Robotic mowers take the drudgery out of lawn care by automatically cutting grass in your yard on a regular schedule, little and often, so your garden stays tidy. They also mulch the clippings back on the ground, so you don’t have to deal with a pile of grassy debris or empty collection bags. These automated mowers typically run quietly and require no fuel or maintenance, saving you time and money. But setting up a robotic mower requires some initial work to prepare the area and get it ready for mowing, which you can either do yourself or hire a professional to do for you.

The first step is to lay a boundary wire around your yard. Pol Bishop, gardening and landscaping specialist at Fantastic Gardeners, says the robots use this to map out their mowing areas, so when they encounter something like a tree or fence, they move to avoid it rather than trying to cut around it. The wire should be placed along the edges of your garden, but can also be used to create islands around obstacles within the boundaries of the yard.

It’s a good idea to survey the garden and make a note of any objects you’ll want to exclude from the mowing area, such as toys or children’s play items. This is especially important if you have kids, as their toys can be accidentally bumped into or sliced up by the mowers. It’s also worth sweeping and picking up any sticks, stones or other obstructions so that they don’t get mowed or damaged by the robot mower.

Once the boundary wire is in place, the next step is to connect the app on your phone to the mower. This is done via Bluetooth or a cellular connection. The apps let you set seasonal timers, schedule mowing times, configure edge-cutting settings and perform diagnostics on the mower. You can also control the mower remotely using your smartphone or other device with a Wi-Fi connection.

Depending on your garden size, the number of obstacles and how detailed you want to be in setting up your mowing plan, this initial work can take up to five hours. But the effort pays off, as once it’s all in place the Automower will just do its thing, year after year.

To make the installation process easier, it’s a good idea to buy the parts needed for the job in advance. This includes a charging station, boundary and guide wires, and couplers to connect the wires together. Tools that are useful for completing the job include a hammer, pliers and a pair of wire cutters for securing the boundary and guide wires. If you’re installing a robotic mower on your own, it’s a good idea to survey the space and prepare it before the day of the install – this includes mowing the lawn one last time. This is also a good opportunity to make sure the mower docks properly in the docking station.