I’ve marked this post as an Ad for transparency as I was invited to attend the Garden Press Event where I spoke to suppliers about their products. I am under no obligation to post about the products I saw, and as usual all views and opinions are my own.
Last week I went along to the annual Garden Press Event held at the Design Centre in Islington - you may have seen my Instagram stories on the day. The event was a show for companies to showcase their products to catch the eye of the press and bloggers alike. It was another great day, and although it’s been a few years since my last visit in 2019, but I found it as useful inspirational as I did back then.
It’s also an opportunity for companies to showcase their new products, and there was a notable increase in sustainable products, which can only be a good thing. I spoke to many people learning about their products, and even managed to get some photos of some of them. Not all, though which is frustrating now - but if you get a chance do pop over and check out the Kindling Cracker over at Fandango Firetools, the galvanised steel water butts over at Arthur Jack & Co, and the beautifully colourful bulbs over at Taylors Bulbs.
So what caught my eye?
These garden wool pads by Hortiwool are fantastic - I’ve already seen something similar, mostly when I’ve had cheese delivered! However these 100% British Wool pads can be used extensively in the garden, and won a sustainability award at the show. I’ve previously used as a liner for hanging baskets, but they have so many more uses including as something to kneel on, protection from frost and something I’m keen to try, deterring slugs.
These small bottles from Azpects promise to have a big impact, with each bottle making up to 3 litres of either a deck, algae, patio or exterior fabric cleaner - and let’s be honest at some point we all need some additional help cleaning parts of our garden. And like some of the kitchen/bathroom cleaning products available now, these are concentrated so you can dilute them at home when you need them, which also saves on the amount of packaging too.
I wasn’t the only one to think these Wool pots were fantastic, they one the ‘best new product’ for the day which is voted for by attendees at the show. It was great to speak with this company which I learnt is based in Hammersmith - the sheep capital of the world, or so I’m told. I have some of these and will be testing them out, and will share how I get on.
A lot of gardening is about confidence, and when you’re faced with a blank canvas that must be quite daunting. The Garden on a roll aims to help people overcome that, and with planting schemes for shady, evergreen, Mediterranean and English Country Garden there looks to be something for everyone and every garden.
Unbelievably these pots have been made from ocean waste using reclaimed fishing nets, trawl ropes and boxes which significantly reduces the amount of manufactured plastic by Woodlodge, they also have a range made from wood waste.
Earthy Sustainable also uses waste products made during harvest for their products. They use straw, coffee husks, wheat chaff and bamboo fibre for a range of products, but the ones that caught my eye were these bee, butterfly and bird boxes. They’re frost proof and can be hung from a branch, or can be screwed to a fence or tree with inbuilt fixings.
There were some great gift-type products from the collaboration between Blue Diamond and the National Trust, including seed and twine sets - or Grow & Tie with a sunflower and sweet pea version - two of my favourite garden flowers. The second photo shows one of the ready to grow plant trays which includes bulbs in a biodegradable tray - you simply take off the lid and place the tray in your pot, cover with compost and water and wait for the bulbs to do their thing. The bulbs have been chosen to perfectly partner the height and flowering times, and I’m assured that there’s more to come from this range both on the pot size and bulb varieties, so keep a look out for these and the developments.
And finally there were a couple of things I have my eye on for our potential future garden. These solar powered drop bulb lights by The Solar Centre, which were a winner of the garden lighting, water features and ornamentation award at the show. We have our sparkly little lights, which look fantastic but give out little light so I expect that to be something I’m after this year.
The other thing is on a future garden wish list is an aluminium garden pergola, and the Maze Living pergolas and outdoor furniture at the show were fantastic. I was just glad MOH wasn’t with me, as with their outdoor kitchens I was pretty certain his wish list would be growing way longer than our budget, and I don’t even know what our budget is!
So all in all, a good day with pots and pots of inspiration. I plan to share some of these in more detail over the coming weeks, so look out for those, but in the meantime what caught your eye?
