Click & Grow

What's in the box: Pre-seeded Plant Pods, usually in 3-packs of herbs like basil, cilantro or peppermint, that slot straight into a Click & Grow smart garden.

Click & Grow is an Estonian company that sells countertop smart gardens and the pre-seeded Plant Pods that go in them. The idea is simplicity. You drop pods into the garden, refill the water tank every few weeks, and the built-in light and watering system does the rest. The company says its gardens and pods are designed to work together as one system and points to 17 years of research and nine patents behind it. Gardens run from the Smart Garden 3 at $124.95 and the Smart Garden 9 at $249.95 up to the larger Smart Garden 27 at $899.95 and the Click & Grow 25 at $949.95. Refills come in 3-packs, and herbs such as basil, cilantro, peppermint and rosemary are listed at $14.95 each. The ongoing cost is those pods. Once you own a garden, you keep buying refills to keep it growing. That closed system is the main trade-off. It takes the guesswork out for beginners, but it ties you to the brand's pods, and each plant costs more than it would from seeds and soil. Prices are shown in US dollars, and orders over $150 ship free. The site does not clearly lay out recurring delivery terms up front. If you want fresh herbs on the counter all year with very little effort, this is a polished and well-established choice.