SHOPPERS are racing to their local Home Bargains to buy half-priced garden essentials as the weather warms up.
The retailer is now selling garden parasols in various neutral colours that were originally priced at £49.99 but now cost just £24.99.
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The product called Crank & Tilt Garden Parasol promises to be convenient with a crank mechanism that does eliminates the need for manually adjusting the parasol.
Its canopy has a diameter of 2.7 metres, while the stand is over 2.3 metres tall.
One shopper shared their cheap find on the Facebook group Bargain Lovers, posting a picture of the items stocked and writing: “Garden parasols at Home Bargains“.
In response, one person wrote: “I brought one of these last Friday for £49.99 and yes it does come with a stand.”
Read more on Home Bargains
Another commented: “I’ve got the cream one I love it! Yet to find a stand for it though, they’re four separate bits for about £13 each in home bargains.”
Another user replied to the comment about the stand, saying: “Put it through a hole in your table. That’s what I’ve done!”
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It comes as a former royal gardener, Jack Stooks, revealed to The Sun four garden trends that is not a fan of.
Jack, who worked at the Highgrove Estate for over 20 years, said his first pet peeve is grass chairs or sofas.
“You had these turf-like seats in the garden, which might sound like a great idea,” he said.
“I think you even used to be able to buy the innards made out of cardboard that you’d fill with soil and then you’d plant grass seed over – they’re a bit cringy.
“They don’t ever really do that well. You can never really sit in them and people don’t tend to anyway because the grass is always either wet or it’s too dry and then it just becomes sort of like a muddy patch.”
The second that he mentions is pampas grass – a huge trend back in the ’70s.
The third cringe-worthy trend is, in Jack’s view, a garden filled with gnomes.
“Maybe just stick to having one or two gnomes,” he said.
Finally, Jack is not a fan of themed gardens.
He said: “For example, when people go off to Disney, and then come back and think that their garden should be Disneyland-themed and try to re-create this in their garden.
“Or they go to see a movie, like Titanic, and they might try and create this in their garden.
“It just reminds me of a crazy golf course – but in a garden!
“Just stick to a classic garden, as nothing beats those in my opinion.”
May gardening jobs
The Sun’s Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine, has shared the tasks you need to crack on with in May.
GARDEN growth can go from nought to ninety in May, depending on the weather. The last UK frosts are generally seen at the beginning of the month, so all of a sudden there’s so much more to do and grow.
Plant out dahlia tubers
It’s a joy to finally plant out your dahlia tubers. Remember how big they can get – and space accordingly – anything up to half a metre apart.
It’s a good idea to put your support stakes in now instead of trying to work around them.
And make sure you include lots of well rotted manure or decent compost to feed it and then mulch to keep it moist and suppress weeds. They generally start blooming in July.
Final feed to Spring flowers
You can give a cheeky feed to all your remaining tulips and daffodils.
Although the majority of bulbs aren’t guaranteed to come back year after year any more, as long as you’ve left them to die back naturally there’s a good chance they’ll have stored enough energy to come back again. Tomato feed is fine.
Tie up climbers
Your clematis, honeysuckle and rambling roses should be well on their way by now – try to use plastic free string to tie them back into their support, or tuck them round each other to make sure they don’t sprout off in crazy directions.
Feed the lawn
It’s not too late to give your lawn a good feed.
Whether you use granular or liquid, it can give it a good boost to see it through the harsher summer months.
While mowing, don’t go too low with your cut length yet and never take more than a third off the grass height.
Get creative
It’s also time to get creative with hanging baskets and pots.
Trailing pelargoniums, which a lot of people call geraniums, and Begonias are a good, low cost way of getting lovely returning blooms throughout the summer in your baskets.
And pots can be planted with spring bulbs.
Don’t forget the greenhouse!
Give your greenhouse a good tidy and clean the glass inside and out.
The improved light will help plants grow quicker inside and tidying is good for the soul.
You can just use a household white wine vinegar and water solution – or even neat if you’re feeling spendy – which gives a really good shine.
