Garden tools 2022 UK: gardening essentials to ensure your garden looks great, from greenhouses to composters
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Whether buying for yourself or looking for a thoughtful gift for the green-thumbed in your life: these are the garden essentials that will work for you, not against you.
A good set of gardening tools will help turn your time pottering outdoors from a chore, to a pleasure. From Japanese-inspired pruning tools, to compost spheres, eco-conscious pots, to a built-to-last watering can, we’ve found the best rated essentials to help tame your jungle.
New to gardening? What to know if you’re just getting started
Get to grips with your garden - first of all, check the aspect. Is it south-facing or north-facing?
Knowing where the sun hits is essential to helping you decide what to grow, and what will thrive.
Find out what soil you have. Do a soil test (such as this one) to discover whether or not it is alkali or acidic, as this will dictate what flowers grow (if you don’t want to purchase a test, the presence of camellias, magnolias and pieris indicate the ground is acidic.
You can change the pH of your soil - there are great, clear instructions on the RHS website if it’s not the ground you desire.
Be careful when planting - read up on it before you head out
Don’t make the mistake of just putting your plants, seedlings or saplings into the ground into the ground and hoping for the best, especially if you’re new to gardening.
Take time to weed and prepare the soil before planting, and add mulch or fertiliser if necessary. Unsure how to plant something? Look online for instruction or read the plant packaging, rather than trying your hand.
Trees planted too deeply will not thrive, and root-balls that sit proud of the soil surface will dry out quickly, causing the plant to die.
Read up on when and where - and how much - to water your plants
This is variable. It may be the soil that requires water, or the root-ball. Read when and where to water to ensure your plant is neither left parched or drowning.
Start small - then go bigger
If this is your first garden, don’t plant the entire thing in one go. Cultivate an area then move to the next. Better to do things slowly and correctly than all at once and watch things wither.
Compost!
Composting kitchen and garden waste is great for the environment, wildlife, your bank account and also garden. Compost can be used as a mulch around the base of plants in your garden and veg patch.
Our favourite gardening tools on the market for 2022
Made from 100% recycled plastic, this CompoSphere allows you to make compost easily.
Rather than stir, just check the lid is secure, grab the ridged edges, and give it a regular roll around the garden to aerate your waste and accelerate the composting process.
Roll it to wherever compost is needed, with no need for a wheel-barrow. The flat bottom ensures it’ll stay wherever you leave it until it’s time for the next roll.
Easy use, efficient, and fun, it’s a great way to get kids out and involved in the garden.
Green houses are often prohibitively expensive, but this model from OutSunny is reasonably priced but performs excellently. With a powder-coated aluminium frame and UV-resistant, polycarbonate sheets, it will keep your plants, vegetables, and more safe.
The transparent sheets allow natural lighting to pass throughout the entire structure, while a rooftop vent ensures excellent ventilation within. With a single sliding door. Easy to assemble and take down.
190L x 132W x 201H cm
If you’re after netting to support your climbing crops, this jute alternative to plastic is both better looking, and biodegradable.
