It’s finally time to show off all the hard work you’ve put into your garden over the last 12 months. Late spring means your growing seedlings are big enough to have been planted out and you can start to sit back and enjoy your blooming borders and verdant shrubs and trees. Why not perfect your garden with some gorgeous finishing touches and a little TLC that will elevate your space to the next level. After all, spring is a great season to invite friends and family round and your garden is the perfect space to host your gathering.
Cultivate your containers
An easy and effective way to brighten up walls, windowsills and forgotten corners of patios is to add containers full of colour, and choosing what to plant in your window boxes, hanging baskets and pots is the fun part. Consider a mix of plants in each one. Trailing plants like sweet potato vine and ivy, evergreens such as juniper and boxwood can both intermingle with bedding plants and seasonal flowers so you can enjoy year-round colour and interest, with pops of vibrancy throughout the summer. Or why not create a theme using the same plants and colours in all your containers? It will make a really beautiful cohesive display that’ll look like you’ve brought in the professionals and will really impress your visitors.
If your boxes, pots and baskets simply need a bit of a zhuzh, try removing the very top layer of soil and replace it with a new layer of compost. This will get rid of moss, debris, dried leaves and more, and the fresh dark soil will look superb against your blooming plants and flowers.
Give your lawn the classic striped look
Getting that elegant and much-coveted striped lawn effect takes patience and dedication, but it isn’t hard to do and never fails to brings the wow factor. First of all, you need thick, healthy and well-maintained grass to get the best look. Get rid of debris, apply your weed and feed solutions and build up the turf with new grass seed. The right kit is essential too, rotary mowers won’t cut it; you’ll need a cylinder lawnmower with a rear roller. The roller bends the blades of grass in alternating directions, which gives the light and dark striped effect based on how sunlight hits the grass.
Mow your lawn when it’s dry and use the longest blade setting you have as the grass needs to be long enough to readily bend under the roller. Mow your first stripe all the way along your lawn, turn 180 degrees and mow the next stripe alongside the first. Repeat until you have completed the whole lawn. To create a more dramatic look, mow the lawn again keeping to the same lines and directions or go over the grass again using just the roller with the blade switched off. Each time you mow the lawn, stick to the same lines and the more you mow, the more defined the lines will become.
Nurture the needy
Give your growing plants a boost if they need it. Now they’re really starting to thrive, help them reach their potential with good quality feed. Next, tidy up those low hanging, or dead and dry-looking branches from your shrubs and trees and trim back any that are spoiling the shape, it will really give them a lift. If you’ve got plants that don’t look happy, check to see if they’re getting the right amount of sun or shade, or what their preferred soil type is and move them if you can. If you can’t improve the soil, reposition them or the move doesn’t help, it’s time to add them to the compost heap! If those plants aren’t working hard enough to enhance your garden, be ruthless.
Tidy up and repair
Once the lawns, plants, trees and borders are looking ship-shape, it’s time to turn your attention to the rest of your garden. Replace pots that have broken during the frosts, repair or replace broken trellises or fence panels, jet wash the patios, weed the paths, clean up your garden furniture and wash the cushions, rugs and throws that you use outside. It’s amazing what a spin in the machine can do to revitalise soft furnishings.
Embrace holistic style
While investing in some fresh accessories, be inspired by the decor inside your home. Translate those themes out into your garden to extend your living space. For example, if you have statement house plants, find outdoor furnishings that echo those shapes; take the accent colours in your kitchen or lounge, and pick cushions, throws or even flowers that will continue the colour theme. Your garden is like any other room in your house, so it’s all about creating a large welcoming space in which to spend time with each other.
The finishing touch
Create the perfect mood with the right lighting. Whether you’re a fan of fairy lights, love to pave the way with stake lights or like a statement lamp post, outdoor lighting is a sure-fire way to keep the party going after the sun has set…
There is another way to ensure your guests aren’t left out in the cold, and that’s to build yourself an outdoor fireplace! A dream project for another blog post maybe, but something to think about, definitely.
However you decide to perfect your garden, you want your outside space to be the place where guests feel welcome; and we’re sure you’ll be happy to have them.
For more ideas, inspiration, plants, tools and more visit our garden department page now.
