From wildflower yards to self-cleaning robot vacuums, this week’s DIY conversation goes places you won’t expect.

The neighbours want a perfect lawn. The bees want you to stop.

Chaos gardening is the TikTok trend where you scatter wildflower seeds and let mother nature take over — no mowing, no maintenance, full pollinator habitat. Andy Baryer makes the case that lawns are vanity projects and gardens are the smarter call: better for the environment, better for the budget, and better than cayenne pepper and coffee grounds in a losing war against squirrels.

A robot that stops mid-job to clean itself. And then keeps going.

Andy just got back from a Dyson event in Toronto where engineers from the UK lab walked him through a robot vacuum that mops, self-cleans at its base station, and lifts its roller automatically when it hits carpet. That same engineering mindset led Dyson to vertical strawberry farming in the UK, where they’ve built one of the country’s largest strawberry operations using LED lighting, water recycling, and a growing season that doesn’t depend on weather.

Topics: chaos gardening, Dyson robot vacuum Canada, vertical farming technology, garden pests squirrels, DIY home tips

GUEST: Andy Baryer | handyandymedia.com

Originally aired on2026-06-01