As Winter draws to a close, now is the perfect time to start thinking about how you can improve your garden ready for the summer months.
Here are three gardening trends we think will be popular for the year ahead.
1. Embracing small gardens
If you’ve got a small garden, then this is your year! You may have limited space, but that shouldn’t mean you can’t grow plants & vegetables or dine ‘al fresco’. Use tall, low spread plants to optimise growing space. Open trellis panels can add character and are perfect for climbing plants, giving your garden greenery and colour throughout Spring and Summer, or a trellis backed wooden planter, perfect for patios.
Be clever with your furniture. Foldable furniture is space saving, easy to move and can be folded away and stored in a small shed or garage when not in use. Another ingenious suggestion is to have a table with a planter built in, adding interest and colour even when the table is not in use!
A wooden sentry store is ideal for any small garden. It has a small footprint and offers an attractive solution to your storage needs.
2. ‘Al fresco’ dining
There’s nothing better than dining ‘al fresco’ during the warm summer evenings or sunny afternoons. There are many ways to make your outside dining area an attractive, relaxing and functional place for friends and family to eat, drink & socialise. Dining areas can be located in any area of your garden where you have space.
Here are some tips for making the most out of your outdoor dining area:
- Use wooden flooring, lighting and heaters for comfort and warmth
- Surround the dining area wooden planters and attractive planting
- Use additional wooden trellis or fencing if you’re looking for seclusion
- Reserve an area close by for a BBQ if you wish to cook outdoors
3. Get creative with your planting
If you enjoy spending time outdoors, then it’s likely you’re familiar with growing flowers and plants. Including favourite colours and highly scented plants makes your garden an njoyable place to be., Choose one or two colours for a contemporary feel or a variery of complimentary shades to give a sense of an ‘English garden’ Clever planting can give the illusion that your garden is bigger than it is.Cool colours such as light blue, lilac and pale pink are restful and fade into the backgroundmaking your garden seem bigger. Whereas Bright pinks, oranges and yellows appear closer, creating a more intimate feel.
Wooden arbours and obelisks offer a distinctive visual feature, equally suited to both large and small gardens. Combine with attractive climbing plants for added interest.
