The ‘gorgeous' £10 buy that provides pretty colour and lights up your garden or terrace ‘all-year long'

The Sun

12-06-2025

SHOPPERS are racing to snap up a set of string lights designed to brighten up outdoor spaces while blending in with softer garden aesthetics.
These LED string lights adorned with warm white bulbs and artificial pink roses offer a simple way to introduce light and colour to gardens.
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Retailing for £10 at The Original Factory Shop, the LED rose string lights promise to suffuse gardens, terraces and gazebos with warmer hues.
The product description reads: "It's a great no-fuss addition to any garden, terrace or gazebo, providing light in those darker corners and colour all year long."
The faux foliage and rose detailing aim to replicate the look of real climbing plants without the maintenance.
While not a replacement for outdoor lighting, the set can be a low-effort ambient addition to a space.
The Original Factory Shop (TOFS) is a British discount department store chain established in 1969 by Peter Black.
Its first store opened in Keighley, West Yorkshire, and it originally sold surplus soap produced by one of Black's factories.
TOFS today operates over 180 stores across the UK.
It comes as an expert revealed to The Sun seven ways to make a garden look bigger.
One easy method is to create zones, according to Ivana Agustina, Head of Project Management at ShrubHub, an online landscape design service.
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Agustina said: "The human brain perceives multiple small experiences as more substantial than one uniform space.
'By dividing your garden into zones – perhaps a dining area, a lounge space, and a planting section – visitors mentally 'travel' through your garden, making it feel much bigger.'
Another approach is to train climbing plants to grow up trellises or along walls.
Agustina explained: "Vertical gardening is both practical and visually expanding.
'By drawing the eye upward with wall-mounted planters, trellises with climbing plants, or tall, narrow planters, you create height that makes the garden feel more spacious.'
Meanwhile, Gardener's World recently named trumpet vines (Campsis) as one of the best plants for covering walls and fences that are an eyesore.
A well-kept garden can add anywhere between 5-20% to the value of a property.
Sellhousefast.uk carried out a study and consulted 36 estate agents, garden designers and property professionals from across the UK.
And the experts revealed the garden feature which adds the most value to a property is a shed.
Shed - 82%
Patio or paving - 76%
Secure fencing, walls or gates - 72%
Outdoor lighting - 66%
Sturdy decking - 62%
Water features eg. fountain or pond - 58%
Modern garden furniture - 54%
Artificial lawn/grass - 40%
These deciduous climbers produce striking tubular flowers in shades of red, orange or yellow, typically that bloom from late summer into autumn.
Known for their rapid growth, they can quickly cover trellises or frameworks, though experts recommend pruning annually to keep them in check.
While they thrive in warmer conditions, they are also frost-hardy once established.
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