8 Home Depot Items Every Homeowner Should Stock Up On For Summer

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The beginning of summer means more time spent outdoors building stuff, working in the garden, or just relaxing. It's also a great time to head down to your local Home Depot outlet to take advantage of summer deals. Whether your focus is entertaining on the patio with an outdoor dining set, flexing your green thumb with lawncare, or creating a comfort space inside and outside your home via air conditioning and solar lighting, you need tools and supplies, and what better time to get them than when they're on sale?

You might be able to find better deals online, but one of the advantages of big box stores like Home Depot is that you can actually see and feel items before you buy them. That's probably one reason why Home Depot always seems to be full of contractors and DIY homeowners, and why it stays open until 10 PM to accommodate them. If you head on down to your local outlet to take advantage of discounts on summer supplies, or even if you prefer to shop online, check out these deals. 

For this rundown, we chose products with a minimum rating of 3.9 and at least 100 reviews. Most of the items are currently on sale, so value for money was another consideration when shortlisting products.

A green lawn needs a high-nitrogen fertilizer at the beginning of summer when its growth is most vital, but you don't want to feed the weeds. Preen One Lawncare is a 24-0-6 fertilizer that includes weed-blocking additives that keep them from turning your lawn into an open field. Rated 4.1 across 400-plus reviews, it's on sale for $30. "My lawn is much thicker and greener with no weeds and I am very well satisfied," wrote one customer. One application at the beginning of summer should nourish your lawn throughout summer. Use a spreader to distribute it evenly and avoid burning the grass. 

A patio isn't very useful without furniture, but outdoor furniture tends to be either too bulky or too flimsy. The Nuu Garden 5-Piece Set, which is rated 4.5 across over 260 reviews, strikes a good balance between these extremes, with customers noting that it's easy to move around but sturdy enough to stay where you put it. Currently on sale for $408, it has a middle-of-the-road sale price to match. The chairs are covered with a breathable fabric, and they swivel and rock. The table has splayed legs for stability, adjustable feet, and a hole for an umbrella. 

You're going to need an umbrella to enjoy your patio in the hot sun. The Costway Steel Market Tilt Solar Patio Umbrella can stand by itself or fit into the hole of your outdoor patio table. Rated 3.9 across nearly 130 reviews and down to $106, customers say it provides the shade you need when the sun is up and atmospheric lighting when it goes down. "The solar LED lights make it so enjoyable at night," wrote one. Don't worry about plugging it in: The light is provided by solar fixtures that charge while the umbrella is protecting you. 

Ryobi is a budget brand, but its tools are good enough for contractors. You'll need such tools for your summer home improvement projects. The store typically bundles Ryobi tools in combo packs, and this Combo Kit is one of the most complete. It includes a circular saw, reciprocating saw, and oscillating tool, along with a work light, a pair of drills, a battery, and a charger. Rated 4.7 across over 9,000 reviews and on sale for $200 (down from $300), one customer wrote, "It has every tool I need for my projects around the house."

You need to water your lawn even if you don't fertilize it. Besides a 100-foot hose and nozzle, the Hose Reel Cart, Hose, Nozzle, Sprinkler, and Brass Adapter Combo (rated 4.2 with over 16,000 reviews and down from $163 to $159) includes a cart for easy transport and storage and a sprinkler that you can move around the yard. "Hose reel easy to handle and good mobility," wrote a reviewer. The brass adapter has two outlets, so you can still use your faucet while the sprinkler is on. 

Solar landscape lighting provides an effective way to brighten up your outdoor space on balmy summer nights. Rated 4.2 with almost 4,000 reviews, customers say the Hampton Bay Outdoor Solar Spotlight is perfect for highlighting features in the yard and garden. "Enough for highlighting a 6-8 foot landscape feature very well," wrote a reviewer. On sale for $8, it's inexpensive enough to allow you to deploy more than one. And you don't even have to turn them on or off: They're automatic. 

When the summer heat becomes oppressive, you need an air conditioner, but if you install one in the window, it will only cool the room it's in. Instead of deploying window units throughout the house or going to the expense of installing a central A/C unit, consider the Whynter 9,500 Portable Air Conditioner. Rated 4.2 across 2,000-plus reviews and on sale for $500, customers note you can move it into any room you want (as long as that room has a window suitable for attaching the vent hose). It will cool a room as large as 500 square feet. 

Along with warm temperatures, summer also brings bugs, and nothing can ruin a twilight gathering faster than a hoard of mosquitoes. Rated 3.9 with over 1,600 reviews, the Black Flag Bug Zapper comes with an attractant to lure them and a powerful electric coil to send them wherever mosquitoes go when they die. It will do the same for flies, moths, and wasps, and it's effective over an area that covers an average size yard. "Haven't been bit by mosquitos since I began using this zapper," wrote one reviewer.