Glee takes a look at emerging trends with garden tools for 2017 and how the UK’s leading annual garden and outdoor living trade exhibition will be helping to drive growth in the industry this year.
Consumers are becoming more connected with the great outdoors thanks to smarter use of their time, and due to a recent study revealing the health benefits of gardening1, a rise in the number of green fingers is anticipated. Not only are there merits for health and wellbeing, but also in terms of financial aspects, as landscaping is believed to increase the value of a property by nearly 12%.2
There is more of a focus on ergonomic – not just functional – garden tools, as this helps to reduce the strength and flexibility required for many gardening chores. Tools with specially shaped handles and mechanisms – from loppers with extendable handles and ergonomic garden hoes, scissors, weeders and transplanters – help reduce the strain on different parts of the body and are usually lighter in weight, appealing to older and younger gardeners alike.
Consumers are realising more and more that buying cheap tools is not always the best option, so wiser investment in a pastime that has rocketed in popularity in recent years is becoming more evident, as customers look towards sourcing the best gardening tools and equipment available to keep their gardens flourishing. As experience and requirements in the garden are increasing, so are sales of higher grade, longer lasting tools, often more associated with landscapers, arborists and professional gardeners.
This year, copper and brass will be seen in the garden, with copper gardening tools said to possess scientific benefits that help fend off unwanted plant pests such as slugs and snails. This is all to do with magnetic fields, whereby the copper acts as a deterrent for such creatures and forces them away from vegetable patches.
In its pure form, copper can be moulded and spun into different shapes without cracking. Just by adding a small amount of tin to copper makes an alloy (bronze) that makes it even stronger and tougher, making copper tools rust-resistant, hard-wearing and much easier to slice into soil because of sharper edges.
Recent research forecasts the global cordless garden tools market to grow steadily at a CAGR of 5% from 2016 onwards.3 The rising need to add aesthetic appeal to residential and commercial properties around the world is a key driver for the growth of this market.
We’re also being greener in every sense of the word, with more tools being made in Britain and crafted from sustainable products such as ash and stainless steel.
As more ranges are being introduced, there’s a mix of the practical with the aesthetic to appeal to more female consumers into what is traditionally a male-dominated market. No longer are tools just industrial grey, brown or black; eye-catching pinks, turquoises and oranges not only add an injection of colour but also inspiration and a contemporary feel.
Black & Decker’s new home collection of garden hand tools, available through NAP Brands, reflects just how much the role of gardening equipment has evolved in recent years to reflect consumers’ growing needs. Its Telescopic Tools range – including its Culti-Hoe and Fan Rake – and Digging and Cultivating range – featuring its Silicone Cultivator and Silicone Transplanter – alludes to a nation taking their gardening hobbies far more seriously than a decade or so ago.
It also appears that tangled, stiff garden hoses are a thing of the past. Black & Decker’s ZeroKink™ Garden Hose has an 8 ply construction with a dual foam air injected centre core, making it kink-free and easy to coil. NAP Brands also caters for professional gardeners, and has recently launched Stanley’s Professional Grade Water Hose which uses both Poly Fusion and AntiKink™ technologies. Its Stanley Fatmax range offers a comprehensive selection of high-performance tools for professionals, including shovels and rakes with fibreglass handles and its Bypass Gear Lopper range featuring its unique SyncDrive™ gear mechanism.
Find out more
Glee is the UK’s leading garden retail show, focusing on building year-round profits for buyers and suppliers within the core gardening, outdoor living and landscaping product categories. To keep up-to-date on the latest Glee news visit www.gleebirmingham.com. To enquire about exhibiting at Glee 2016 call 020 3033 2160.
One for the retro gardener . . .
Orla Kiely and Wild & Wolf have created a new gardening collection new for 2016, showing Orla’s much loved retro-floral designs. The range includes a statement bright yellow watering can, adding style and practicality to gardening. The featured ‘Multi Flower Oval Print’ design is printed onto potting gloves, a secateurs pouch, garden kneeler and fork & trowel set. Completing the collection are original ‘Grow your own’ pots, with five colourful designs each including a different seed to grow.
Sustainable trust
Charles Bentley and Son have created an exquisite gardening tool collection in partnership with the National Trust. The dual branded collection of 30 products features a robust and beautifully crafted tool for every job, making the collection a popular addition to displays in garden centres, stores and selected National Trust shops nationwide.
The collection includes a number of hand tools and brushware, from brooms to scrubbing brushes, as well as spades and forks. Following the success of the range, Charles Bentley has now launched a collection of gardening gift sets, which make an ideal addition to gardening or gift displays. The gift sets include hand tools and a choice of heavy duty rigger gloves or soft cotton gloves with dragonfly print. The full range of tools is FSC certified (Forestry Stewardship Council) to provide reassurance to consumers as to the sustainable nature of the range, with the added knowledge that by choosing this collection they are helping to support the vital conservation work of the National Trust.
Bentley Brushware’s partnership with the National Trust also extends to its new Kingston furniture range, an exclusive collection that has been designed to the highest standards using ethically sourced and sustainably produced eucalyptus wood. This FSC certified wood has been carefully selected for its strength, longevity and water repellent properties, ensuring the collection is robust and decay resistant, while the green and cream accents perfectly complement a garden setting. The collection, inspired by Kingston Lacy, in Dorset, makes an ideal addition to outdoor displays, offering purchasers a sustainable choice of garden furniture.
Making over old furniture is now a key trend – be it upcycling, distressing or antiquing – and now customers can find all the tools they need to create their own masterpieces with Bentley Brushware’s Revive set of specialist paintbrushes. Designed and manufactured by a company with over 150 years of experience, the range is attractively designed and packaged, with specific brushes for stencilling, waxing, painting and edging. All brushes benefit from double epoxy to offer additional strength and minimal bristle loss, making them a hard wearing and popular addition to craft and DIY ranges.
Tools that solve gardeners’ problems by Burgon & Ball
“When we design new products, we always as a first step look at how people garden, and we aim to solve their problems, helping them to get more pleasure out of gardening. This problem-solving approach is how we came up with our award-winning Weed Slice, for example. As more and more people use weed control membranes under gravel, we wanted a tool to slice through weeds just under the surface – unlike a hoe which stabs down through the membrane.
“This year at Glee we’ll be unveiling a new range of hand tools, which has been developed in response to customer feedback. We love to meet and talk to the people who use and love our products, for example at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and the new range tackles the Number One comment we hear after the words: ‘I wish I could buy a …’ We’re confident that the new range will help solve something that’s a frustration for a lot of gardeners, and we can’t wait to throw the spotlight on it. It’s simply brilliant!”
1 Source: The King’s Fund think-tank, 2016
2 Source: Report Linker
3 Source: Report Linker
For more information, interviews or images please contact:
Kimberley Hornby, Glee PR Team, Hornby Whitefoot PR
Tel: 01858 681122 Email: kimberley@hornbywhitefootpr.co.uk