If you have a garden in your home, you should consider yourself lucky. Having space where you can relax after a long day and enjoy the peace that nature brings is precious. As a garden owner, this also means additional responsibilities because you want it to stay beautiful and tidy all year round. Whether you have a garden the size of a football pitch, or a ping-pong table, here are our top five tips for gardeners in 2020.
Water In Your Garden
The presence of sounds and visuals of water will refresh and restore your connection to nature. More and more gardens are equipped with small pond fountains as the main feature. Some people might spend thousands on getting an impressive water feature for their garden. However you really don’t have to. You don’t even really need to know what you’re doing to create a water feature in your garden. You can buy solar powdered water features and let the sun do all the work for you. OK, so it won’t work on cloudy days, but how much are you even in the garden on miserable days?
You can also add a birdbath if you’re an animal lover. Birds especially, have difficulties with access to fresh water. If you place a birdbath in your garden, not only will you help the birds. You’ll also be adding to the much desired relaxing sound effects of their splashing about. You’ll be amazed at how much of a difference the sound of water and birds make to a garden in comparison to one that is silent.
When it comes to actually watering your garden, especially if you’re trying to grow fruits and vegetables, it’s actually better to use collected rain water than tap water. Tap water isn’t always liked by fruits and vegetables due to all the minerals in it. If you can, connect a water butt to your drain pipe and use the collected water from there instead. It’s pretty cheap and simple to install and it’ll save you money as well. You won’t have to use your hose pipe for watering so it’s a win, win!
A Sustainable Garden
Sustainability seems to be the ‘thing’ at the moment. You already know the planet needs your help, so why not start in your garden?
Your first step to sustainability is to set up a compost bin. The bio-waste being re-used to nourish your plants is a double win for your garden. You’ll reduce your carbon footprint AND increase the fertility of your garden. Simply place all your plant cuttings and food waste into your compost bin and wait for nature to do its thing. Then, you can re-use the waste to put back into your garden as nutrients for the soil and vegetation. It’s like your own homegrown miracle grow! Your plants and veggies will LOVE your for it.
Another sustainable option for your garden is to engage in more DIY projects and get into re-purposing. It’ll make your garden unique and “greener” than ever. Instead of throwing things away, think about how you could re-use it for something else. Perhaps you have an old wooden pallet lying around in the shed. You could re-purpose it as a wall planter – great if you lack floor space.
Vertical Gardening
Another of our favourite tips for gardeners is thinking outside the box when it comes to space saving, especially if you are lacking space. Take your garden off the ground. Space management has never been so important. You don’t want to waste an inch of precious land, which is why you should get into vertical gardening.
Finding creative ways to create more space. Think up! Vertical gardening will suit any garden, as it has many forms. You can, for example, arrange wall or fence planters and make the most of what would have been wasted space. Another idea is to create a waterfall of plants, perhaps down the side of your house, beneath a window…etc. The sky is the limit here, get creative, and turn your ideas into garden reality. Think of any area in your garden not being used and get creative. As long as it gets some sun, go for it!
Less Maintenance
These days, people tend to have less free time than ever. This is why it’s crucial for your garden to be low maintenance. Otherwise, you might not have time to take proper care of it.
To make your garden a low maintenance space, focus on foliage. These plants are generally very low maintenance. Plus, these types of plants are generally all year rounders, with either some kind of foliage of flower throughout. One of the recommended plants to do the trick are the evergreen rhododendrons. Please also remember that low maintenance doesn’t mean dull. Think about your space and the kind of look you’re going for. Then do your research in to the types of plants that would work for you.
Homegrown Vegetables
A garden isn’t there just for it’s looks. It can also be very practical. With people trying harder to be healthier, more and more are turning to homegrown fruits and veggies.
Use your garden to provide you with a healthier and tastier diet. Not to mention that growing your own food will also save you a lot of money in the long run. You might find you have to spend a bit to get started, but you’ll get your money back soon enough. Maybe start small, with a herb or two grown on your windowsills. Then work your way up to vegetables like potatoes or carrots – these are pretty easy to grow.
You’ll be amazed at the difference in the taste of your produce. Even the simple homegrown carrot will taste so much better than what you get in supermarkets. Growing your own food can be so much fun, and something you can get the kids involved in too. You might think growing your own food would be high maintenance but it actually doesn’t have to be. Yes, you’ll need to spend some time at the beginning getting the seeds sown. However, once you plant them out, other than watering and a quick prune here and there, they take care of themselves mostly.
Gardening activities bring peace and relaxation to people. It can also help to focus the mind, and it’s great for anxiety! It takes your mind off your worries and into what you’re doing right then and there.
Get creative and change your backyard into an oasis that you want and need. Make your garden great again!
What would your top tips for gardeners be?
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