which means they are unobtrusive. Typically, a full charge for the Automower will provide in excess of three hours of mowing, while an automatic recharge at its own station, takes only 60 minutes. Cutting height can be very simply adjusted between 20mm - 60mm and it can handle slopes of up to 45%.
“Each of these Husqvarna robotic mowers,” commented Daniel, “has its own specified zone to cover and they can work 24/7 if we decided on that option, and they automatically adjust their mowing frequency according to lawn growth. They have their own charging stations and they work within a ring fence system and calculate their mowing pattern to cover the entire zone, using a different direction or cut pattern each time. When their battery power depletes, they automatically return to the charging station and recharge, before commencing their mowing cycle. I’ve found the team at TAG to be excellent with their installation and support back-up, they really know what they are doing and that fills me, as their customer, with total confidence.”
“There’s a wide mix of obstacles on our lawns,” added Daniel, “but they don’t seem to bother the Husqvarna at all, On-board sensors use ultrasonic technology to detect potential objects and steer the mower to avoid any collision. They are very quiet operators - which is very important when they can work both day and night. In addition, I have very sensitive hearing and cannot bear the noise of a normal lawnmower and I was finding that on the few nice days when we got the tranquillity of the relaxing garden environment, it was shattered by the constant lawnmower noise.
“As a designer inventor and artist, I really appreciate the design of the Automower, as it is perfectly optimised. It’s the right weight, it does precisely what they say it will do, it is totally reliable, easy to maintain and is very well made. Every couple of months I might have to change or rotate the blades - which is a very simple operation, but apart from that, we just let them get on with their job and rarely have to do anything with them. I’ve been so impressed with TAG and their back-up, as well as with the performance of these mowers, so much so that we now have five of these operating across the entire formal garden area. The entire package is just a perfect solution to our needs.’’
