Kate Garraway recently celebrated her 57th birthday – the first since the tragic death of her beloved husband, Derek Draper.
Kate's friends and family ensured her day was a special as it could be, spending quality time together and treating to her some thoughtful gifts as part of the celebrations. The ITV presenter took to Instagram to say thank you, dedicating a post to her parents, who loving surprised her with a brand new wheelbarrow, saying: 'you know my garden is my #happyplace'.
She also commented it might not be 'everyone's first choice for prezzie but I couldn't be happier!'. And we're sure gardeners everywhere would agree.
It may be simple, but a wheelbarrow is vital if you want to get on top of this year's garden trends. We're not 100 percent sure on Kate's exact model, but it looks very similar to the Walsall 90L Polypropylene Multipurpose Wheelbarrow at Argos.
Kate went on to explain how her garden has, understandably, been a little neglected recently with everything else she's had going on. And while her garden 'isn't big', her parents told her it 'helps with lugging and carrying'. She finished things off by saying she 'can't wait to get my hands dirty this weekend & get going!'.
The TV presenter clearly isn't alone in her love of gardening and new gift - her post already has hundreds of comments, many of which sharing in Kate's joy. 'That would be my ideal gift', said one follower. 'That's wheelie nice', said another. Others were quick to champion being outside: 'Gardening is wonderful for the soul - lovely present, have a lovely weekend digging in the dirt'.
woman&home's content director Lucy Searle is a keen gardener. "Kate lives near me in London and although our gardens aren’t big and the soil is heavy clay, there’s a lot of enthusiasm for gardening in the area. In fact, it’s open garden season and I’ll be visiting a few this weekend. As a former gardens editor, I know how therapeutic gardening is – it’s such a pleasure to get lost in tending plants, observing nature and encouraging wildlife in. My garden isn’t big enough to warrant a wheelbarrow but my guilty purchase is a geum plant. Slugs and snails ignore them and they flower all summer, summer after summer. I buy one every time I go to the garden centre and my garden is literally packed with them and, as a result, plenty of pollinators.’
With the weather looking to (hopefully) get warmer in the coming months, we've spent time scouring the web for the best outdoor garden furniture and top BBQ deals to help enjoy your outside space even more this summer.
Shop garden tools
We can't be sure, but Kate's new wheelbarrow looks much like this Walsall 90L polypropylene multipurpose wheelbarrow at Argos. It is fitted with a pneumatic wheel, which makes a world of difference when it comes to easily moving it across uneven terrain.
One reviewer on 5 March 2024 said: "I am a keen gardener who has recently undergone back surgery. I wanted a light weight barrow to transport heavy items around the garden. It is perfect for my needs, and was easy to assemble." And another in March said: "This product is excellent, good value, easy to assemble, light weight but strong."
Everyone needs a good pair of secateurs in their garden arsenal. woman&home homes editor Tamara Kelly recommends this durable pair to get jobs done 'safely and with precision'. The versatile little tool will help with all manner of gardening tasks, including cutting branches and flowers, pruning trees and used as garden shears.
These secateurs score an average of 4.4 out of 5 stars from over 2,000 reviews on Amazon, with one saying: "Bought a pair of these for myself after buying a pair for my mum. She wanted a pair that were easy to open and use. These are great with a push up button to open them. They’re nice and sharp. Better than cheap DIY shop ones I’ve used in the past."
This handy device will save your knees and so much more. The multi-use tool can be adjusted to use as a stool or kneeler, using the padded seat/mat. It also comes with a tool bag holder pouch, whiich secures to the side to keep all your garden essentials organised and secure. And it's foldable and lightweight, so it's super-easy to carry around and doesn't take up too much space.
A bestseller on Amazon, it has over 1,300 reviews, the bulk of which scoring it a perfect 5 stars. "Excellent buy, well made and so easy to use. Makes gardening so much easier," said one just last week. "It's compact and sturdy, good on the knees and easy to push yourself back up," says another.
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