As the warmer months begin to creep up on us, looking out to the garden and seeing the dismal state it has been left in over the winter can be devastating. Most of the furniture has started to rust, there is moss covering your patio area, and weeds are popping up all over the lawn. Knowing where to begin with the garden can be challenging, especially if there is a lot of work to be done. The first thing that most of us think about is the financial cost when it comes to deciding whether to bother with improving the garden. Few tips on Transforming the garden post-pandemic.
Think of the result, not the cost
Let us put the cost aside for a moment and think about some of the potential benefits of fixing up your outdoor space for the summer months. First of all, in the summer months, the garden will be the social hub for spending quality time with your family and friends. No one wants to sit boxed in a stuffy house when they know the sun is shining outside. Ensuring you have that space for entertaining guests will put you at the top of the popularity list this summer as friends all want to gather at your party pad. How many family barbeques have we missed over the last year due to the coronavirus pandemic? It seems we all have a lot of lost time to make up for. This will be one of the defining factors for people this year when renovating their gardens.
Another factor to think about when we are on the garden fence (see what I did there) is the aesthetic value it adds to our homes as a whole. The garden is likely the most visible part of the house to outside viewers. You may be the most house-proud homeowner in the neighbourhood. Still, if your garden looks like the set of Stig of the dump, it is putting a pretty significant dampener on your aesthetic value and bringing the entire home’s tone down massively. The garden is the most fantastic room in the house, so why not give it some attention?
Taking out the trash
As I said earlier, most of us consider the cost of giving the garden a facelift before any other factors. This is the make or break of the garden, so why not consider how we could improve it with minimal financial investment. Looking at these first steps and deciding to go forward can bring great clarity, as the first steps are usually the hardest. Once you have committed to improving your outdoor space, you have won half of the battle
There is nothing worse than having a cluttered garden filled with rusty garden chairs, bin liners filled with last-years hedge trimmings and any other junk you don’t want inside the house. The first task to put you on the road to gain garden euphoria is getting it all in the boot of your car and taking it to the tip. It’s surprising how much it can transform your garden just by removing the eyesores. It will allow you to see the space you have clearly and begin thinking about what you want with that space.
A touch of paint goes a long way
The next steps totally depend on the situation. Once your area is clear of junk, the next obvious steps would be to clean up pathways, walls and sheds that have seen better days. Giving your garden walls or fences a touch of paint can have a surprising effect. Nothing will lower the tone of a beautiful garden more than a shed that looks as though it is used to hide bodies. If it’s in total disrepair, then go back to my first point and get it to the tip! If it’s salvageable, try and let the wood dry as much as possible and give it a fresh Lacquer coat and bring it in line with the tone we are trying to create for the entire outside space.
Garden walls are another thing to think about. Don’t let them ruin the aesthetic by being dull and moss ridden. This also refers to your garage if you have one that runs onto your garden, getting a fresh coat of paint on the walls can really make a great improvement, perhaps even a new garage door, something fancy like an up & over garage door would really make an impression. Again, this is a task that is going to be uncostly and will make a huge difference. The space boundaries are important to consider; how can the space be beautiful if the borders that contain it are ugly? They can’t.
Happy garden, happy mind
Now we have got the laborious tasks about of the way, we should all be feeling much better about our outdoor spaces. Now let’s begin to have a bit of fun and decide what we will fill our garden with. Bringing luscious colour into the garden is a great way to create a remarkable space that is eyecatching and welcoming. However, before choosing where to place plants, remember to consider the sun’s arc and where the best place for maximum direct sunlight will be. There’s no use bordering your garden with beautiful plants if the sun never touches it. Flowers need direct sunlight to photosynthesise and thrive, so considering the best spot before going to work will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.
Keeping your flower pots clean is an easy way of maintaining your gardens aesthetic while adding a topping to your pots can add another dimension of beauty to the space. Decorative stones or mulch will go a long way to making an inviting space with plenty of focal points.
Flowerbeds are also an attractive addition to the garden, and it gives you space to showcase your favourite floral arrangements. They can be used to make a central feature in the garden, the place that always catches the eye of your guests. They can also be used as an allotment for planting your own vegetables, which, if you have not tried before, is a gratifying experience and allows you to get the most out of your garden and create an incentive to keep on top of it.
Use it or lose it
Now that we have established your new garden foundations don’t forget to keep on top of it! Weekly garden maintenance sessions will ensure that the work does not build up and allows you to keep on top of your garden with little effort. By doing this, you will always have an enriching outdoor space for you and your family to enjoy all summer long.
