What can be better than hot summer day, lounging in the garden with a barbecue sizzling away and a cold glass of wine in ones hand, listening to the silence that comes with a rare day off?

Easy – a garden full of gadgets could be much better!

The barbecue that cheats

Take that barbecue, for instance, have you just spent a frustrating hour trying to get the coals to light, and wasted a bottle of lighter fuel in the process? If so, why? Just get down to your local garden supplies centre, and buy a gas-fired barbecue, one that cheats, but cheats well. Simple to light, with refillable gas canisters, you can have a beautiful barbecue in seconds, and even more time to relax.

What about the lawn – does it need cutting? Of course, summer is the season when the grass grows quickest, and we all know what a chore it is to have to get the mower out every week and waste an hour going up and down.

Watch the grass get cut

Well, that is no longer the case, for while sitting there drinking wine and watching your gas barbecue cook the steaks, the lawn could be cut for you, by a robot lawn mower!

Robot mowers are all the rage, as people take to the decking on summer evenings and a small vehicle runs around the lawn, bouncing off the carefully hidden wires that you’ve used to define the edges, cutting as it does. Programmed to run for a set time, or just left to run at random, these gadgets are the must have summer item, providing not just a useful tool but a talking point too. Worryingly, though, they don’t know the difference between grass, a naked foot, or a rabbit, so it’s important to keep children and animals clear!

Garden lighting

And talking of warm, balmy summer evenings isn’t it a shame when darkness descends and everyone has to return indoors?

Well, yes, it is, but that’s only the case if you haven’t invested in the latest in garden lighting – the solar powered light.

These come in all shapes and sizes, and take their power from the sun during the day before coming to life automatically as a built in sensor notices dusk descending – a fabulous effect that adds to the magic of the occasion, or simply lights up an ordinary summer evening in the garden.