Alva Review-Courier -

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Every spring, Don Osborne brings his 5-foot-wide zero-turn mower out of hibernation to keep a few acres near the house looking tidy.

"My wife has flower beds and so forth," Osborne says. "With the big mower, I was all the time blowing grass into her flower beds. She would get upset with me doing that."

So he searched for a compromise.

Now his robotic lawn mower mows about an acre daily. Because it cuts the grass so often, the clippings don't fill the flower beds, and Osborne's mechanical helper mows 24-7, even in the rain.

It wasn't an easy decision for someone who had ne...