Gardening

Ga rden i ng Great buys and advice to help your garden grow

A warm welcome

Help to care for the little critters that frequent your outdoor space with the Garden Wildlife Range, a collaboration between the National Trust and CJ Wildlife. Designed to encourage communities to play their part in protecting their local environment, the collection includes homes for hedgehogs and insects, wildlife foods, bird feeders and more. With quality and sustainability at the heart of this collaboration, you can rest assured that you’re doing the best you can for the wildlife visiting your garden. Prices start from £2.49, available at CJ Wildlife and National Trust Shop.

Picnic perfect

Why not entertain the kids with a garden picnic this spring? Create a cosy and relaxing ambience with Lights4fun’s Outdoor TruGlow Candle Trio, £26.99, waterproof, LED candles that’ll transform your space. As they remain cool to the touch, you can comfortably sit them on picnic blankets or benches without concern. To complete the look, add a splash of colour with the Yellow Flower Outdoor Micro Fairy Lights, £8.99. You can string them across hedges or loosely interweave them between your table setting for a charming al fresco dining set up. Both available at lights4fun.co.uk.

Get growing

Replace rusty gardening tools with Burgon and Ball’s stylish new British Meadow gardening collection. Against a rich navy-blue background, each piece is beautifully illustrated with wild flowers and butterflies. There’s a pocket pruner and matching holster, gardener’s gloves and even a seed packet storage tin for the organisation enthusiasts. Our favourite piece of the collection has to be the adorable indoor watering can. Crafted from galvanized steel with a graceful long spout, it’s a wonderful gift for the houseplant lover in your life. Prices from £9.95 at annabeljames.co.uk.

DARLING DAHLIAS

Cultivate beautiful blooms with the help of farmer-florist Erin Benzakein’s new, extensive guide to growing and arranging the perfect dahlias. With over 350 varieties to choose from, dahlias can be a complicated field to navigate. So, Erin takes you through a comprehensive classification system – an A-Z guide with photos and descriptions, to help you pick the right flowers for your garden. For those who can’t live without a fresh vase of blooms in their home, Erin also offers her top tips on how to arrange the most impressive dahlia bouquets – they’ll have any future guests swooning! Buy Floret Farm’s Discovering Dahlias: A Guide to Growing and Arranging Magnificent Blooms by Erin Benzakein, published by Chronicle Books for £18.99, from 18th March.

Trim and proper

Keep the garden in order without disturbing your neighbours with Bosch’s ProSilence Universal hedge cutters, the quietest corded hedge cutters you can find. The diamond-ground blades ensure a high-quality cut and the ergonomic design means it’s really easy and comfy to hold. Choose from four different models, which offer blade lengths between 50 and 70 centimetres, depending on the width and height of your hedges. Peaceful gardening awaits. Prices start from £149.99 for the Bosch Universal HedgeCut 50.