Gardening is not something we all instinctively know how to do – or at least, not well. Even the very finest gardeners, those who have become household names, usually underwent years of professional training, or spent much of their life learning by trial and error. So what do you do if you have a garden in need of attention right now, but have very little idea of how to go about it?
Of course, you can do you own research online, download a garden design app or, better still, hire one of the best garden designers to work their magic. However, there is another solution: a new breed of gardening products that simply do it all for you. Seeds that you scatter haphazardly and a wildflower meadow sprouts underfoot? Yes please. How about an entire garden border that you simply roll out? Wonderful! Below are the best companies and products to help even the most inexperienced of gardeners to make their outdoor space flourish.
Garden on a Roll
As the name suggests, the idea behind Garden on a Roll is simple but very clever: choose the border design you like best, order it and a large box arrives at your house with a nifty roll out plan and all the plants you’ll need to execute it. All you have to do is roll the plan onto your border plot, make holes in the template and then plant accordingly. The plan is biodegradable, so you just pop compost over the top, sit back and watch your newly plotted plants flourish.
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Pre-potted plants and bulbs
A container garden, in which all the plants are in pots and planters, is usually fairly straightforward to maintain, no matter how much of a novice you may be. However, you often have to buy bulbs, soil, compost (if you don’t make your own) and pots and plant it all yourself. Instead, we suggest you opt for pre-potted plants. The selection won’t be as large as that of seeds or bulbs, but it does mean that plants arrive in your garden fully formed and ready to go. All you have to do is look after them, prune them and get them ready for the next season once winter kicks in.
RHS Plants sells some larger shrubs and trees to add heft to a garden, while Sarah Raven has a lovely range of potted bulbs – but be quick as they sell out quickly each season (and many have disappeared already). Crocus is another great source for potted bulbs at certain times of year.
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Self-sowing seed packets
Provided you like your garden on the more naturalistic side, with plants roaming wild and free and not necessarily contained to plots and plans, then a wildflower seed packet is an excellent tool. There’s a delightful element of surprise with these, too, as you simply shake the box over your grass, rake the seeds around to spread them out and add water to bring them to life. Soon enough, a meadow or flower-filled patch will appear in your garden – with the added benefit of bringing with it lots of wildlife, if you pick certain packets. The RHS Flowers for Bees is a bright punch of orange, purple and white flowers that the insects love, and Sarah Raven offers a choice selection in varying colours and species to suit any garden. Again, these are incredibly popular and sell out most years, but you can always register for alerts when they are back in stock.
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Ready-made window boxes
Much like Garden on a Roll, Window Fleur offers a brilliant solution for the non-green fingered amongst us, or for those who are simply too busy: ready-made window boxes. There are no treks to garden centres involved, no dropping soil in your living room as you wrangle the planter across to the window and no fuss. It’s a seasonal subscription service so when you sign up, you choose between two planted options for each season – four choices in total – and they arrive at your door in the window boxes, ready to be secured easily to your windows. Plus, the entire thing is biodegradable so it’s a win for the plant too.
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Allotment in a box
If a kitchen garden is the dream, look no further than Roots Plants’ allotment in a box. You do have to plant it all up yourself, but they send you between six and 18 premium varieties of vegetables to plant. They’ve done the hard work of growing them from seed, so varieties arrive either potted or in strips, ready for you to transplant to your vegetable patch. The products chosen for the box are all known to be easy to grow, meaning pretty much anyone can have a kitchen garden with just a few easy steps.
