With summer just around the corner, we’re all looking forward to spending a lot more time in the garden. If like many of us, you haven’t given your garden much attention over the winter months, don’t panic! There are 10 simple ways you can get your garden looking top notch, all in time for your guests to arrive.
- Clean Your Gardening Tools
You’re not going to get very far without the right tools and so first things first, you want to dig out all the equipment you’ll need to get your garden summer ready. Before you splash out on new equipment, check what you already have. Wash your spades and rakes with water and a stiff brush before you use them and oil metal equipment regularly to prevent rusting. It’s important to keep tools clean as dirty tools can infect the plants that are growing in your garden.
- Remove weeds
A crucial starting point for getting your garden ready for summer is removing any weeds and dead plants. Remove weeds found in the cracks of your decking or patio and any that you can see on the lawn. This will make the space look instantly tidier and show you where there are any gaps to plant new flowers. In order to keep weeds at bay going forward, you can treat your garden with a weed killer on a regular basis.
- Tidy up borders
If you have borders in your garden, now is the time to get them looking in order. Remove weeds and prune any shrubs that need tidying up. This is also a great opportunity to give your soil some attention. Turning your soil using a rake or spade promotes growth and you can also add compost or fertiliser to enrich the soil at this stage.
- Tackle the lawn
After months of winter weather, your lawn is likely to be looking a little tired out. Start by raking any dead grass from the surface as this hinders the growth of new grass. You can also make holes in the grass using a fork to keep the ground arearted and prevent waterlogging. Once everything’s looking tidy, sprinkle grass seed to cover any bare patches and top up with grass feed.
- Clean decking and patios
During the winter, a huge amount of dirt and residue can build up on patios and deckings. Revive your patio by sweeping it down and washing with hot soapy water or a pressure washer if you have one. This will make a huge difference to brightening a tired looking garden area.
- Plant new flowers
Once you’ve got everything looking a little more tidy, it’s time to start on the fun stuff like finding new flowers to plant! Summer is a great time to go big on colour so flowers such as marigolds and hibiscus look fantastic in a summer garden and bring any outdoor space to life.
- Set up your furniture
If you’re planning to have guests round this summer, you want to make sure that you’ve got plenty of comfortable furniture to go round. Clean furniture you already have to keep it looking fresh and invest in new pieces where you need to. Statement outdoor pieces such as firepit tables are great for outdoor entertaining and totally revive the look of a garden space.
- Welcome wildlife
Lazy days in the garden are made even better when you’re surrounded by beautiful wildlife. There are many ways you can encourage wildlife into your garden, however one of the easiest ways is to attract birds by feeding them. Leaving out fat balls or bird seed will attract multiple bird species which in turn will attract other wildlife such as squirrels and hedgehogs.
- Bring out the BBQ
Nothing says summer quite like a BBQ in the garden. Before you use your BBQ this summer, you’ll want to give it a good clean and remove any rust. Depending on the type of grill you have, there are different methods you can use to clean your BBQ, however ultimately it comes down to a bit of good old fashioned elbow grease!
- Sort out the Kids’ toys
Declutter the kids toy box and get rid of anything that looks a bit past it or that they don’t really use any more. Wash anything you do decide to keep and store it all in one place such as an outdoor storage box. If you have a little more space in your garden, it’s also a really fun idea to create an outdoor play area such as a sand pit. This has the added benefit of helping to keep kids occupied should you choose to have friends round!
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