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If you’re looking to replace or add to your existing collection of gardening tools, we’ve rounded up our top picks that offer great value for money.

Spending more on a gardening tool can get you more power, more features and a well-known brand name, but it doesn’t always guarantee a quality model. Our rigorous testing proves that it pays to read reviews before you buy.

We’ve curated a selection of good-value-for-money options to help get you started.

To take a look at all of our reviews, go to the garden tools homepage.

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We’ve uncovered several Best Buy models under £250. Often, if you spend more on a lawn mower you’re paying for certain features rather than guaranteed better performance. These can include wider cutting widths for larger lawns, self-propelled functions  to make the mower easier to push or longer battery life in the case of cordless mowers.

As is the case with most products, price is very rarely an indication of how ‘good’ your lawn mower actually is. There’s no way of knowing for definite how well it will cut your grass until you put it to the test in your garden. If you’re trying to stick to a budget, though, don’t feel like you need to fork out money you don’t have to land yourself a reliable model.

This corded mower is easy and comfortable to use with some great features for the price. It would be best suited to a medium-sized lawn.

Read the full Bosch Universal Rotak 550 review to discover what we made of this lawn mower.

The cheapest grass trimmers tend to be corded electric models, which you can buy for as little as £20. However, in our tests we’ve found that buying a very cheap grass trimmer is often a false economy.

You can bag yourself a Best Buy electric grass trimmer for around £50, so you don’t need to spend much more to get a decent model.

Cordless models are more expensive. The cheapest Best Buy is around £115, and this is suitable for lighter tasks around the garden such as lawn edging. However, for a more powerful grass trimmer with a longer-lasting battery, you can expect to pay upwards of around £250.

Petrol grass trimmers tend to cost more than both cordless and electric models. They’re best suited to heavy-duty tasks, and it’s worth paying a bit more for a top-scoring petrol model.

This corded grass strimmer isn’t the cheapest model we’ve tested but it’s the cheapest all-purpose strimmer, so will be able to handle most jobs around your garden to provide the best value.

Read the full Black & Decker GL7033 review to discover what we made of this grass strimmer.

Corded electric hedge trimmers tend to be the cheapest. There are a few budget cordless hedge trimmers but the more powerful models with a high-voltage lithium-ion battery can cost more than £200. Be aware that the cost of a cordless hedge trimmer is sometimes quoted for sale without the battery.

Petrol hedge trimmers tend to be aimed at professional users that need the extra power and so you can pay upwards of £400 for a good model from a well-known brand.

Features that can bump up the price are wider teeth that are powerful enough to slice through bigger branches, which tends to require a larger motor.

The longer the blade, the bigger the price will be too. A longer blade will be able to cut more with each sweep but they do tend to be heavier.

A corded, lightweight hedge trimmer with a shorter blade and narrow-spaced teeth making it best suited for smaller hedges.

Read the full Bosch EasyHedgeCut 45-16 review to discover what we made of this hedge trimmer.

If you’re only after a chainsaw for occasional, domestic use then you can likely do without a top-end, powerful model and big-name brand. But bear in mind the cheaper models tend to be less robust and may not be able to cope with tough jobs such as sawing through very thick, hard, wood logs. Always have safety training before buying a chainsaw and wear full safety gear every time you use them as they can cause life-changing injuries.

This cordless chainsaw doesn’t have great battery life but it powers through jobs quickly and is a reasonable price for a cordless model.

Read the full Cobra CS35040VZ review to see what we made of this chainsaw.

The power and durability of the pressure washer will see the cost increase.

There’s real polarisation in the pressure-washer market, with loads of cheap models available for less than £100 in DIY and chain-stores. These often appear to have all the cleaning features you might want, at a low price. But they do tend to be cheaply made and lack the power to clean the toughest garden grime.

The best-known brands in pressure washers tend to be considerably pricier, but you generally get more robust products, built with better-quality materials. Longer hoses and power cables are useful, especially if you’re cleaning larger objects, such as caravans. They can be considerably more of a pleasure to use than cheap pressure washers, with more power and a quieter motor.

This compact pressure washer comes at a reasonable price for those who only have a small amount of patio to maintain.

Read the full Bosch EasyAquatak 120 review to discover what we made of this pressure washer.

If you want to spend less, be open to compromising (in the right places).

Consider what you need your new gardening tool to be able to do: what features are deal-breakers? How often will you use it? For a ‘no frills’ model intended for basic maintenance on a small/medium garden, you can get away with spending less as you won’t need the powerful specs and array of features that are available on some tools.

You’ll notice that the majority of our top picks are corded electric as these are often the cheapest.

Corded tools have the added benefit of not needing to charge them or buy fuel. However, you’ll be limited by the length of the power cable and may need to use an extension lead to reach certain areas of your garden. Always use a residual current device (RCD) and be careful to keep moving the cable out of your way.

For more taxing tasks in a larger garden, you’ll need more power if you want it to keep up with you and a product that is made from durable and robust materials.

Categories: Garden, Home & garden

Tagged as: cost of living