Photo by Altifarm Enverde on Unsplash

Summer is here! Well, sort of…

No matter what the weather wants to do, most of us do like to put some work into making our gardens lovely at this time of year. On average, statistics say we will spend around £350 on our gardens each year, whether that is on lovely patio furniture, new plants, or perhaps a water feature to tag on to that lovely zen mindfulness namaste vibe everybody keeps talking about. That kind of financial investment makes sense when you consider that the average gardener will spend over 114 hours in their garden annually. That is without considering that fact that most of us will attempt at least a couple of barbecues and garden parties if we get a sunny weekend or two (fingers crossed!).

The garden is the part of the house we pay extra for, but can often neglect to make the most of. With that in mind, we want to help you make sure that during your garden renovations, redecorations and tidying this summer, you don’t fall prey to the most common mistakes people make when improving their outdoor space.

Here are the top seven outdoor decorating mistakes to avoid this summer:

1. Splashing The Cash Outdoors When It Needs Spending Indoors
The pressure of constant TV adverts for outdoor furniture and accessories and social media suggesting everyone has #gardenperfection can make even the most sensible of us splurge cash when we shouldn’t. If you need to put money into fixing your roof, investing in a beautiful new bath, getting some new carpet in the living room or any other renovations relating to your home, prioritise that work. Your garden can wait, and it is much better to get any home renovations done in summer before they cause you problems in the colder and wetter months.

2. Forgetting About Storage
Forgetting about storage can be a real issue if you have bought gorgeous outdoor furniture and soft furnishings but you have nowhere to put it when the weather turns. You might also struggle with the practicality of your space if you make it look beautiful and then realise you now have nowhere to store all the equipment required to maintain it.

3. Ignoring The Walls/ Fences
The walls and fences of a garden really can transform how it looks. Rather than it being the last thing you think of, it should be the first, especially if you are putting up a shed, or placing tall plants.

4. Making Your Outdoor Space Impractical
So you got carried away with a gorgeous new outdoor space and only a month in, the new lawn seems to require mowing every day, the new patio tiles are slippy after rain, and the quirky seating is actually an enemy to backs everywhere. Practicality might seem boring but if your outdoor space only looks good and doesn’t work for your family, it won’t get used and your initial time, effort and financial investment will be wasted.

5. Only Thinking About Summer
Whenever you do anything to your garden you must think about how it works all year round. Planting should provide you with plants that work for every season. Furniture should be weather-protected in some shape or form. There should be no patches that can gather mud or flooding when the rain really sets in. Think ahead to all seasons and even how you want your garden to look next year in order to get true longevity from your investment. Check out this handy article about designing a four-season-garden for more guidance.

6. Spending Money On Tacky Summer Trends
Not to get all eco-friendly on you (we totally are), but tacky plastic summer throwaway items are not only fleeting in their use (so aren’t that wise of a spend) but they are really bad for the environment. Every year 335 metric tonnes of plastic is produced and about half of that is single-use. All of those plastic party straws and cups are awful for the earth and even items designed for more than one use, such as plastic garden ornaments or inflatables are realistically going in the bin once it gets to September. Avoid those tacky summer trends for a sustainable and planet-friendly outdoor space that isn’t affecting wild outdoor spaces negatively across the world. You can read more about the negative effects of plastic in the environment here.

7. Forgetting About Light
Sure enough, summer brings those long gorgeous evenings where hazy sunsets provide the only kind of light most of us want to pair with a cocktail. However, it does still get dark, and in a few months, it will get dark sooner and sooner and sooner, until you get sick of using your phone torchlight to get around in your outdoor space. Some gentle outdoor fairy lights, some solar lights and perhaps integrated external lighting will not only transform how your outdoor space looks at night, but it will make the space safer too.
The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul. – Alfred Austin

Creating a lovely outdoor space this summer can benefit your lifestyle greatly during the warmer months. Plan carefully and think ahead, and the benefits will continue much further, providing you with an accessible and beautiful garden all year round.

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