Children’s Gardening

Summer is here and it looks like loads of you will be out enjoying your gardens with little ones – our orders for children’s gardening tools and gloves have shot up over the last couple of months.

Best Seller

At the top of our best sellers is the Gruffalo Garden Tool Bag complete with 3 mini tools plus minature watering can closely followed by The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Peppa Pig tool boxes and stools. These have been flying out but sadly the VHC and Peppa Pig ranges are being discontinued so grab yours while you can.

Peppa pig stool for when you need a rest

We now also have a cute range for the slightly older child called Little Thoughtful Gardener from manufacturers Wild and Wolf Ltd. These smaller sized tools and watering cans complement the adults ” Thoughtful Gardener” tools and accessories perfectly and we offer a combined set of tools in this range for both little and large gardeners!

Little & Large Gardeners Tool Sets

Getting children involved in the garden and perhaps growing a few easy things such as carrots, lettuce, radish, beans etc is thought to be a good way to encourage them to eat more fruit and vegetables and even try different varieties. A warm tomato or two from the greenhouse, picking the peas and eating them raw or digging up potatoes to see who gets the most from just one root are always worth a try.  Plus see who can discover the funniest shaped fruit or veg like my latest strawberry.                                                                                                

I loved being outside as a youngster, climbing trees to get the tastiest apple from the top,(no health and safety then) making mud pies and serving them for “tea” – yuk. Never had a pair of gardening gloves until I was in my 30’s so always got dirty.  Did that make me a gardener?? Not really sure but it gave me an understanding of where fruit and veg came from. Sadly I read some kids today don’t have a clue!

If you don’t like the thought of your kids making mud pies with bare hands as I did, landing my mother no doubt with loads of washing, we have great gloves for little hands –The Gruffalo and Be Good to Bugs Gloves for snail hunting and Little Thoughtful Garden Gloves for weeding. Don’t forget to pop on a sunhat as your children tend to their garden – our Ladybird and Happy Hats are perfect for little heads.

So get out and enjoy your gardens with your kids or give them a patch of their own to tend to – you know they’ll love it.

I love my tool set!

Happy gardening to little and large gardeners everywhere.

Mother’s Day Gardeners!

With Mother’s Day fast approaching I think it’s time to really put on our gardening shoes (if you haven’t already done so) and get out into the garden – there are loads of jobs to be done now and even if it doesn’t feel like it today, Spring is definitely in the air!.

Pruned your roses yet?? I’ve done some of mine but now is a good time to tidy them up, cut out the dead wood and prune back by about a third of their size. You’ll need some good secateurs and we have some great examples to choose from, such as these V&A Roses secateurs, or Orla Kiely secateurs in a handy decorative pouch or, if you prefer something plainer, try The Thoughtful Gardener sturdy secateurs or  Sophie Conran’s stainless steel ones which come in a branded gift box too, a perfect present for Mothering Sunday.

I read this morning that Spring is about 2 weeks later than last year and I must say that winter seems to have gone on and on. It would be great to see a host of daffodils to brighten things up. They are trying so I am hoping with a warm weekend forecast that the garden will take on a whole new look in the next few days. A few of you may know that I am replanting some of my borders this year and giving them a good tidy up – I still have much to do and hopefully if I am allowed a few hours off on Mother’s Day most of that will be spent in the garden.  Now is a good time to divide perennials creating loads of lovely new plants for the garden, something that’s proved helpful in my front border.

The mid-handled spade from Burgon & Ball is an excellent tool for this – great for chopping through perennial geraniums etc plus it has a 10 year guarantee and is endorsed by the RHS too so you know it’s good.

I also need to clean out the bird feeders and maybe add one or two new ones – the favourite at the moment is the Squirrel Buster Bird Feeder as my garden is inundated with squirrels – black ones at that! I think a couple of those strategically placed should help my feathered friends get their fair share.

That first sortie back into the garden for any length of time can result in a few aches and pains so a long soak in a relaxing bubble bath at the end of the day could help. The Gardener’s Therapy ( I think the clue is in the name) Muscle Soak  by the Somerset Toiletry Company smells divine and certainly does the trick – I can vouch for that!!   And don’t forget to look after your hands at the start of the season = they’re probably the best tool you will ever have!   It’s always a good idea to chuck out any moth eaten looking gloves and treat yourself to a new pair – we have loads of garden gloves suitable for all tasks from pruning to weeding and potting on.

And remember if your Mum loves her garden too why not treat her to any of the items I have talked about or just view our selection of lovely garden gifts handpicked by our team – which includes Mums!

Enjoy your gardens

Gilly x