Spruce up your garden ready for summer outdoor living

Summer is upon us, and we're hopeful the rain will disappear soon, and we can get outside to make the most of the sunshine when it returns. Our gardens need to look their best ready for a full calendar of parties and BBQs, as well as being the perfect family hangout space where you can kickstart the summer holidays with the kids. Summer is a busy time, so make sure to carve out a moment to enjoy some peace and quiet in your favourite sunny corner, too. Rather than splash out on getting a gardener in, there are plenty of easy-to-achieve jobs and mini-makeovers you can do yourself to get your garden looking its best in no time. 

We’ve rounded up some of our favourite ways to transform your garden space, from creating the perfect manicured lawn to wildflower landscaping ideas and creative hedge trimming! There’s a tool from the Bosch Home & Garden range for every job, so you can make easy work of revamping your space, leaving you with plenty of time to enjoy it.  

Ensure your lawn looks its best

The easiest way to tidy up your garden, and make it look instantly more ‘finished’ is doing a quick whizz round your lawn with a mower. It’ll give the impression of a well-tended space, even if you’re not always on top of all your other garden tasks, so make it first on your list if you’ve got a last-minute visit from family or friends or for an impromptu BBQ on a sunny day.

A must-have tool for any well-stocked garden shed or garage, if you’re looking for a lawn mower that’s designed to make the job quick and easy, Bosch’s new UniversalRotak 2x18V-37-550 is our top pick. Designed to make mowing medium to larger-sized lawns a cinch, it boasts two 18V batteries, which allow it to deliver high 36V power performance, and the brushless motor and Bosch Syneon technology ensure a longer lifetime by drawing just as much energy needed from the battery and no more. The 18V batteries are part of the cross-brand Bosch 18V POWER FOR ALL ALLIANCE. The 18V battery system allows more than 100 tools from 11 partner brands to be operated with one and the same 18V battery, helping to save not only space and money, but resources as well.

It can tackle short or long grass thanks to the adjustable cutting height – a great way to add contrast and dimension to your lawn. It's able to create clean edges along flower beds and pathways using the GrassCombs, which guide the grass blades into the cutting bowl, for perfectly clean lawn edges, or areas next to fences or walls. This mower has a 37cm cutting width, and the grass cutting height can be easily adjusted from 25mm to 70mm.

Like a wilder look, and have welcomed wildflowers in your garden? If you have meadow areas, you can mow pathways through them to link up different zones in the space. To keep things tidy and save you having to clear up grass cuttings once you’re done, the UniversalRotak has a 40L fabric grass collection bag, and the integrated bag-full indicator will alert you when it needs emptying.

Create clean edges

Make sure borders and pathways are looking their best by giving the edges the attention they need. Nothing says ‘well maintained’ more than a clean finish, and that gives your garden a smart polished look. The EasyGrassCut 18V-26 from Bosch Home & Garden’s range is the tool of choice for this job. 

What do we love about it? It’s cordless, so there’s no faffing with power cables and extension leads, plus with a fully charged 2.0 Ah battery, the trimmer can cut the equivalent of the edges of up to six tennis courts in one go, which means no running out of power halfway through. The semi-automatic spool line also helps make for a hassle-free and uninterrupted cutting experience with no need for manual adjustments.

It’s lightweight and well-balanced, making it much easier to use. There’s also a brilliant EdgeSimple function, switched on with a tap and a twist of the handle for perfect edging results. This clever and versatile option offers you the choice between trimming and edging, so you can navigate those hard-to-reach areas with precise results. 

Cut back shrubs and hedges

Trust us when we say it’s hard to find a more satisfying garden job than hedge and shrub trimming! You can make a huge visual impact super quickly, which means it’s a great task to tick off if you’re looking for something that takes minimal effort but offers maximum reward. Whether you want to tidy up your box hedges for an Instagram-worthy look and ramp up your curb appeal, or embrace your creativity to create unusual shapes and unique sculptures, Bosch’s EasyHedgeCut 18V-52-13 is the perfect tool to cut and shape hedges. 

Use the EasyHedgeCut to create more valuable space in your garden by cutting back overgrown shrubs or hedges – giving you some valuable extra room to squeeze in a new seating area or add a trampoline for the kids. Another lightweight and cordless option from the Bosch Home & Garden range of tools, you’ll be able to get around the space easily with this hedge cutter. It has a 52cm blade length and 15mm tooth spacing for light trimming work, and the Bosch Anti-Blocking System means non-stop cutting, so you’ll get the job done in no time. 

Harvest rainwater

Let’s face it, if it’s a typical British summer, rain is inevitable! But turn it to your advantage and gather the rainwater to use to water your garden – re-energising your pots, beds and planters in the dry periods. The GardenPump 18V-2000 from Bosch is suitable for a wide range of rainwater tanks, including those with open or closed tops due to its wall and tank attachments, plus larger tanks of up to 1.8m deep thanks to its 2.5m long cable and 2.5m hose. It’ll operate for up to 30 minutes long and 25 metres from the pump, with a powerful flow and spray projection to make watering the garden a breeze.

Fancy knocking one more job off your to-do list? Use the GardenPump’s timer function, which comes with three settings, and connect it to your sprinkler or irrigation system, so it’s one less thing to have to remember during the busy summer holidays. It’s a helping hand for your water conservation efforts, as you can customise watering schedules to suit each plant's specific needs. 

To make life simpler, all mentioned tools are part of the cross-brand 18V POWER FOR ALL ALLIANCE battery system.