Gardena - Reviews and experiences

I was a bit annoyed when the pressure dial on the hose head popped off after a few months — I use it daily to water the vegetable patch and wash muddy boots, so it felt like a pain. Dug out the receipt, saw the five-year warranty and emailed Gardena UK with a photo. They asked for proof, I sent it, and within a couple of days they said a replacement was on the way. New spray head showed up today via FedEx. Not thrilled it broke, but the way they handled the swap was quick and painless, so I'm pretty satisfied now.

There was a week when dragging my old hose felt like an extra job I did not need. I got this reel mostly because my lower back was acting up and I was moving houses — needed something that would make watering easy. I hesitated; read mixed reviews and worried about that five-year warranty not meaning much. Bought it anyway. For two years it was great, smooth and no fuss. Then it started to stick. I emailed, sent videos and the invoice — took a few tries but support finally picked it up and sent a replacement part, which fixed it. A little annoying to deal with, sure, but now it works like new and I’m actually glad I bought it.

Right when the trolley started weeping I thought, not again — I first noticed these at the garden centre years ago and even tipped my neighbour to buy one. The unit itself is solid, when it runs it's smooth and makes watering easier, so credit where it's due. But getting replacement bits felt impossible, like people at customer service had never heard of spares. I was pretty sceptical about buying a new one, worried I'd be tossing another thing in the landfill, yet after fiddling and finally finding a workaround it’s been fine. So yeah, good hardware, awful support — that mix drove me crazy but now I can at least use it.

I'm not happy with the unit, though it mostly works for basic watering. I bought the Gardena system because I needed automated irrigation while I recover from a bad back and couldn't be lugging hoses every few days. The pressure reducer didn't actually settle near the 1.5 bar it was meant to, so connectors kept popping off and I had leaks. I called customer service, spoke with Libby and explained the situation; she was polite but getting them to accept my claim dragged on because they needed an Amazon invoice. Downloading the invoice was a pain and took ages, and since then it's been radio silence. It's not a total loss—system does the job when I babysit the pressure—but support and follow-up were disappointing and I feel out £130.