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Spring is waking up in the cottage garden, and today’s Wednesday Walkabout is all about the little “toys” that make gardening easier, lighter, and a whole lot more fun. We start with a real-life gardener problem: an expandable/flex hose that’s brand new… and already leaking. If you’ve found a flex hose that actually holds up (especially for long runs over steps, around brick walls, and down a slope), drop your tried-and-true recommendations in the comments so everyone can benefit.
As we stroll the fresh new border, you’ll see early spring joy popping up everywhere—daffodils (including mini varieties like Tête-à-Tête and possibly Jetfire), swelling buds, and the first signs of perennials returning. We also talk drip irrigation vs. hand-watering, why slope beds can be a drainage dream, and a low-maintenance idea that could be stunning later in the season: planting lilies for summer color and fragrance in a perfectly-draining, sun-kissed bed.
Then it’s time for the real favorites: lightweight, reliable garden tools that feel like “cottage-sized toys” (in the best way). From battery-powered essentials (blower, pruners, and a super quiet mower) to must-haves like a dolly/two-wheeler for moving heavy pots and a lightweight collapsible garden trug for cleanup, this episode is packed with practical gear talk for real-life gardening—especially if you’re working smarter and protecting your back.
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TOPICS IN THIS VIDEO:
Expandable garden hose problems + better brand recommendations
Early spring bulbs + daffodil varieties (mini & mixed plantings)
Drip irrigation, slope-bed drainage, and hand-watering strategy
Lilies for summer bloom + fragrance in a low-maintenance border
Favorite lightweight cordless garden tools for small gardens
Container planting notes + how to handle cachepots without drainage
Garden-season mindset: simple tools, simple wins, more time outside
#gardening #gardentools #cottagegarden #springgarden #daffodils #gardenhacks #cordlessmower #leafblower #dripirrigation #containergardening
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47 Comments
They all suck don't waste your money 💰
My flexi-hose did the same thing!😢. It continues to get more and more holes and only 6 months use.
Plumbers tape on hose fittings helps leaks. Also, I have had a positive experience with the Copper Bullet hose. Not sure if it is as long as you need.
I love just the white Easter Lillies I buy from grocery store on sale after Easter 😂
I'm with you Linda — the flex hose is a great idea with poor construction. I really like the flex hose and got a new one every spring for 3 years. Last summer I said no more! That said — I miss the flex hose (sigh).
The g2 zero hoses are great
i do not leave alot of comment's but when i do it is because i LOVE your video! so fun and so happy you got those chairs. d come to visit you, i live in Northern CA. but i will definitely meet you one day! Stewart you are amazing, Great Job!!!
Question for all you experts!! Are daffodils poisonous?!
I love the Stargazer Lilies, they are strong smelling and pink and white. I even have them in pots. This year I found Ismene Festalis Daffodil, they are white but very beautiful. Google them. Don't believe the info on the bag saying planting 8 inches deep, when I googled said plant the top of the bulbs out of the dirt. So I had to dig them up as I planted them in a pot with other plants on top. Already coming up.
I struggle with hoses too. Everyone says Hose Link but I have not tried.
Stargazer lilies are my signature flower and I've grown them for over 30 years. They would be stunning along your fence/flower bed. They smell wonderful and are easy maintenance. Casablanca(white) is also fabulous and the aroma is the strongest. I bought mine at Sam's but you can order online from most major growers.
Linda your boxwoods are looking really nice in the front garden.
Hi Linda, absolutely go with the asiatic lily, a beautiful pink or reddish pink would be amazing and the plant itself with give great verticle interest too, even though you have a lot of interest already, im always for more more more flowers haha, it would look amazing!
I can’t recommend Abyssinian Gladiolus enough! Most bulb specialists carry them, as well as nurseries.
My favorite garden toy continues to be my large Linda Vader QVC garden baskets. I purchased 2 in the grey, back in the day when they were available. They are lightweight, flexible and water resistant, I can leave my half basket full of garden weeds out in the rain, no problem. But best of all, I hang them on my fence when emptied and they look beautiful! I absolutely love them and now I convent them because they are irreplaceable. I have scoured the internet looking for a similar product but haven’t found anything that meet all the markers. Please find a way to bring them back, I love, love, love them and my poor husband is getting tired of me freaking out about what he is doing with them because of course they are his favorites too.
This is a hose I've had for five years and is kept outside in Chicago. Super reliable and a quality hose.
zero-G 4001-25 8 Inch by 25 Feet Lightweight, Ultra Flexible, Durable, Kink-Free Garden Hose, 5, 5/8" x 25', Gray
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Oh! Oh! OH! I just got my new garden toy, an electric yard cart!! My son put it together for me yesterday, and I LOVE it. I have to take bags of fertilizer, soil, and anything else I want to use, up a hill that goes up one story (a big slope) from my driveway to the front of my garden in Kentucky. After having a hairline fracture of my pelvis, then surgery to add stints, then a bleeding ulcer, and then a badly sprained ankle with bits of bone taken away from bones on my foot (Sept. 2024 – Apr. 2025), I needed an easy way to move all of that stuff! I wish I had had this before all of my health maladies, when I was shoveling piles of woodchips from the 4 85-foot maples I had had removed. At 75, I'm now able to move my bags of goodies with the push of a button while just walking behind it! My son wanted me to get an electric riding mower for this, but my cart is much easier to maneuver and store while letting me get some walking in there. These garden toys are great!! (I also love my electric pruners, blower, hedge trimmer, grinder and snow thrower) Love your garden, Linda!
Video yang inspiratif ❤👍👍…
I absolutely love the stargazer lilies!
I get my metal hoses from QVC all the time . I cater and love the little space they take up .. throw in a bucket
Lynda, every flex hose I have bought never lasted through the season. I’ve tried many different ones. Strong, extra strong you name it. I will never buy another.
I bought Titan hoses off Amazon. I have one that’s 75’ and one that’s 100’. I did replace one bc it had sprung a leak, but that was bc it had gotten caught on the thorns of a rose bush.
If you have neighborhood cats who visit your garden, please know that lilies can be fatally toxic to cats. Even rubbing against the plants and getting the pollen on their fur can lead to illness when they groom themselves.
Watching your channel is a breath of fresh air Linda! Goodmorning from Canada!🇨🇦
I have a few red highland asiatic lilies on the corner bed. They're quite the showstopper in full bloom. Dang water hoses have always been on my list of pet peeves, prob worse than seeing an envelope someone opened without a letter opener. Love the wicker chairs, Linda! Sweet daffodils first sign of spring 🌱🌿
yes lillies!
I liked mine until the leak happened😂
Love the wicker chairs! But what happened to no spend February?
No flex hoses plz. I love love Hoselink. You can move to faucet to faucet easily. Stores easily too. I too live in a cottage. Love your show.
Linda!!! Ooo. Ooo. Ooo. Yes do a lily garden, please include red spider lilies, surprise lilies ( aka naked lady), Easter lilies, Asian. I had giant (4 ft tall) lilies that were crazy fragrant. If the area likes lilies, yes, grow them.
Lavender would look. And smell gorgeous along the front of your new border. How about a few pink alliums in amongst the border, I love them.
Love the lilies along the walk idea. This year I’m trying a Roselily blend of pink and white. Super excited to see how they do!
Hi Linda
Didn’t you have a Hoselink at your old place? One of your all time best recommendations for me has been the lightweight metal hose. It changed my life!
Linda, I, too continue to be in search of a kink proof & leakproof garden hose. Have you not been satisfied with the metal hose you had in the front?
I would personally choose something other than lilies. They need too much dead heading and fragrance is quite powerful. How about alliums or cassia.
Thank you for the tip on WORX products, the pruning shears are in my basket. As well, hubby and I were in the City on Wednesday for a Dr appt and then shopped at K&N and met Jet, and we loved the store! We found a chandelier and Japanese bronze vase.
Your beautiful linda
Goodyear hose, best I ever had.
Linda, I have a question, WHEN does boxwood basil and feverfew germinate? I winter sowed seed them in milk jugs and they have not showed signs of life yet. All the other seeds HAVE germinated (Delphiniums, Lobelia Fountain, Thyme, 3 types of Milkweed, and Lupinus Chandelier) but it is my FIRST time trying the winter sowing method and I may be just too excited for them to come up! lol –sheila
Linda and Stewart good morning! Have lovely fantastic day! Hugs 🫂 and love!❤😊❤
Same experience for me with that flex hose!! Grrrr.
I live in the southwest and have success with yellow and yellow and orange mixed canna lillies.
👋zero -g hose, Lowe’s and Ace
Hi Linda — The proper tools are so important, making it easier and safer in the garden. I find my hand-truck to be indispensable! A quick tip for moving your potted plants using your hand truck – I take "pool noodles" and score them down the length and slip them over the vertical metal rods of the back of the hand truck, so the pots don't get damaged when you are moving them. Works like a charm!
Oh boy…that Dolly would have come in handy for me this past week. I’m ordering some garden things and some good potting mix and I didn’t realize how big the soil bags were! I was able to get them into my entryway but that was all I could do because 1) my arms gave out and 2) another big snowstorm here was brewing and I had to give them some shelter. I had to wait til my son-in-law could get over here to move them to my backyard, under some protection. So, in the entryway it was smelling like a pig farm with the amount of manure that was in this mix! Yuck. I hate to be a pest sometimes because I can’t do certain tasks by myself. I’m definitely getting the dolly and the Fiskars portable debris holder! That last one is a must too right now! I can’t wait to attend your live this afternoon – I recently joined as a member…after watching you for years!
Linda can I record this!
How I wish I can see a sign of spring here 🇨🇦 is been a cold and snowy winter