With the arrival of summer, it’s time to enjoy our gardens and outside spaces. Whether we’re sipping cool drinks in the shade, enjoying the evenings by a fire pit, illuminating the garden with wonderful solar lights and lanterns or simply sitting and watching the world go by, we should all take a moment to be in our gardens.
At our Garden Centres we have a wonderful range of outdoor living and lifestyle products – from top-end rattan furniture sets, lanterns, candles, wind chimes and more unique items to make your garden your own, but here’s a suggestion or two of how to maximise your garden.
Get yourself and your space ready…
A little prep goes a long way - Mow your lawn, trim the borders, remove tender plant protection and sort the weeds, water any pots or planters and remove any dead or dying foliage from the plants. Spruce up the fencing or shed with a lick of our outdoor garden paints and our huge range of DIY products, or add a lovely outdoor garden mirror or some wall art for a contemporary look.
Think about feeding your plants too, Composts, Feeds and Fertilisers are all great when used in the correct way. We supply lawn feeds with moss and weed killer infused, not to mention a wide range of composts which can be added to your soil to stimulate growth.
Get everyone involved…
Whether you are entertaining family and friends or just making an insect hotel with the younger generation – use and enjoy your garden. A well-planned garden will entice you outside and encourage you to spend more time surrounded by nature and enjoying the great outdoors.
As for those with dogs… they love having us home, so maybe invest in a new toy or two, or play games based around your garden or space. We’ve even heard a story or two about cats playing with flowers… however you choose to engage with them we may have something in store that they will love!
This year particularly we must make every weekend feel like a holiday… We have a large range of furniture, cushions, picnic ware and more that will help making the stay-cation a thing of joy that you will want to repeat regularly!
Think about the wildlife…
Big or small, our outside spaces can be healthy havens for wildlife. There are many simple things you can do to encourage biodiversity. Providing pollen/nectar-rich plants for bees and other insects, planting wildflowers, replacing fences with green boundaries, adding water features are all great ways to begin.
Have a little more space? How about building a bug hotel or maybe create a new garden pond. There’s lots of ways to entice nature into your space, we’ll explore more in our next blog post! Some of these may be perfect for DIY projects now, others might be projects to plan now and do in the future.
Encouraging the kids to get involved outdoors has never been easier, and these great activity sets are perfect for bringing out their inner explorer!
Relax in your space… it’s why we do the work
Exercise is great… but just spending time in the great outdoors is highly beneficial. Unwind, relax and breathe… perhaps eat al-fresco! Pick up new garden furniture, new pots & planters or spruce up your existing furniture with some scatter cushions & throws from our large selection. Our garden centres have something for everyone so make sure you pay us a visit this summer!
What’s next?
Take some time this summer to mull over how you would like your garden to look next year. Maybe take a walk around our garden centres for a little inspiration? Do you need a new deck, or gazebo, perhaps it is a water feature that could make sense of that space in the corner…
The starting point for every garden design should be to understand what you need from your space.
- Do you require your outdoor space to eat in, be an entertaining space, to challenge you and keep you working, to be a place of pure relaxation.
- Now consider what things bring joy to your garden and joy to you?
The answers to these questions will be different for everybody, but taking a little time to consider them will really help you develop you space for the the months and years ahead.
And lastly...
Mix a cool refreshing drink and sit back and enjoy!
