Garden Essentials for Every Green Thumb
All the basic outdoor tips to get you started.
A garden has so many uses. It can be a lush escape from stale air conditioning, a place to gather ingredients for your next dish, or a place to unplug and reconnect with the earth beneath your feet. Whatever you want to use your garden for, check out the garden essentials below to get started and make it feel complete.
Gardening Tools
Garden tools are absolute outdoor essentials. Kits which include a trowel, rake and hoe are the perfect all-in-one pack that you need for your garden. Aim to buy a set of garden tools that are rust-resistant, to ensure that they'll last a lifetime. Some trowels come with extra features such as a level that shows you how deeply you're planting it into the ground. These models are great if you plan on doing any planting, raking, digging or repotting. Gardening tools can get cluttered fast, so make sure to invest in a kit that comes with small holes on their handles or a tool rack, so that you can keep them organised and easy to find.
If your plants aren't big enough to be planted into the ground yet, a planter box is the perfect solution. Planters are great for controlling how much water, type of soil and amount of light that plants need in order to grow. Planters are also very useful if you have limited ground space., and if you have no garden at all, planter boxes can be placed inside your home or on porches, patios and balconies.
If you don’t foresee yourself hand-carrying around heavy hoses and bags of soil, then a wheelbarrow is a must have. Find a wheelbarrow that is made from weather-resistant materials which make it perfect for the outdoors. Most wheelbarrows come with a lip at the front which makes it easy to pour heavy things with accuracy (such as water and soil). A wheelbarrow's soft rubber handle also make it easy on hands.
A seed-growing kit is essential for any garden. Many kits contain seed pods for all sorts of produce including heirloom salad greens, herbs, tomatoes and much more. Seed kits are favourable among people who have limited-to-no outdoor space, as most seed pod kits are designed for indoor gardens. Just be sure to have the right set up, such as a growing rack, for when your seeds and your green thumb start to really flourish.
Tip: For more tips on how to grow your own vegetables, check out our handy guide.
Indoor Hydroponic Garden
It doesn't matter if your thumb isn't at all green because an indoor grow kit has got you covered. Most indoor kits include features like an automatic timer, smart soils, a self-watering system, an LED light and more, meaning they're perfect if you’re just getting started with gardening.
If you have trouble keeping your outdoor plants warm and cosy, a greenhouse is a must-have garden essential. Go big with a 9ft wide greenhouse that can house many of your biggest plants or all of your smaller ones, and is big enough to fit a potting bench for extra storage as well as several people at a time. A greenhouse is also essential if you’re trying to keep out wild animals or pests. While a greenhouse is used mostly for gardening, there’s no limit to what you could do with all of the space it provides. You could line the edges with beautiful flowers and place a table and chairs inside to create an outdoor date-night spot.
Spending long hours with your back hunched over isn’t good for anyone. If you’re an avid gardener or if you can't bend over for long periods of time, a potting bench is the garden essential for you. A potting bench offers a place to work that’s off of the ground and includes storage space for any of your other gardening necessities. Add drawers as these are perfect for smaller items like seeds or gloves, as well as a bottom rack that is great for bigger items like extra pots or bags of soil.
Tip: Understand which is the best model for your garden with our expert's guide to potting benches and tables.
Outdoor Sink & Hose Holder
Hose holders are relatively small but what they lacks in size, they make up for in versatility. These garden essentials have a place specifically designed for you to wrap your hose, a notch to hold the hose nozzle, a soap dish and even a small sink basin for rinsing. Their versatility make them perfect for anyone who doesn’t have the space to house a hose, sink and soap dish separately. Hose holders are also great for those who aren't able to install plumbing for a traditional sink (like renters) and those who want to save on plumbing costs.
This garden essential is an absolute showstopper. If you’re wondering how this piece of outdoor decor could be a garden essential, think about how it could help tall plants. While it is aesthetically pleasing, it’s great for growing vines or plants that you’d prefer to keep off the ground. We won't beat around the bush – garden arbors are also really pretty. They can create a breathtaking entrance to your garden while displaying your work. Wrap string lights around the arbor to create a magical focal point.
