With summer around the corner, your green fingers will be trembling – after a long few months of winter – to get back to planting and pruning. Previously, we gave you a definitive guide on how to get your garden ready for the summer, so consider this something of a sequel! This is Cuckooland’s guide to garden accessories; or, our definitive guide on what to do now that it’s finally sunny again!
With your garden ready for the summer, the springtime is an opportune moment to plant those seeds and to reflect on your mood-board, to see what you can do now to add a splash of colour and personality to your projected finished product! Luckily, garden accessories are one of our areas of expertise, so let Cuckooland help you on your way to creating your very own unique, quirky, and perhaps even unusual garden! Here’s our guide to garden accessories!
1. Hanging Baskets
When it comes to garden accessories, hanging baskets are essentially the cushions and curtains of your garden – once all your main plants and flowers are up and grown, your hanging baskets add that final dash of life and colour to your garden that can either make or break the whole effect! When considering what flowers to put in a hanging basket, consider exactly where the hanging basket is compared to other potential colours in the garden; you don’t want them clashing or contrasting with any juxtaposing items! That said, the contents of a hanging basket are easier to change than the plantlife in your garden proper, so don’t be afraid to use your hanging baskets as a means of experimentation! Have an image in your mind of what you think you might like to have in your garden, and don’t be afraid to give it a try, or refer to that aforementioned mood-board and perhaps try out something a little out-of-the-ordinary that you might not have been able to make space for anywhere else. Oh, and for goodness’ sake, please make sure your hanging baskets are nicely exposed to the sun! You don’t want them producing brown, claw-like gnarls! If you’re feeling particularly daring you may also consider complimenting your hanging baskets further with one of our unique hanging basket brackets.
The essentials:
As green as your fingers may be, you’ll struggle to get the gardening done without the essential tools and gear to do it with! Luckily we know our stuff when it comes to garden accessories, and we have two great ranges of gardening tools for your consideration:
2. Orla Kiely range
When it comes to garden accessories, the trendy and quirky Orla Kiely range is absolutely top-of-the-range! With a simplistic floral design, the range is absolutely perfect for your garden, and provides all of the essentials; gloves for pulling, secateurs for pruning and everything from plant pots to birdhouses, and trowels to toolboxes!
3. Joules range
If the floral-pattern-on-white nature of the Orla Kelly range isn’t for you, then perhaps the strong, primary colours of the Joules range are more to your taste. Adding lanterns, folding benches and a glass carrier to the Orla Kelly range, the Joules range gives its rival a very good run for its money!
4. Retractable Garden Hose by Zee
Scenario: you’re an avid gardener who can’t wait to get up at the crack of dawn and get down and dirty with the foliage; but it’s time to water the plants. You have to spend the best bit of an hour faffing about with the garden hose; getting it out of the shed, connecting it and ironing out the kinks. The gardener’s nightmare! That’s where the Zee retractable garden hose comes in by doing exactly what it says on the tin! This handy and colourful hosepipe pulls out of a wall fixture, and automatically retracts when you’re done with it – no tidy-up and no faff!
5. Hedgehog House!
Probably one of the most, if not the quirkiest item in our range, is the hedgehog house! Yes, like a birdhouse, but for hedgehogs! And who doesn’t like hedgehogs? The hedgehog house provides a nice, warm shelter for hedgehogs – especially when winter comes back around (sorry, I know we don’t want to be talking about the “w” word at this time of year!), and is fantastically fox-proof! If you’re lucky, you might even open it up to find a mother hedgehog and her young – a great investment for your garden! Oh, and it doesn’t look too shabby either – with its outdoorsy woodchip design, it will certainly look right at home in your garden!
So there we are, gardeners – our definitive guide to garden accessories! We’ve covered everything down from the basics to the certainly-not-so-basics, and we hope we’ve given you a few ideas about how you can add that extra little flair of personality to your garden! If you think we’ve missed anything be sure to let us know in the comments below – just make sure you wash your hands first; don’t want any of that compost getting on the keyboard!
