Best Deals on Grills, Lawn Care Tools, and More Outdoor Essentials

This Neutrogena spray is very good in overall performance across the board, with excellent UVA protection and very good protection from sunburn-producing rays. It does not meet its labeled SPF 50 in CR’s tests, but the protection is still adequate. It has a moderately strong tropical, fruity aroma and leaves a slightly greasy film and a notable sheen on the skin.

This CR Recommended sunscreen is more than 30 percent off right now. It’s above average for UVA protection and SPF, and it’s water-resistant for up to 80 minutes. Just note that with spray sunscreens, it can be harder to know if you’re getting even coverage, so CR suggests spraying the sunscreen into your hands and then applying it to your body to help ensure better coverage. 

These stand-out repellent wipes from Ben’s are among the top-performing products in CR’s testing. You can get them for 20 percent off during this sitewide sale—the discount will apply after you add it to your cart. With 30 percent deet as their active ingredient, they earn a top rating for protection against mosquitoes. They’re only about average when it comes to their tendency to damage clothing fabric - so if you’re concerned, test one on an inconspicuous spot.

At the very top of our ratings, the stainless steel Cuisinart Cleanburn Fire Pit burned beautifully regardless of how large a fire we built in it. It’s also fast to light and burns wood more thoroughly than any other model, resulting in less smoke and less waste. Cleaning is simple, too—the ash collects at the center, in part because of its rounded shape, and falls into a dedicated tray that you can remove easily. Its especially deep design holds more wood than some other options, making this model a great pick for larger fires fit for a crowd.

The Pi pizza oven is Solo Stove’s first foray into outdoor ovens, and it’s a winner. The oven is solid as a rock, thoughtfully designed, and turns out great pizzas every time it’s used. Our tester found it supremely easy to cook with, using either gas or charcoal, and it’s equally simple to switch between the two modes by installing the gas burner. The circular shape is naturally conducive to making a pizza, and our tester pointed out that it’s vastly preferable to the cylindrical or oblong designs you’ll find on many other ovens. 

Who says you have to drop hundreds on a trendy freestanding pizza oven to make a perfect pie? If you own a grill, all you need is an attachment like this one from BakerStone. Throw it right onto the grates of your grill. The grill provides the heat, and while we didn’t try this grill-compatible model, we did try the BakerStone with a dedicated gas burner and found we got great results.

The three-burner Napoleon Freestyle 365 F365DPGT delivers strong all-around performance, and Lowe’s has the best price we’ve ever seen. This small gas grill earns top scores for indirect cooking. Its temperature range and quick ability to preheat quickly and cook evenly are impressive as well. Napoleon, as a brand, received ace ratings for reliability and owner satisfaction for its gas grills in CR’s latest member surveys. Overall, it’s slightly sturdier than the Weber and quicker to heat, but you sacrifice some evenness across the cooking surface.

The Cuisinart CGG-306 is a tabletop propane gas grill with two separate 10,000-BTU burners that offer a wide range of temperatures, as proven in CR tests. It preheats faster than most of its kind, and it’s quite solid at spreading heat evenly across the surface. Weighing just 24 pounds, this compact grill easily fits in any car, making it great for camping trips and picnics (make sure to set aside room for the propane tank, as well). Cuisinart offers a generous 3-year warranty.

These flat skewers are a great choice for your grilling needs this year. Unlike round skewers, they keep even really tender foods (like scallops) from spinning, making it easy to turn each kebab. With this coupon, you can get them for a hefty discount.

ThermoPro’s SmartBT Meat Thermometer TP920 is one of the lower-priced leave-in two-probe wireless thermometers. It sends instant temperature readings to your smartphone via Bluetooth, offering excellent response time and accuracy. The easy-to-use app estimates the remaining cooking time for nearly all cuts and varieties of meat based on guidelines from the Department of Agriculture

If your umbrella requirements are simple and you want one that’s lightweight, portable, and has enough features to keep it steady on a calm day, the Sport-Brella Core Vented Upright Beach Umbrella may satisfy your needs for a lower price than some others. The canopy pole inserts into the base easily and lifts up to click into place without effort. Taking it down is also simple. It lacks a built-in sand anchor, though, and doesn’t have fold-down handles, either.

The Grand Patio umbrella is one of the more expensive patio umbrellas we tested and one of the larger options in our ratings. It got above-average scores in CR’s tests for ease of use and assembly, but it’s a little less rigid than higher-scoring models.

NYC Plant Doctor Christopher Satch, who’s a professor of plant biology and pathology at The New York Botanical Garden, always starts with insecticidal soap when faced with unwelcome visitors in his garden. “It’s superior to neem [oil] in that it not only has a greater efficacy at killing insects due to its mode of action but also doesn’t hurt the plant like neem oil can,” Satch says. “Neem oil suffocates the plant over time by the oil clogging the plant pores.”

Satch recommends this insecticidal soap from Bonide, which can be used on shrubs, trees, flowers, ornamental greens, and garden vegetables.

A tool that Lorin Nielsen always finds herself reaching for is the Power Planter DIY Guru Auger, a drill bit tool. The head horticulturist at Epic Gardening—an online destination that offers advice and techniques for cultivating a garden—employs this 3-inch-wide auger bit for a hand drill and uses it to bore into hard-packed soil to easily plant dahlia bulbs or loosen the soil before transplanting in veggies. “I also find myself reaching for it to help blend amendments or mix together batches of potting mix in my garden cart,” Nielsen says.

The Ego ST1502SA battery string trimmer edges and trims as well as the best gas models, and it does a stellar job of clearing through tall grass and weeds. At just over 10 pounds, it’s extremely light. It will go anywhere a gas model can, but its run time is limited to about a half-hour in our tests—similar to the Makita above. If you splurge on the well-rated Ego LM2135 battery push mower, you can use the batteries interchangeably and always have one charging. Ego earned above-average predicted reliability and outstanding owner satisfaction scores for battery string trimmers in CR’s member surveys.

The Ego LB7654 delivers all-star performance across the board, adept at loosening and sweeping, all in an easy-to-handle package despite weighing 9.9 pounds. In addition, this electric blower comes with a generous five-year warranty. As a brand, Ego battery handheld leaf blowers are very reliable and earn a top mark for owner satisfaction in our latest member surveys.

This Black+Decker BEBL7000 leaf blower has a well-performing built-in vacuum function, making it easy to gather leaves into the included collection bag for composting or easy discarding. The bag connects using a flexible tube, making it easy to handle and maneuver. It’ll move leaves with very respectable efficiency (up to 250mph), and leave little impact on your ears and neighbors. You’ll have multiple speeds at your disposal to tackle any job.

The Ego LB7654 delivers all-star performance across the board, adept at loosening and sweeping, all in an easy-to-handle package despite weighing 9.9 pounds. In addition, this electric blower comes with a generous five-year warranty. As a brand, Ego battery handheld leaf blowers are very reliable and earn a top mark for owner satisfaction in our latest member surveys.

For a competitive price, the spartan Ego LM2114 performs commendably, with a respectable run time of almost an hour on one battery. Cutting evenness, noise, and handling are excellent, and it does a solid job of mulching, bagging, and side discharging. This 21-inch-wide push mower doesn’t have high wheels for better maneuvering and doesn’t include a second battery. The battery takes about an hour and a half to charge. It has a three-year warranty, which is fairly standard among the higher-rated battery push mowers in our ratings. Ego battery mower predicted reliability is very good, and owner satisfaction is excellent.

This Greenworks pressure washer gets solid ratings in CR’s tests, especially when it comes to ease of use, where it got top marks. It also scored above average for cleaning and noise. It gets a middling score for power. Our testers also noted that it has a manual trigger lock, a small spray angle, and a shorter hose than most models, all of which are less than ideal. On the flip side, we found that it’s very effective at removing stains, and it’s easy to move and operate.

Despite its relatively low price, this 40-volt battery-powered chainsaw from Skil earned high marks for cutting and a top score for safety. It also did well in handling and ease of use. This model was selling for $149 last week at a few retailers, including Amazon and Lowe’s.

It’s hard to contend with the value offered by the Gigalumi Grid Solar Pathway Lights, especially at this new low price. Their cost is lower (on a per-light basis) than just about any other path light we’ve seen, and yet they earn solid marks for both light duration and ease of use. The light cast comes from a single LED in each of the lights—casting a dimmer glow than the other products we tested.

That may not be a dealbreaker if you’ve got supplemental lighting elsewhere or if you’re using these strictly to create ambience. There’s a single setting, an on/off button, and a removable battery, but the lights can’t be charged or angled.

The Lerekam Solar Spot Lights are among the priciest outdoor ones, but you get unrivaled performance. In our tests, they earned top marks for light duration and ease of use. They can be angled, installed with ground spikes (included), or screwed to other surfaces. They have an on/off button and can be recharged with a USB cable (also included). Each of the lights in the six-pack has 40 LEDs, resulting in intense white light that shines wide over an area, not unlike a flashlight. That makes them ideal as spotlights. They’d be great for drawing attention to a water feature or an ornamental tree, but they can also be pointed down to illuminate a path or walkway.