They will be closed only for short periods of time and only during the winter when the water temperature and light are too low for algal blooms.

ECONOMIST: Flood barriers

The device, which resembles the sawed-off head of a driver golf club, uses its Plant Care Engine (or PCE as its literature so abbreviates) to detect such important plant growth criteria as water, fertilizer, humidity, temperature and light.

ENGADGET: Switched On: The fork, the ficus and the flandoodle