Who says gardening can't be fun? Five games you can play with smart gardening gadgets

Everybody enjoys a lush and thriving green garden, but the hard work required to get it to blossom can put some potential enthusiasts off. If so, how about repurposing your gardening gadgets and turning outdoor chores into something far more fun? Think this is impossible? Then read on.

It’s pretty hard – and very expensive – to get into Formula 1 or the World Rally Championship. However, with just a garden mower, a lawn and a stopwatch it is perfectly possible to enjoy your own domestic version of these popular motorsports.

You can replicate a time trial or qualifying stage from the comfort of your own backyard, simply by timing how long it takes to finish mowing the lawn, then seeking to best that time on every subsequent mow. Just set a start point, fire up the most powerful garden gadget in everyone’s shed and get cutting.

This is a great game for all ages. By installing a garden gadget like GARDENA’s Premium Full or Part Circle Pulse Sprinkler [http://www.gardena.com/int/products/watering/sprinkler/] you can use it to play a new version of the jump rope game. Simply set the Pulse Sprinkler to spray on full circle and turn it on. All players must stand within the radius of the sprinkler’s range and attempt to jump over the water jet before it sprays them. If you get wet, you are eliminated from the game; the winner is the last dry person standing.

When spring comes around it’s time to get your garden ready for summer. As part of this process, you can use gardening gadgets like a hand weeder or a weeding trowel to take care of the weeds that sprung up over winter.

This doesn’t have to be a solo effort, however. You can get the whole family involved by turning it into a gardening games event: who can pull up the most weeds in a set period of time. Allocate a decent enough prize (e.g. dinner out, a trip to the movies) for the winner, and watch your garden become a weed-free zone.

This is a simple guessing game with a lot at stake. Line up your gardening gadgets on a table in no particular order and cover them with sheet you can’t see through. The first player must step up to the table, slide their hands under the sheet and try and guess what the first item in the line-up is in no more than 10 or 20 seconds.

If they get it right, it’s the next player’s turn. If the time runs out and they haven’t identified the gadget, they have to use it to perform the garden task it is designed for. Harsh, but them’s the rules.

Come autumn time, if your garden has any trees or hedges in it, the likelihood is that it is going to be covered in leaves. Fortunately, the more there are, the more fun you can have. Once again, you can get your family and friends involved, as long there is a good enough prize for the winner.

Once all the participants have assembled, give each one a sack and a gardening gadget designed for sweeping up leaves, such as a rake for leaves on grassy areas or a broom for leaves on hard surfaces, and set an allotted time in which they must all work within. When time’s up, the person who has filled their sack the highest wins the prize.

Summer time is meant for enjoyment, and with these simple ideas you will not only get the gardening work done but spend some happy time with family and friends as well.