It’s that time of year, isn’t it?
We are longing for endless summer days with beautiful blue skies and lazy evenings lounging in the garden enjoying the sunset. I love winter, but there is nothing better than a glorious summer evening.
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For us, the key to making the most of these summer days is to be prepared and have the garden ready by the time summer arrives. I happened to be chatting to the people from Tesco recently about just this subject, and how this takes some planning. I remember the year we were not organised, we spent all of our weekends working on the garden, painting the decking, laying paving stones and planting shrubs. By the time we proudly sat back to admire our hard work, summer had taken a dramatic turn for the worst. We had worked through the best of the weather.
That will never happen again, not in this house. With seasons shifting and changing as they do, by Easter we are now already prepared for summer. Believe me, we have spent some gorgeous Easter days chilling in the garden.
I will start with design and areas; these are crucial elements and should be designed around the sun. We have created 4 seated areas in our garden to enjoy the sun at each stage throughout the day. Check out some of these fab ideas at GardenPowerTools.co.uk there are some great unique suggestions.
Admittedly, we are lucky with the position of our garden, but with a little bit of thought and planning you can follow the sun throughout the day to get the best of those precious sunlight hours.
As we wanted to create texture we have used different materials and heights to form these areas Thus making the aesthetics and landscaping all the more interesting.
We have mainly worked with decking, creating two levels: a dining level and a chill out level. We have also shingled the area so that we have a morning coffee space and dining one, perfect for taking in the midday sun.
We are fortunate to have a long garden, so we developed a play area separated from the seated areas of the garden. This prevents areas overlapping. Our last garden was lots smaller and still managed to successfully create separate areas to play and chill out. Check out the RHS for some great ideas and inspiration.
To promote a feeling of tranquillity we have laid borders around the chill out areas and filled the areas with flowers and plants. This infuses the garden with colour and fragrance, as well as conveying the impression of height, and attracts bees and butterflies.
To soften the decked and shingled areas, add pots of varying shapes and sizes. I like to fill these with lots of colour and plants of different heights, which not only offers privacy but also bright colours that all gardens should display throughout the year.
Once the area is established, maintenance is simple. A jet-wash and coat of decking paint prepares it for the year ahead. A top tip: when painting your decking, use a hard broom to apply the decking paint. It is so much quicker.
For more details and tips check the buying guides from Tesco, which will provide you with lots more advice on how to get your garden ready by summer. Besides, let’s face it, who would want to be working in the gorgeous summer sun, when you could be chilling out on a bean bag in a decked area with a cold drink and good book?
Really need to get my garden sorted too…. lovely ideas here xx
Thanks Bonnie, I know especialy on days like today. I cant wait for summer and to be working out ni the garden x
Wow some beautiful ideas here. Need to get ours sorted too, girls have been playing out in it this morning and you can see what needs to be done!
Thanks Karen, yes we too need to get out there and get it ready as soon as the rain stops the boys will be out there playing football so it need to be ready x
Well last weekend you couldn’t even see our garden thanks to all the old units from the playroom. Thankfully they have made it to the tip now, and we need to give our garden a pre spring clean up. Your garden looks lovely Sarah. We have quite a small triangular shaped garden, so its trying to make the best of it x
Thank you Tracey, I as so desperate for a big garden but in reality it takes so much time to look after, but when it is all done on those hot summer days, I love and feel it is worth it x
It’s a great idea to get your garden sorted and prepared now. How wonderful to have different seating areas to follow the sun around. That is an idea I would like to incorporate in my garden #homeetc
Louise it is great on a hot day, always a shaded and sunny area x
This has been on my mind a lot lately! We missed out on lots of last summer, as until early July we had a huge pit of rubble smack in the middle of our garden where there used to be a pond. Now we have a lovely patio, so I’m desperate to make the most of this summer! Love your borders, they’re beautiful! #HomeEtc
Thanks Katy, and yes once you make that mistake you never do it again do you? I cant wait to chill in the garden this summer x
Lovely ideas Sarah — I cannot WAIT for the warmer weather to arrive! Our garden’s looking a bit sad at the mo. Give it a month and it will start to come to life again 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up with us lovely — much appreciated x #HomeEtc
Thanks Caro, our garden is too, I am dying to get going and preparing but this blooming snow keeps ruining our plans x
Lovely ideas. I am excited to get out garden more mature (ish) and planted for this summer seeing as it is quite bare and new at the moment!!!! Thanks for linking up – much appreciated 🙂 Jess xx
#HomeEtc
It takes a while to establish a garden n a new home doesn’t it, but it will be so worth it when its done x