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You are here: Home / Archives for The yard / Garden decor

Let Your Imagination Run Wild With 5 Cool Ways To Change Your Garden This Summer

by Trish

Don’t tell me you’ve not looked out at the garden recently and tried to come up with some amazing ways to make it better. It’s the same every year when you look out of the window and there is snow lying everywhere. You start to get a little depressed because you can’t go outside and your imagination starts to run wild. Have you ever done something about it before, or does next winter come around before you have the chance to do anything?

You should make this year different because you will feel great when the sun is out and you spend time outside. The last thing you want is to be sitting in a garden that you don’t think looks nice. It completely ruins the moment, so you shouldn’t let it. Think about everything you would like to do and run with your favorite idea before it’s too late. We can even look at some ideas together so you can get that imagination of yours running wild again.

Add some decking

Fiberon Tropics composite decking

You could choose a little corner of your garden and add some decking, or you could even have some running off the house. When it’s nice outside you could put out a table and chairs so the family can sit around and eat their meals while relaxing in the sun. You could always put the furniture on the grass, but when you have decking it looks a lot better. If you had a nice seat out there you could also sit and read books when you’re not at work.

Get rid of the crap

You might have some things inside your garden that you don’t want to be there anymore. If it’s something big like a hut you maybe haven’t got rid of it because it’s too much work. This year could be different and you could go outside and start knocking it down this weekend. Get rid of everything else in your garden that is making it look a mess. Even if you don’t replace anything it will still look a lot better when the crap is gone.

A kid’s playhouse

Old playhouse

If you have young children you might want to do something nice for them because they will be using the garden a lot more than you during the summer. You’ll have to think about the kinds of things they might like. You could put a playhouse in the corner and they will love it whether they are a boy or a girl. If you think back to when you were a child I bet it’s something you loved. You could even turn it into a tree house if your child is a little older.

Let there be light

Even though the sun sticks around longer in the evenings during summer it won’t be there all night. Eventually it will be gone and your garden won’t be suitable to spend any time in unless you add some lighting. When your garden is light up it looks beautiful and you can stay outside as late as you want. You have a huge number of options available to you and perhaps it’s best if you looked hard before you decided how you would light the place up.

Grow some vegetables

sun gold tomatoes

If you have enough time to spare you could take up a new hobby. It’s quite enjoyable growing your own vegetables and eating something you have grown yourself always tastes a little better. A nice little vegetable patch in the corner of the garden will look great and it could come in very handy. When you’re cooking dinner you can run outside and pick something straight out of the ground if it’s ready.

Attached Images:
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

The author of this article, Sharon Anderson works for Country Cubbies. Country Cubbies is Australia’s leading cubby housemanufacturer with a huge range of cubby houses and children’s play forts.

Filed Under: Garden decor, Gardening, The yard Tagged With: chairs, cool, deck, Furniture, garden, imagination, light, lights, patio, plants, playhouse, summer, table, tidy, vegetables

Garden Projects For You To Take On This Year

by Trish



It is a new year, so that means it is time for a new garden. Many homeowners will forget about their garden when it comes to redecorating, even though the garden is one of the key areas of any home. Do not waste another year putting off using your garden, instead plan ahead and turn your garden into a beautiful area that is perfect for you to relax in during the summer months.


To help you make a start with your garden transformation, I have listed some garden projects that you may want to take on in 2013.

Vegetable Plot

2013 is the year of turning green, and what is more perfect than creating your own vegetable plot? Not only can you save a fortune by growing your own vegetables, but you also know exactly where they have come from.

Homeowners that decide to grow their own vegetables usually decide to do this just as part of a fun summer project, they soon realise that there are many benefits from growing your own vegetables.

You will need to invest a lot of time into your vegetable patch making sure that your vegetables grow well.

Invite Wildlife

During the summer months you can expect to see plenty of wildlife make their way through your garden, as long as your garden is wildlife friendly. There are many ways you can encourage wildlife to come into your garden, one of the most popular ways is by providing food.

If you love to watch birds fly by, why not get a bird table and some tasty bird treats. If you want birds to come into your garden even faster, purchase some coconuts and leave half a coconut out as this is something they love.

Water Feature

If you want a bigger project in your garden, why not think about creating a garden pond? Not only will it look fabulous, but it will also attract wildlife to the garden. It is important that you make your pond safely; this will ensure that you do not put any one at risk through unstable surfaces or flooding.

It may be worth calling out an expert to come and create the garden pond for you as it will look a lot more professional and stylish.

Garden Furniture

There is not much point in having a stylish garden area, if there is nowhere for you to sit and admire the work you have done. You may want to consider creating your own garden furniture as part of one your projects, however you should be prepared as this can take a long time and will also cost quite a bit of money.

Kerry loves gardening and decided to create a garden pond ready for summer 2013. She also brought some trendy rattan garden furniture from http://www.oakita.co.uk/

Filed Under: Garden decor, Gardening, The yard Tagged With: birds, garden, Garden Furniture, Garden Projects, pond, summer project, Vegetable Plot, water, Water Feature, Wildlife

5 Great Things You Can Do With Your Garden This Summer That Will Make It Look Great

by Trish

Have you thought about what your garden is going to look like this summer? When people think about making some great changes to their home it’s always to the inside and the garden is merely an afterthought. That could be something people regret once the sun comes back because they’re going to be spending a lot more time outside. Sitting inside all day when it’s sunny is enough to drive you insane, so if you’re spending all that time outside you want it to be somewhere that’s beautiful.

Why don’t you take this time to think of all the wonderful changes you can make in your garden? It doesn’t need to be something that costs a lot of money and it can still look great if it doesn’t. There are things you can do that will suit all budgets. It’s probably a good idea to go over some things you can do right now. It will plant the idea of making changes in your head and perhaps you might like some of the ideas suggested. Get out your notepad, take some notes and you could be enjoying yourself a lot more than last summer.

Build yourself a pond

They put me here to try to make the world better

When you decide to build a pond you get to put your creative hat on because you can do anything you like. They can be big and fancy like something you’d find in a Japanese garden, or it can be a small hole in the ground with water in it. The choice is up to you and the sky is the limit. They also don’t usually cost much provided you do the work yourself and you don’t fill it with expensive fish. You also need to remember than having a water feature in the garden is a big responsibility if you have children running around.

Paint your fingers green

Your garden might look plain just now, but if you decided to get green fingers you could turn it into a work of art. Looking after flowers is one of the most rewarding things you can do with your garden, but remember that it’s not easy. If flowers are not your thing then maybe you could grow your own vegetables instead. Sometimes it’s nicer putting in all that work if you can be rewarded with food at the end of the day. It’s your garden so you can grow anything you want.

Lay a patio

terrace August 2006

It’s always nice to have a patio if you’ve always been used to grass everywhere you look when you go outside. It turns into a great place to eat your dinner in the evenings during summer because you can buy a proper table and chairs. You can also keep a barbeque on the patio and invite people around for food whenever you want. Of course you can do all this on the grass, but there’s just something about a proper patio that makes it a better option.

Give it the once over

Sometimes you don’t even need to add anything new to your garden to make it look great. Taking away all the crap that’s lying around is enough. You could go one better and paint everything so it looks like the day you moved in. When you’re cleaning out all the crap you do realize you won’t think of it in this way? You’ll think it’s all great stuff, so keep your emotions in check and throw out everything that you don’t need.

Treat yourself to something special

Everything we’ve talked about up until now is just a few nice things you can do to make your garden look nicer. You always have the option of treating yourself to something special, but this option is only available if you have enough money. I’m talking about a swimming pool, sauna, hot-tub, or anything else that would take your breath away every time you went outside. If you do have the money sometimes treating yourself is exactly what you need.

Attached Images:
  •  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://www.andertoons.com
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

Jeff Kruger is the owner of a famous Mower Shop in Perth which specializes in custom designed turf equipments to make your yard look great. He spends his free time blogging and watching rugby.

Filed Under: Garden decor, Gardening, The yard Tagged With: ;changes, barbecue, flowers, garden, great things, ideas, Japanese garden, paint, patio, plants, pond, summer, sun, vegetables

How to Come Up With Amazing Ideas for Your Garden

by Trish

For many of us coming up with a layout for our garden is a speedy and routine process. In most cases we will go with the normal design conventions that gardens tend to feature (a patio, a lawn and perhaps some flowers around the edge) and will be happy to keep our garden pretty much the way it was when we moved into the property.

Of course doing this though means that we won’t be taking full advantage of the space, and would mean missing out on many of the great opportunities that a garden presents. Here then we will look at some ways that you can come up with a garden design that will be more creative and that will help you to take full advantage of the space.

Look Around

Of course the first thing you can do to get ideas for your garden is to look around other gardens. This will mean visiting friends, looking around garden centres, or just browsing images of gardens online in order to get a feel for the kind of thing you like and that you might want for your garden. You may find a garden that you want to practically replicate for yourself, or you might just spot particular features and items that you want to use instead. Either way, this is a great place to find inspiration.

Use a Mood Board

(moj) FLAJER / (my) flyer

In any interior – or in this case exterior – design, a mood board can be a very useful tool for coming up with a design you’re happy with. Essentially a mood board is a collage that you create by taking images, photographs and words and attaching them to the page. This way you can start to come up with a general ‘theme’ that you want for your garden and start to get an idea of the colours, the features and the ‘style’ that you want to employ. If nothing else this is a great way to communicate to your landscaping contractors the kind of feel you want for them to work from.

Research

Researching what’s possible in a garden and the kinds of additional features and things you can get for them is another way to expand your horizons and to come up with new ideas. For instance you may never have heard of the ‘office pod’ which is essentially a pod that you can place at the end of your garden to create an enclosed working space. It’s very modern and very cool and completely changes the way you view what’s possible in your garden. Likewise researching the plants you can grow in your climate and your soil can help you to get a realistic idea of what you want to grow in your garden.

Sketch

Less involved than a mood board but just as useful is to simply sketch out some ideas, and as you start to find the features and the items you want for your garden you can use a sketch to come up with an actual layout and a plan for where you want them all and how they’ll work with your larger design.

Attached Images:
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

Sharon King is a home improvement expert and says that it is a great idea to try new things while designing. She also says that you can take help from landscaping company while designing your garden.

Filed Under: Garden decor, Landscaping, The yard Tagged With: amazing, flowers, garden, garden centers, garden design, ideas, lawn, patio, photographs, plan, plants, Property, sketch

A small pond would be a great feature in our garden

by The Diva

My husband has always wanted to put a pond in our back yard garden.

When we first moved in to our house we landscaped the front and back yards and we now have a lovely rose garden. Well … it’s not all roses, it’s a good mix of roses, flowering plants and greenery. It’s quite beautiful.

The only major thing that’s possibly missing from our little back yard oasis is a pond or fountain. I think I can make some room for a pond fountain somewhere near the patio where we can enjoy it.

I think I’m going to do a little research as to how to put in a pond and what we’ll need .. you know, things like pond pumps a liner and maybe some pond plants and surprise my husband with my new knowledge. Then, maybe in April or early May we’ll start putting in a pond. It will have to be a small one, but I know he’ll love it.

Have you ever built your own pond or installed a garden fountain? Tips?

Filed Under: Garden decor, Home and family, Home Improvement, Items to Try, Landscaping, Recreation, The yard Tagged With: back yard garden, fountain, garden, Gardening, husband, liner, pond, pond plants, pump, research, rose garden, small pond, surprise

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