Whether you've got flowers to pick, fruit and vegetables to harvest, or even eggs to gather, the best garden trug offers you a classic way to carry all kinds of garden produce. The best garden trugs can also provide you with a handy way to transport essential items around your outside space, such as your most reached-for handheld garden tools.
So much more than a basic bucket, Modern Gardens contributor Geoff Hodge extols the virtues of such a vessel: "You may not think that a trug is a must-have gardening accessory, until you're the proud owner and start using one! They combine practicality with ornamental good looks, and can be used for all manner of jobs, but primarily collecting and carrying your harvested homegrown fruit, vegetables, herbs and cut flowers."
Best garden trugs at a glance:
• Best traditional garden trug: Burgon & Ball Traditional Wooden Trug - View on Amazon UK
• Best garden trug colander: Tierra Garden GP184 Colander Trug - View on Amazon UK
• Best garden trug for flower picking: Sarah Raven Willow Flower Picking Trug - View on Sarah Raven
Trugs are a traditional garden accessory classically created from natural materials, but are now available as more modern options, such as robust plastic and flexible silicone. Hodge elaborates on the usefulness of such containers: "You can also use them to carry around small hand tools plus all the other bits and bobs of essential gardening equipment, such as twine and labels." Take a look at our selection of the best of all types of trug currently available.
Shop our pick of the top garden trugs below
Best traditional garden trug
Burgon & BallBurgon & Ball offer a traditional "Sussex" trug, so named from the area the classic design hails from. This is hand-made from natural materials; strips of FSC-certified populus wood that's fixed by sturdy brass pins and screws.
This is lightweight at 700 grams and easy to carry thanks to the over-sized wooden handle. This trug's attractive design will work as a fruit basket in your kitchen, and is a popular choice for using as a gardening-themed gift basket.
Pros
- Attractive traditional design makes for great decor
- Hand-made from natural materials
Cons
- Relatively narrow at just over 15cm
Best garden trug colander
Tierra Garden We love a multi-tasking garden product and this Tierra Garden option is just that, offering a traditional-style trug hand basket combined with the convenience of a colander design.
Whether you're washing off your potatoes with your garden hose or gently rinsing freshly-picked herbs in the kitchen sink, the built-in drainage holes will help. This is made of durable plastic, measures nearly 56cm long, and has two centrally-positioned handles for balance.
Pros
- Pre-drilled drainage holes so you can rinse produce
- Two robust handles that can be folded down
Cons
- Not the most lightweight at nearly one kilogram
Best garden trug for flower picking
Sarah Ravenwww.sarahraven.com
Garden trugs designed for collecting cut flowers and other foliage tend to be longer than standard trugs to make space for the stems, and generally have a flatter base so as not to damage any of your precious blooms.
This option from Sarah Raven is an elegant choice made from intricately woven willow whips that have been treated with an antique wash finish for cottage garden-style good looks. This trug has plenty of room for a potential bouquet measuring in at 66cm by 36cm.
Pros
- Attractive, intricately woven design
- Made of willow given a lovely antique wash finish
Cons
- Shallow sides mean this isn't suitable for larger garden produce
Best garden trug trolley
Garden PrideIf you're green-figured enough to have need for a large garden trug, a trolley-style option will make lugging large amounts of produce around your outdoor space less of an ordeal. This Garden Pride option gives you a 45-litre capacity trug bucket on a wheeled frame.
The frame has a rust-resistant plastic coating and is self-levelling for improved manoeuvrability. When you're done shifting your produce, the frame folds down for space-saving storage. The bucket part has two handles and can be used away from the frame.
Pros
- Frame folds flat for space-saving storage
- 45-litre capacity trug bucket is versatile for general garden use
Cons
- Reviewers say it's much easier to pull than push
Best wire basket garden trug
Sophie Conran/Burgon & Ball www.hartsofstur.com
Sophie Conran's "Harvest Basket" is a good all-rounder for fruit, veg, and ideal for collecting eggs, if you're fortunate enough to have a coop. Its powder-coated, galvanised steel, wire construction makes it sturdy and durable, and the gaps allow for any loose earth to fall through.
This stylish trug has a beech wood handle and for those that want neighbours or fellow allotment owners to know they buy the best, the basket has a brass seal bearing the "Sophie Conran for Burgon and Ball" logo. This measures in at 18cm by 28cm and stands 21cm tall, handle included.
Pros
- The basket has an FSC-approved beech handle
- Can be used indoors for rustic-style decor
Cons
- Dual handles are not collapsible
Best mini garden trug
Hutlzer This cute carrier is ideal for smaller-scale garden gathering, such as cutting herbs, collecting berries, or harvesting smaller salad crops. This trug is another colander-style option, allowing you to rinse produce while it's still in the basket.
This is made of food-safe, BPA-free silicone and can go through the dishwasher. This is very lightweight at less than 160 grams and measures in at 29.21cm by 15.24cm by 29.85cm. This "collect, carry, and clean" option is available in eggshell blue, pink, and green.
Pros
- Boasts a colander design to allow you to rinse produce
- Available in three contemporary colours
Cons
- Not suitable for toting chunkier fruit and veggies
Best silicone garden trug
Tubtrugs This affordable garden trug has garnered great reviews from Amazon customers who like its sturdiness and rate its overall usefulness for general garden tasks. When it comes to garden produce collection, this gives you a 15-litre capacity with a 33cm long length. Its shallow design means you can easily spot any pests that need picking out.
This comes in a range of bright colours, including pink, purple, and blue, so you'll always be able to spot it if you leave it outdoors. It's made of flexible, food-safe silicone. The two shallow handles are textured to give you a better grip, even with wet hands.
Pros
- Multi-purpose garden trug that has a wide variety of everyday uses
- Available in a range of fun colours that won't get lost in the undergrowth
Cons
- No drainage holes for easy rinsing
How we chose the best garden trugs
All of these garden trugs have been hand-selected by our team of Modern Gardens shopping experts. We carefully considered the design, functionality, and capacity in our selection of the best. Our team has spent hours investigating and researching trugs to make it easier for you to find the very best, and we'd never recommend a product we don't believe in.
Where possible, we also test and share the latest and best products you should know about. And with help from Modern Gardens Magazine, Garden News and Garden Answers, we share expert gardening knowledge to help you get the most from your product.
What to look for in a garden trug
Material - If you want to keep things traditional, wood or wicker is the way to go. The advantage of these kind of trugs, and some more attractive wire basket options, is that they can easily work indoors as fruit or veg containers thanks to their attractive looks.
More modern plastic and silicone versions are arguably more practical, being weatherproof, durable, and easier to keep clean.
Shape - The type of trug you need depends on what you're planning to gather. Trugs for flower picking, or for deadheading with your trusty garden scissors, are generally longer and more shallow to suit bloom collection. If you're harvesting fruit and veg, a deeper, larger trug will enable you to hold more produce.
Handle - If you're going to be harvesting from a standing position, a trug with a robust handle that you can loop over one arm is recommended. If you're going to be pulling up alliums or digging out root veg, a handle that folds down will help you fill your trug more efficiently.
Functionality - All a trug really needs to do is be capable of holding produce, but we're big fans of colander-style versions that allow you to rinse the produce you've collected, either with your garden hose outdoors, or in the kitchen sink, saving the need for a separate utensil.
The history of the simple garden trug
As with many of the garden tools we use today, trugs have a long history and have been employed for various outdoor tasks across centuries. Modern Garden's Geoff Hodge gives us a brief history lesson.
"The word trug is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word 'trog', which means boat-shaped vessel. During these times, when it’s believed trugs were first used, they were made from a hollowed-out piece of solid wood and used by farmers to weigh seeds and grain. Over the years, trugs evolved into the more practical, lightweight willow versions we see today."
"Traditionally, they were made by craftsmen in Sussex, and gave rise to the aptly named Sussex trug. Some of these original companies still make them today. A true Sussex trug is a light, but strong basket made from willow and has a sweet chestnut frame. The sweet chestnut traditionally comes from sustainable coppiced woods, whereas the willow used is often a waste product of the cricket bat industry."
"They still remain a firm favourite thanks to their strength and durability. With a minimum amount of maintenance, a Sussex trug should last a lifetime and even longer, as it is usually possible to repair damaged ones."
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Amy-Mae Turner is a Commerce Content Writer for Modern Gardens, Yours, Take A Break Pets, and A Modern Kitchen. When she's not pottering in the garden or mucking around in the kitchen, she can be found having doggy cuddles with her two beloved cockapoochis.