The garden centres and catalogues are stuffed with exciting and innovative new products for this year’s garden, and it’s fun to have a browse and see what the designers and buyers think we’ll all be wanting to purchase this year. Some products will be fresh interpretations of traditional items, while others will be entirely new – many featuring advanced technologies.
With so many additions to choose from, it can be hard to select what will look best. Here are the 4 must-have elements to add to your garden in time for summer.
1. Lighting
Garden lights are tremendously useful if you need to venture outside in the dark, and decorative lights bring an open space to life. If you’re having a special occasion at your home or just want a fun family evening, lighting is the finishing touch to a celebration and lifts the spirits on a dark evening.
You don’t need wiring and expensive electrical installations either. Modern solar technology powers a wide range of solar lights very effectively, meaning they don’t cost a fortune to install, they don’t need batteries, and you can position them wherever you like.
2. Water features
The sound of water trickling into a pond is tremendously relaxing, and if you have a fish pond, watching these striking creatures glide through the water can be almost meditative, so water features are definitely good for your health and wellbeing.
The variety of water features available is impressive, with many of which are available at www.water-garden.co.uk. You can find eco-friendly solar pumps so that you can have the beautiful feature of a fountain without expending too much electricity. Not only do solar panel pumps look fantastic and work well, but they’re also great for the environment, too.
3. Barbecue
If you don’t have a barbecue already, you’re missing out on a British tradition – and some great food. You don’t need a full-size gas barbecue with a rotisserie and all the other bells and whistles; a simple kettle barbecue or a brick firepit is perfectly adequate for a family gathering.
If you aren’t a barbecue fan, then a pizza oven might suit you better. The point being that cooking and eating food outside in your garden is an experience not to be missed.
4. Homes for wildlife
There are all sorts of bee and bug hotels, hedgehog houses, toad homes, bat boxes, and bird nesting boxes available now, and they can provide valuable shelter and breeding spots for wildlife in your garden. They take up virtually no room, and encourage pest eating creatures into your garden; plus there are all sorts of sophisticated video camera kits available that can be positioned inside the boxes so you can get a look at the animals up close.
Everyone will have their own ideas about what you should definitely have in your garden. One person might say an immaculate lawn, while another wouldn’t give two hoots about a lawn but wouldn’t want to be without their hens. If there’s any consensus at all, it’s probably that sitting in a wildlife-friendly garden listening to water trickle over stones while eating a freshly cooked burger is something close to heaven!
