10 Simple Ideas to Get You Excited About Your Garden Again
Don’t be deterred from tackling your outside space if you’ve ignored it for a while – find your enthusiasm with these achievable ideas
Laura Wheat
7 May 2016
Houzz UK Contributor. Freelance Journalist and interiors obsessive, newly ensconced in a handsome Edwardian semi on top of a hill.
Houzz UK Contributor. Freelance Journalist and interiors obsessive, newly ensconced... More
It can be difficult to motivate yourself to begin what feels like an unending task – sorting out the garden. However, it shouldn’t require a major overhaul or an investment makeover. By carrying out a series of small maintenance jobs, and at the same time making some enjoyable new additions, you’ll soon see your outside space transform into an area where you want to spend time tweaking each detail.
Introduce a tropical token
Palm prints are everywhere at the moment, so why not try this key interiors trend in your garden? Hardy palm varieties, including Dwarf Palmetto and Mexican Blue, are slow-growing and can easily withstand British winters.
Palm prints are everywhere at the moment, so why not try this key interiors trend in your garden? Hardy palm varieties, including Dwarf Palmetto and Mexican Blue, are slow-growing and can easily withstand British winters.
Weed untidy paving
Nothing makes a garden look unkempt quite like dandelions sprouting between paving stones and beneath railings. For a simple and effective organic way to spruce your patio, mix a weak solution of salt and hot water with a touch of vinegar and apply to the roots of weeds. This method is best reserved for areas where you won’t ever want plants to grow, though, as it will affect soil conditions.
Nothing makes a garden look unkempt quite like dandelions sprouting between paving stones and beneath railings. For a simple and effective organic way to spruce your patio, mix a weak solution of salt and hot water with a touch of vinegar and apply to the roots of weeds. This method is best reserved for areas where you won’t ever want plants to grow, though, as it will affect soil conditions.
Cater to wildlife
Making your garden into a haven for birds, hedgehogs and other wildlife will give you a sense of altruism as well as rewarding glimpses of cute creatures. Bird boxes, bat boxes, water features, insect-friendly flowers and areas of long grass all help to encourage a diverse range of fauna and can be easy to add.
When you’re spring cleaning your outside space, keep in mind that log and leaf piles can surprise you by doubling as hedgehog hotels and, as such, should be tackled with caution. Search online for tips on making your garden more hedgehog friendly.
Read expert advice on how to create a wildlife garden
Making your garden into a haven for birds, hedgehogs and other wildlife will give you a sense of altruism as well as rewarding glimpses of cute creatures. Bird boxes, bat boxes, water features, insect-friendly flowers and areas of long grass all help to encourage a diverse range of fauna and can be easy to add.
When you’re spring cleaning your outside space, keep in mind that log and leaf piles can surprise you by doubling as hedgehog hotels and, as such, should be tackled with caution. Search online for tips on making your garden more hedgehog friendly.
Read expert advice on how to create a wildlife garden
Add outside seating
Having somewhere comfortable to relax while enjoying clement weather or a quiet moment is a huge plus in any garden space. The shops are filled with affordable options in every style imaginable, but, for a touch of Scandi chic, try introducing an angular, metal-framed chair or two.
See more photos of contemporary gardens
Having somewhere comfortable to relax while enjoying clement weather or a quiet moment is a huge plus in any garden space. The shops are filled with affordable options in every style imaginable, but, for a touch of Scandi chic, try introducing an angular, metal-framed chair or two.
See more photos of contemporary gardens
Refresh gravelled areas
After a winter of wind and rain, you’re likely to have accumulated an undesirable dead leaf to gravel ratio in affected areas of your garden. After clearing away the worst of the moss and debris, adding a fresh layer of gravel will give your outside space a quick and easy lift.
After a winter of wind and rain, you’re likely to have accumulated an undesirable dead leaf to gravel ratio in affected areas of your garden. After clearing away the worst of the moss and debris, adding a fresh layer of gravel will give your outside space a quick and easy lift.
Boost light with variegation
Use light-leaved plants, like these pale-rimmed hostas, to help illuminate shady spots. Block-plant single varieties or intersperse with bright ferns for a woodland vibe.
Use light-leaved plants, like these pale-rimmed hostas, to help illuminate shady spots. Block-plant single varieties or intersperse with bright ferns for a woodland vibe.
Plant fragrant herbs
Having easy access to fresh herbs is a wonderful way to boost your culinary repertoire as well as creating an attractive and sweet-smelling garden – and a herb bed, or even a small edible window box, can be simple to put together.
Herbs enjoy a sunny, sheltered position with well-drained soil and it’s not too late to plant them this year: hardy annuals or biennials, such as coriander, parsley, chamomile and dill, can be sown from early spring until August. Easier still, buy ready-grown plants and simply remember to water and feed them in their new home.
Discover how to help your supermarket herbs live longer
Having easy access to fresh herbs is a wonderful way to boost your culinary repertoire as well as creating an attractive and sweet-smelling garden – and a herb bed, or even a small edible window box, can be simple to put together.
Herbs enjoy a sunny, sheltered position with well-drained soil and it’s not too late to plant them this year: hardy annuals or biennials, such as coriander, parsley, chamomile and dill, can be sown from early spring until August. Easier still, buy ready-grown plants and simply remember to water and feed them in their new home.
Discover how to help your supermarket herbs live longer
Go container crazy
Whether your garden is a tiny courtyard or a multi-acre plot, pots and planters lend added dimension, colour and texture to your outside space.
Accessorise as you would any interior, using pleasingly shaped containers in coordinating colours and displaying them in groups of three or five for extra impact.
Whether your garden is a tiny courtyard or a multi-acre plot, pots and planters lend added dimension, colour and texture to your outside space.
Accessorise as you would any interior, using pleasingly shaped containers in coordinating colours and displaying them in groups of three or five for extra impact.
Create a cutting garden
If you appreciate a pretty posy, you could consider dedicating part of your plot to a cutting garden. Choosing varieties that flower at different times, from spring through to late summer, will keep your vases in bloom all season long.
If you appreciate a pretty posy, you could consider dedicating part of your plot to a cutting garden. Choosing varieties that flower at different times, from spring through to late summer, will keep your vases in bloom all season long.
Incorporate a winning colour combo
Dark blue and green is an effortlessly effective colour scheme and can be introduced in a number of ways. Garden paint brands now offer moody hues of navy and slate that will update even the most weathered of fences.
Or try adding a couple of polypropylene or PVC-coated-polyester cushions in a similarly modern shade that will withstand sunshine and showers for many summers to come (though they’ll still need to be stored out of the elements for long periods).
TELL US…
What are you doing to spruce up your garden this spring? Let us know in the Comments below.
Dark blue and green is an effortlessly effective colour scheme and can be introduced in a number of ways. Garden paint brands now offer moody hues of navy and slate that will update even the most weathered of fences.
Or try adding a couple of polypropylene or PVC-coated-polyester cushions in a similarly modern shade that will withstand sunshine and showers for many summers to come (though they’ll still need to be stored out of the elements for long periods).
TELL US…
What are you doing to spruce up your garden this spring? Let us know in the Comments below.
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Thank you, Peter Reader Landscapes, for your advice about pot plants and also for creating an interesting garden which encourages the eye to travel further. I have a third of an acre steep bush block which grows and throws faster than I can keep up. I have just cleared it of blackberries, storm-blown branches and weeds but as soon as I clear one area, another area goes wild again. I hope to treat the soil and then landscape with natives, pot plants, terraces and rocks. Relax? Entertain? Not for a long time yet!