A garden can be a daunting job, a welcome retreat, a plan yet to become a reality – or all of the above. But if there’s one thing everyone has in common, is the want to make the most out of their garden. And to do that, it does require a bit of effort either from you or from a gardener. Either way, your garden can easily become a wonderful place to spend your time and can be a perfect retreat from the world.
The fear is that you only get half the job done, and your garden remains looking like a work in progress. So when you set out to create the perfect garden, be committed to see it through to the end.
Seating
Create a seating area as either a place to rest or to eat is a great way to ensure that you use and enjoy your garden. For an outdoor dining area create a decking area that overlooks the best part of your garden, or use it as a central point. Placing benches throughout your garden can be beautiful, depending on how big your garden is will determine how much seating you want or need. You can also bring a little style to your dining area with an outdoor tablecloth.
Levels
Creating levels in your garden is very important. You can’t properly utilise the space you have without using more than flat flower beds. Use railway sleepers to create raised beds, and tier your plants by using climbing vines, tall shrubs and evergreen trees for height, and small bushes, short flowers like pansies, and even moss to cover the lower levels.
Lighting
Use your garden day and night with clever lighting. Lanterns spread throughout the beds, and solar powered fairy lights laced through the trees creates a mystical and magical feel. For a brighter feel, spotlights and floodlights can be great, and motion detecting lights are great if you have a pet that needs to be let out at night.
Colour
Having a bright pallet throughout the summer, then having everything die and become brown and dull, isn’t going to encourage you to use your garden year-round. Build your garden to stay lush all year. Different flowers bloom at different times, and evergreens are great for avoiding the bareness of your winter garden.
Uses
A garden that serves a purpose is more likely to keep your attention, and there is so much potential in a garden to not think about utilising it. You can create a vegetable patch or build a greenhouse and gain from the work you put into your garden. Or you can build a BBQ into the space, to ensure that you use the outdoor seating area, and enjoy it with others.