Looking for ways to get your garden in shape for summer? These tips will help you create your own haven in which to relax, entertain, and spend time in the sun. From lawns to flowers and planting to furniture, here’s how to breathe new life into your garden and transform your outdoor space ready for summer.
The Lawn
If your lawn dries out every year and you spend all summer mowing, watering, and feeding it, it could be time to ditch the real lawn for an artificial lawn. Artificial grass looks as good as real turf and will stay green all year round.
Plus, you can have a lush green lawn without spending time on maintenance. You won’t have to spend your summer mowing, watering, feeding, or weeding your lawn, which gives you more time to spend enjoying your summer.
Summer Planting
Tend to any plants that have taken a hit over the winter by pruning borders, cutting back shrubs and stems, removing weeds, deadheading flowers, and getting rid of tired old plants. Then, plant new ones.
Play with heights, textures, scents, shapes, pattern, and shades with a mixture of bulbs, shrubs, grasses, and flowers.
Summer is the season of colour, so inject some colour into your garden with pelargonium, foxglove, astrantia, cosmos, delphiniums, geraniums, dahlias, begonia, salvias, lavender, and roses.
Furniture
When it comes to furniture, think of the garden as an extension of your home and create a living space outside for enjoying the warm weather.
You’ll want a table and chairs for dining al fresco. Outdoor sofa, loungers, and day beds for relaxing in the sun. A parasol for shade. A hanging chair or hammock to put your feet up.
Think BBQs, benches, and seating sets for entertaining. Firepits, patio heaters, cushions and blankets for sitting outside when the sun goes down.
Lighting
Lighting will help you make the most of long summer evenings and balmy nights. Opt for energy-efficient solar lighting where possible, and try a variety of styles.
Spotlights highlighting statement plants and ornaments. Bulb strings, festoon lighting, or fairy lights hung across decking or wrapped around trees. Flickering tea lights glowing on tables. Lanterns dotted up a garden path.
Getting the lighting right will create atmosphere and ambience so you can spend time in your garden well into the night.
Nature and Wildlife
Summer brings out a variety of diverse nature such as butterflies, bees, and birds, and you can create a wildlife-friendly garden that attracts a whole host of creatures.
Plant nectar-giving flowers for pollinators like bees. Create a hedgehog highway in hedges. Hang bird feeders from trees. Install a pond for amphibians. Install bat boxes. Make a bug hotel. Create a log pile or compost heap for insects.
There are loads of things you can do to encourage wildlife in your garden.
Containers & Pots
Containers and pots are a flexible way to add interest and colour to your garden as they can be moved around to suit you.
Containers and pots come in all shapes, sizes and materials including terracotta, aluminium, and wood, and many come ready planted with a variety of flowers.
So, get rid of old plants and invest in new containers by mixing and matching heights, textures, and colours.
Honeysuckle, lavender, viola, primroses, hydrangeas, succulents, hosta, and fountain grass are all great options for container planting.
Create Zones
By thinking of your outdoor space as an extension of your home, you can create different zones, or rooms, in your garden.
For example, in summer, you may want separate spaces for entertaining and relaxing.
The entertaining area may be on your decking and have a fire pit, bulb lights, and table and chairs for socialising and dining with family and friends.
The relaxing zone may be on the lawn under the shade of a tree and have a hammock swing and a water feature for complete peace and tranquility.
Trees
Trees can add a whole new dynamic to your space. They can act as a focal point or showpiece, provide a shady corner to keep cool, and of course, are fantastic for the environment.
There are trees of all shapes and sizes for all gardens big and small. From a vibrant acer to an elegant bay tree to a flowering cherry tree to a big hornbeam with an elegant canopy, trees are a must for any summer garden.
Paving
Dirt can accumulate over winter, so start by jet washing and weeding your existing paving to remove dirt and debris and instantly transform the space.
Or for something new and exciting, lay a new patio or paving. The design of a patio can impact the design of a whole garden. Whatever your style, from sleek and modern to country and rustic, there are a variety of paving materials, textures, and colours to create an interesting and eye-catching pattern in your garden.
Decking
Decking is a great way to create flow from your property into your garden and create an outdoor space as an extension of your indoor space. This makes it the ideal place for furniture and an area to entertain and relax.
Choose a high-quality decking such as Millboard, which is an anti-slip, long-lasting, low-maintenance composite decking board that looks and feels like natural wood but designed to outperform it.
Boundaries
Revitalise boundaries such as fences and walls. If your fence is looking a bit worse for wear, fix broken panels and treat it to a fresh coat of paint.
Then consider climbers to add colour and texture to bland walls and boring fence panels. Black-eyed susan, morning glory vine, hydrangeas, roses, clematis, wisteria, and purple bell vine are excellent for growing up a wall trellis or fence.
Another option is a living wall of herbs, annuals and perennials, or LazyWall Panels for the lush green look without the maintenance. Both will beautifully brighten up your boundaries.
Transform Your Garden Ready for Summer
Try these tips to transform your garden ready for summer. From the lawn and planting to lighting and furniture, create a space you’ll love spending time in all summer long.
