Outdoor gear worth putting on your wishlist this spring

On the first warm Saturday of the year, half the street is out on the patio wondering where the garden chairs went. Meanwhile a lot of wishlists still have a wool jumper and an ice scraper on them. Nobody is buying you those in April, so giving the list a spring clean is worth an evening.

Start with the garden and the place you sit in it

The tools you use every week are the ones to put on the list. A pair of Felco secateurs costs more than the garden centre ones and outlasts three cheap pairs. Add a hori-hori knife for weeding, gloves that fit properly (the loose ones end up on the shed floor) and a metal watering can that does not crack in the first frost. Raised beds deserve a place too. They drain better and spare your back, and colleagues who want to chip in together can go for them as a group.

Once the beds are planted you want somewhere to sit and look at them. Put a specific bench or lounger on the list, with the link, so nobody guesses the colour. String lights and a fire pit do the most for spring evenings, when it is still 12 degrees at nine o'clock. People scoff at an outdoor rug until they have one.

Hiking and camping gear for the first trips

Spring walks come with mud, so waterproof boots come first. A 20-litre daypack and a merino base layer cover the rest for day trips. List the boots in the exact size and model, because a hiking boot is a bad thing to get as a surprise.

If you have weekends away in mind, camping gear opens up longer trips. A three-season tent, a sleeping bag rated for around 5 degrees and two folding chairs are the core. People tend to forget the small things, and those are easy for a friend to buy: a Petzl headlamp, a 10,000 mAh power bank, tick tweezers and insect repellent. Put them on the list next to the big items, so the friend with a small budget also has something to pick.

Hosting in the garden

A grill or a smoker usually ends up at the centre of everything, and it is the classic group gift for family who want to go in on something together. A Weber kettle is already a big gift and a decent pellet smoker costs four times as much, so name the exact model and let everyone who joins decide how much they put in.

Games keep guests in the garden longer than the food does. Kubb, Mölkky and a badminton set work for adults who claim they do not play games. For children, a slackline between two trees or a cheap kite will fill an afternoon. A slackline often stays up for several summers and still gets used before the trampoline.

Water, with or without a pool

Once it is properly warm, water takes over. If you have a pool, floating loungers, a waterproof speaker and LED lights stretch the swimming into the evening. Without a pool, a sprinkler, a water table for toddlers or a slip-and-slide does the same job on any lawn for a fraction of the price.

Near a lake or the coast, list the things that make a day out easier: an inflatable paddleboard, a 20-litre dry bag, quick-dry towels and a changing robe. The paddleboard is another one several people can share. The towels are for the aunt who wants to buy something small.

Keeping it all in shape

A pressure washer turns a green patio grey again in twenty minutes, and it is the tool everyone borrows and nobody owns. One of the cheaper Kärcher models is plenty for a terrace. Furniture covers, a weatherproof storage box and a soaker hose on a timer are the boring items that save the most effort over a season, and nobody buys them for themselves.

Pick the five things you would actually use before June and put those on first. If you do not have a list yet, create a wishlist and paste in the links tonight, while the garden chairs are still missing.