GARDENA is a German brand specialising in residential garden care, with a product range spanning watering systems, garden tools, lawn care, irrigation, battery-powered equipment, robotics, and smart gardening solutions. Established in Ulm, Germany, in 1961, the company evolved from a small trading firm into one of Europe’s most recognised residential gardening brands. It currently operates as the Gardena Division of Husqvarna Group, with products distributed in over 100 countries.1

Rather than marketing standalone tools, GARDENA positions itself as a provider of interconnected systems designed to simplify garden maintenance. Its portfolio ranges from basic hand tools and hose connectors to automated irrigation networks and robotic mowers.

Foundation and early years

Werner Kress and Eberhard Kastner founded GARDENA in Ulm, West Germany, in 1961. Initially, the business operated as an importer of French garden tools rather than a manufacturer of proprietary systems.1

The company’s subsequent expansion was driven by a strategic shift towards compatibility. Instead of treating each tool as an isolated product, GARDENA began developing integrated systems of interchangeable accessories.

Original GARDENA System

A defining moment occurred in 1968 with the launch of the Original GARDENA System. This innovation allowed tap connectors, hose fittings, and watering devices to be connected and swapped rapidly. The system’s distinctive orange-and-grey colour scheme became synonymous with the brand.1

This release established a core operational principle that continues to define the company: a single system supporting multiple compatible products to streamline gardening tasks. By creating an ecosystem where accessories function together seamlessly, GARDENA eliminated the need for consumers to source incompatible components from different manufacturers.

Expansion into system gardening

Following the success of its watering system, GARDENA applied the modular concept to other product categories. Key developments included:

• 1973: Introduction of cordless gardening with the Accu Grande grass-edging shear.
• 1977: Launch of the GARDENA combisystem, a modular platform allowing various tool heads to attach to a common handle.
• 1990: Release of the accu-system V12, Sprinklersystem, and Micro-Drip-System.1

These milestones marked the company’s transition from a simple tool supplier to a comprehensive garden-care systems provider.

Husqvarna Group acquired GARDENA in 2006. At the time of acquisition, GARDENA was described as a European leader in consumer irrigation products with significant market share in garden tools, ponds, pumps, and electric garden equipment.1

Since becoming part of Husqvarna Group in 2007, GARDENA has maintained considerable brand independence while leveraging the parent company’s resources and technical expertise. Today, it stands alongside Husqvarna as one of the group’s principal global brands. Husqvarna Group conducts operations primarily under these two brands, serving customers in more than 100 countries.2

GARDENA offers a broad portfolio for residential use, generally categorised into six key areas.

Watering

Watering remains the category most closely identified with the brand. Products include:

• Garden hoses and hose connectors
• Tap connectors and spray guns
• Oscillating and circular sprinklers
• Irrigation controllers and automatic systems
• Pumps and micro-irrigation components
• Underground sprinkler systems
• Smart irrigation products

The Original GARDENA System laid the groundwork for this extensive range. Husqvarna Group currently identifies the Gardena Division as the global market leader in residential watering and smart gardening systems.2

Lawn care

Lawn care offerings combine traditional mechanical equipment with automated technology:

• Lawn mowers and robotic lawn mowers
• Grass shears and lawn edging tools
• Rakes, aerators, and scarifiers
• Battery-powered lawn equipment

Recent innovations integrate artificial intelligence into lawn maintenance. For instance, the smart SILENO sense robotic mower utilises camera-based AI navigation for lawns up to 600 m². Husqvarna Group highlighted this model as a key example of GARDENA’s advancement in smart gardening within its 2025 annual report.3

GARDENA combisystem

Introduced in 1977, the GARDENA combisystem exemplifies the brand’s philosophy of modularity. Users can pair a single handle with various interchangeable heads for raking, sweeping, hoeing, soil cultivation, weeding, cleaning, and lawn maintenance. This design reduces the need for multiple dedicated long-handled tools.1

Micro-Drip-System

Launched in 1990, the Micro-Drip-System delivers precise water volumes directly to plant roots rather than spraying entire areas indiscriminately. Applications include flower beds, vegetable gardens, hedges, potted plants, greenhouses, terraces, and balconies. This system reflects a broader industry shift towards precision irrigation and resource conservation.1

Smart gardening

In 2016, GARDENA launched the smart system, integrating digital controls and automation into garden management. Husqvarna Group describes this initiative as central to its strategy for sustainable gardening and optimised water usage.3

Capabilities include:

• Automated watering and irrigation scheduling
• Soil moisture and weather monitoring
• Connected pumps and robotic mowing
• Smartphone control and automated maintenance

Battery-powered products

GARDENA manufactures cordless equipment for grass cutting, hedge trimming, pruning, blowing, cleaning, and lawn maintenance. Strategic emphasis is placed on unified battery platforms, allowing power sources to be shared across multiple tools.

The brand participates in the POWER FOR ALL ALLIANCE, established in 2020 by Bosch and Husqvarna Group’s Gardena division. This cross-brand alliance enables battery compatibility across participating manufacturers’ products.4

GARDENA’s competitive identity rests on several core concepts:

1. System thinking: Products are designed as components of larger ecosystems rather than isolated items. The Original GARDENA System illustrates this approach, where a hose connector functions as part of a comprehensive watering network.
2. Ease of use: Design priorities favour residential homeowners over professional landscapers, emphasising accessibility and user-friendliness.
3. Modularity: Platforms like the combisystem allow single handles to support diverse applications through interchangeable heads.
4. Automation: Newer product lines increasingly automate repetitive tasks such as mowing and watering.
5. Resource efficiency: Smart watering and controlled irrigation technologies aim to optimise water consumption. Husqvarna Group’s 2025 annual report identifies smart watering, convenience, and resource efficiency as critical long-term growth drivers for the division.3

GARDENA maintains a distinct visual identity anchored by its signature orange colour, which has been associated with the brand since the 1968 introduction of the Original GARDENA System. The company regards this colour as an iconic element of its heritage.1

The brand’s visual language communicates practicality, technological reliability, accessibility, and modern European design. It frames gardening as a lifestyle activity rather than merely a chore, distinguishing GARDENA from brands focused exclusively on heavy-duty outdoor power equipment.

GARDENA primarily serves residential gardeners and homeowners, segmented into four broad categories:

Casual gardeners

Users requiring fundamental equipment such as hoses, watering accessories, pruners, hand tools, and sprinklers.

Enthusiastic home gardeners

Gardeners maintaining larger properties with lawns, vegetable patches, flower beds, hedges, trees, or greenhouses. This segment typically invests in complete GARDENA systems.

Technology-oriented homeowners

Early adopters interested in smart irrigation, robotic mowers, and connected garden equipment.

Sustainability-conscious gardeners

Consumers seeking to reduce resource consumption through efficient irrigation, battery-powered alternatives to petrol equipment, and automated garden management.

GARDENA and Husqvarna maintain distinct market identities despite sharing corporate ownership.

Both brands serve as pillars of Husqvarna Group’s global portfolio.2

GARDENA has historically maintained strong recognition in Europe for watering equipment and garden tools. Husqvarna Group’s 2025 annual report describes GARDENA as Europe’s leading residential gardening brand and the global leader in residential watering and smart gardening systems.3

According to the same report, the estimated global residential market for the division totals approximately SEK 70 billion, with Europe and North America constituting the largest geographic markets.3

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Sustainability has become integral to GARDENA’s positioning, particularly given the centrality of water management to its business. The company’s strategy incorporates technologies designed to deliver water precisely, automate irrigation, eliminate unnecessary watering, improve maintenance efficiency, replace petrol-powered equipment with battery alternatives, and automate repetitive tasks.

These initiatives address growing concerns regarding water scarcity, energy consumption, and resource efficiency in residential gardening. Husqvarna Group identifies smart watering as a significant long-term growth opportunity, driven partly by increasing demand for convenience and efficient resource use.3

GARDENA’s primary contribution to the industry extends beyond individual tools to the conceptualisation of the garden as an integrated system. Historically, gardening products were purchased as discrete items. GARDENA helped popularise an alternative paradigm centred on compatible systems, modular tools, and automation.

This evolution is traceable through the brand’s history: Original GARDENA System → combisystem → irrigation systems → battery systems → smart gardening → robotic gardening. Consequently, GARDENA has progressively shifted from manufacturing tools to providing comprehensive garden-management systems.

As of 2026, GARDENA operates as the Gardena Division of Husqvarna Group. Its portfolio encompasses traditional hand tools, watering products, irrigation systems, lawn-care equipment, battery-powered tools, robotic mowers, and connected smart-garden technologies.2

Husqvarna Group’s 2025 reporting characterises the division as offering the market’s most comprehensive range of gardening products for residential customers, while identifying smart gardening and automated solutions as priority areas for future development.3

1. About GARDENA – GARDENA history – GARDENA
2. Gardena Division | Husqvarna Group
3. About GARDENA – GARDENA history – GARDENA
4. About GARDENA – GARDENA history – GARDENA