Does your garden look a bit lacklustre? The heat of the summer can wreak havoc on our gardens, yet it’s the prime time for sitting out and making the most of the weather. Here are a few ideas that could really help give your garden the spruce up it needs:

 

  1. Improving your patio or decking

Patios and decking can make or break a garden’s look. The first step is to de-weed the area. If you can prise up the roots of the weeds it’ll help any regrowth, but if you also treat the cracks with weed killer you won’t have to attend to the problem again for a while.

Once you’ve got a weed free area, treat with patio cleaner or decking cleaner.  Scrubbing these areas with cleaner will remove mould, stains, fungus and any grime. The results will be worth it!

If your patio is old and the stones are uneven, you may want to attempt to re-lay it. We have instructions here and you’ll need a rubber mallet, a pointing trowel, a tape measurespirit levelchalk linedrive in line hooks and cement.

  1. Paint fences

A lick of paint to your fences can make a huge difference to the look of a garden. Especially if you have aging wood or different colour panels. It’s also simple to paint too, use a wide  4” paint brush for the main strokes and a 1” paint brush for the corners.

  1. Climbers

Climbers can be planted all through from Spring to late Autumn (depending on the variant you choose) and they make a fantastic and easy decorative cover for ugly or boring walls and fences, as well as giving texture and scent to a garden.

Use galvanised wire and vine eyes to fix a grid effect to a fence or wall, and then plant your climbers at the bottom. They’ll fix their creepers to the wire and you’ll have coverage in no time.

  1. Mower/Strimmer

Of course, keeping the lawn mown will help improve the look of the garden, but if you feel that you’re not getting a perfect finish, you may need to change the blade on the mower. We have a full range of replacement blades to suit a huge range of mowers, as well as replacement starter ropes for petrol mowers. To finish off the look, invest in a strimmer. Trimming the edges of your lawn will make a huge difference to your lawn, it’ll look positively perfect. We have replacement strimmer lines of all shapes and sizes.

  1. Watering your garden

A well-watered garden will keep it green and lush. But keeping up with the watering can be a huge pain if all you have is a watering can. If you haven’t got an outdoor tap then invest in a garden tap kit and install one.

Using your outdoor tap, we recommend snap-fit connectors because you’ll be able to easily switch between a hose connection and the open tap. To the end of the hose, attach a spray nozzle and watering your garden will suddenly become a breeze.

  1. Plant vegetables

Vegetables can be grown throughout the year, they don’t all have to be planted in Spring. For instance, in August you can plant brussels sprouts and cabbages for next spring. You can also grow leaf vegetables, and onions ready for next Spring. There are also many fruits that can be planted in Autumn such as Cranberries, Strawberries, peaches and nectarines.

French beans can also be grown in August,, giving you a late harvest. Plant the seeds using a dibber to get a good depth, and the seeds should germinate quickly in the hot weather, keep them watered and once they’re big enough encourage their stems up canes which can be held together using a wigwam style grip, fastening with plant ties where needed. Don’t forget to add plant labels to remember what you’ve planted.

If you have no space to dig a veg patch you can use deep pots, or even hanging baskets – they work surprisingly well for vegetables such as tomatoes, strawberries, or even herbs. Grab yourself some hanging basket chains here and hook up your plants.

  1. Get rid of unwanted guests

Summer will see all sorts of visitors in your garden, and some of them unwanted! if you’re inundated with slugs, a great top tip is to put a small container of beer near your slugs favourite plants, half a plastic bottle or bowl will work to allow them in, but not out. View our Pest Control range here.