How To Make The Most Out Of Your Garden This Summer
Gardens tend to get forgotten about during the harsh wintertime, often becoming overgrown and not exactly a nice place to sit and have a coffee.
But now we are entering the much warmer, hopefully sunnier season of summer, and this is the perfect time to utilise your garden. These are just a few ways to make the most out of your garden this summer.
BBQs
Now that summer is upon us, we all know what that means.
It’s BBQ season.
BBQs are a great way to enjoy the summer sun and an excuse for a gathering of friends and families. I can guarantee you that the first bit of sunshine in summer sparks the idea in people’s minds. But hosting a BBQ isn’t as simple as just cooking a few burgers, there’s a fair bit of planning involved to make it right.
The first thing to do is to test your equipment, imagine having everyone arrive to a BBQ that won’t start up. This has the potential to ruin the night and can easily be avoided. Next you should consider your seating, where are people going to sit?
A good idea is to make uses of benches and potentially bring some chairs from inside the house. Failing that, you can pick up standard garden chairs for a reasonably low price.
Now let’s talk about food. It’s important when organising a BBQ that you consider everyone’s options for food. Some people have acquired tastes or allergies, and it’s always good to have a vegetarian option available.
By providing a variety of foods, it caters to everyone at your BBQ and will contribute to everyone having a better time and not going hungry. You should also provide a range of drinks, soft or fizzy drinks for the kids, maybe a range of alcoholic beverages for the adults.
The British weather can be unpredictable at best, so it’s always a good idea to cater to any kind of weather. By putting up a gazebo, it provides your guests with a place to keep dry in case of sudden rain and is a nice place to sit under when the sun goes down.
You should also consider dedicating a section of your garden to the ‘kids area’. If you give the kids a communal area to play around, it keeps them occupied and reduces the chance of them running around near a hot BBQ.
Fun With Kids
Summer is the time for spending time with your kids, and you don’t really want them glued to a TV for weeks.
Your garden can be the ultimate escape if you want it to be.
For example, a sunny day is the perfect excuse to get the inflatable swimming pool out. Having a paddling pool in your garden can create hours of fun for you and your kids.
By topping up the water and enjoying your lunch outside, you can keep the fun times going for hours and also catch a sun tan while you’re at it. You can pick up inflatable pools for relatively cheap, and make sure you have a jug of ice-cold squash to keep them hydrated on hot days.
Alternatively, you could go down the sports route. Depending on the size of your garden, you can turn it into the ultimate sports field. Setting up a goal with two cones can provide you with a great space to play football and tire your kids out for an hour or so.
You could set up a swing ball set or if you have the room, even a trampoline. These are all good ways of providing fun things to do for your kids and getting them out of the house.
Garden Maintenance
The summer time is also a great time to get up to date with all of the garden maintenance you might not have been able to do during the cold winter.
Use this as a good opportunity to plant some new flowers or plants, as they will receive a good amount of sunshine whilst they are growing. It’s a good time to get rid of any weeds or dead plants and start fresh. Mow the lawn and trim your hedges, give your garden some new life. You can pick up seeds for very cheap from most home garden stores.
If frequent maintenance is something you don’t have time for, perhaps try adding in some artificial grass or plants. They will give off the beautiful look you want for your garden without having to care or look after them, making them a great alternate for the busy homeowner.
Again, there is a good chance you will find some good deals on artificial planet life in various home garden stores.
You could use this time to give your fence that new coat of paint it’s needed for a while. It’s the perfect time to do it, being able to dry quickly and you can soak in some rays whilst doing it. Another idea is to add in some paving slaps, creating a path for people to walk on and helping preserve your grass.
This especially works well if you are having people over and are worried about the aftermath for your lawn.
Something that is becomingly increasing more popular is planting your own vegetables. If done right, it is a great way to save some money on vegetables and can be fun nurturing and watching your produce grow. Any tools you need to grow your own produce can be found in any home garden store.
DIY
You could also use this time to build that shed you’ve been meaning to build for months but couldn’t bring yourself to do. The garden is the perfect place to undertake any DIY projects you’ve been meaning to do. There’s enough space to lay everything out and you can create a mess without having to worry about the house or damaging the floor. Also, there are worse ways to spend your time than hanging in the sun all day.
Summary
There are many more ways to use your garden to the fullest, but these are just a few of the best ones. Try some of them out, come up with your own, just be sure to catch some sunshine before it’s gone.