Four projects to prep your garden for Summer

Guest Collaborative Post

As soon as the sun makes a reappearance, we can’t help but feel more positive and ready to get outdoors again.  With that summer feeling starting to creep back in, it’s time for many of us to start focusing on our gardens again.

If you’re keen to take on a few new garden projects this year, you might be looking for some inspiration. Here’s four garden projects you could attempt.

Construct a nature pond

Introducing a dedicated wildlife area into your garden is a lovely idea. And constructing a nature pond is an attractive way to do this. Unlike ornamental ponds or fishponds, you’re looking to grow native plants and attract wildlife such as frogs, toads, newts, damselflies and dragonflies.  

The construction of a nature pond is similar to an ornamental pond. You’ll need a hole and a pond liner, but try to fill the pond with rainwater rather than from the tap.  Your aquatic plants will need to enhance the pond’s natural look and help oxygenate the water.  

Create a terraced garden

A terraced garden is a good way of landscaping a sloping garden, by adding layers or zones.  Many back gardens are not level enough to create a useful lawned area, so this is a great alternative.

Each level of your terrace can take on an individual theme with a stepped path weaving its way up to the top.  Levels are usually created with a decorative retaining wall, but you could also use sleepers to make your tiers with.  Unless you know how to build a wall, you’ll probably need a bit of help building the levels of your terraced garden.  However, the overall design and planting themes are a great project to take on.

Conjure up a night-time social space

Summer is a great time for long evenings enjoying the setting sun and cool clear nights.  So, why not conjure up the perfect night-time social space?  

You’ll need plenty of solar lighting to give your garden a magical glow. String, fairy and festoon lighting can be hung from fence posts and trees, and paths can be illuminated with lights that are staked into the ground.  Heat from a chimenea could keep you warm and enhance the evening glow.  You could also add a mini bar and lots of comfy seating too.

Plant a cottage style garden

A cottage style garden is an excellent way of adding colour and height to your garden, as well as attracting bees and other useful insects.

Cottage gardens are usually full of flowers and don’t have to be kept tidy or have a rigid design, so they’re great for amateur or lazy gardeners.  Plant a mix of colourful flowers such as Delphiniums, Lupins, Lavender, Hollyhocks and Peonies for a vibrant summer display.