Our gardens are a small lush green haven away from the busy world, a place we can retreat to under the summer sun and somewhere we love to spend time with family and friends. To get your garden into a fit state for hosting however, it requires a lot of tender loving care and regular maintenance. From mowing the constantly growing lawn and removing weeds and overgrowth to keeping everything alive and healthy during the dryer seasons.
For many people, their garden can feel more like a chore than a slice of paradise and the thought of having to maintain it when there are other chores to get done is the last thing they want to do on a weekend. Fortunately, your garden doesn’t have to be high-maintenance to be enjoyable and we’ve provided some excellent tips on transforming your garden into a beautiful space that doesn’t require sacrificing every weekend over the summer.
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Swap Out the Grass Lawn
Grassy spaces are lovely to settle down on for a picnic but grass requires a lot of upkeep and maintenance to avoid dry, yellowing patches or unsightly muddy spots. Instead, swap out your grass lawn for something lower maintenance such as paving, gravel areas or decking. You’ll still need to get out and clean the area down but won’t require the weekly mowing and feeding like a grass lawn does.
If you still want to enjoy the green that grass brings, consider investing in artificial grass. Available to use in a variety of applications including decorative lawns, artificial putting greens and the inside of pet kennels, artificial lawn doesn’t require mowing, feeding or watering. Apart from the occasional brush down to remove garden debris, your new artificial lawn will require very little maintenance but will look the part all year round.
Contain Plants to Given Areas
Plants, greenery, shrubs and bushes can bring your garden to life, enticing beautiful local wildlife and with certain species of flora, filling your garden with a plethora of fragrant aromas. Given a good environment with plenty of sun, water and room to grow, many plants will quickly grow out of control and take over your garden. Keep your greenery manageable by planting them into dedicated spaces or containers, making it easy to prune and maintain.
Plant pots, hanging baskets and growing boxes are great if you want to be able to change up your garden quickly and are a cost-effective way of filling your garden with rich colours. If you want to keep maintenance of plants to a minimum, consider shrubs and hedges over flowering species and choose larger boxes or plant pots that hold more soil and water. In addition, privacy trees are fast-growing, low maintenance, and provide shade. Our personal favorites are the Thuja Green Giants and Wax Myrtles.
Install a Water Feature
The sound of running water is many a person’s most voted calming sound and provides lovely, unintrusive background noise to your peaceful garden space. Ponds have long been a garden favourite but fish-ponds require a fair amount of maintenance to ensure your fishy friends stay well-fed and healthy, instead consider a free-standing water feature that can be moved easily and only requires occasional cleaning.
Consider a Wildflower Patch
Have you got a large garden or plenty more space than you need? Consider adding a segregated area for a patch of gorgeous wildflowers. Requiring no maintenance other than the occasional watering and cutting back, wildflowers bring lots of colour and life to your garden and there are plenty of different seed combinations to suit your colour scheme or garden theme. Make sure to border or fence the area off to prevent plants spreading across your garden into other areas and planted containers.
These are just a few of the handy tips that can take your garden from chaotic to controlled and only requires an initial amount of effort to implement before you can start enjoying your new low-maintenance garden. If you aren’t feeling up to some DIY or don’t have the time, consider talking to a local gardening or landscape company who can take the hassle out of your garden overhaul.