GARDEN NEAT CHEATS Six tips to help you get to grips with your unruly garden in no time.
ONE
Focus on the lawn Your lawn is ultimately what leads your eye out into the garden, so keeping this well mown, clutterfree and healthy is arguably the biggest factor in retaining a tidy feel. To that end always try to keep borders to a maximum width of around 1.5m. Any wider than this and you may well find their maintenance is taking up a lot of your time.
TWO
A path to perfection Sometimes the issue with lawns is that they present such a wide expansive space it can be difficult to know what to decorate them with. The simple answer is to add a winding path to your lawn – not only is this a one-off addition that will add structure and personality to your back garden, it would also require almost zero maintenance each year, helping the space stay tidy and uncomplicated.
THREE
Crazy paving? If you want to take this a step further, consider paving over larger areas of your garden. In recent years this is a trend that appears to have subsided somewhat, but that’s not to say it wouldn’t create a nicer, cleaner, easier to maintain garden space. Wood decking has the same effect, as well as adding interesting textures and a softer base on which adults and kids can sit and enjoy their surroundings. 60
FOUR
Evergreens every time Evergreen varieties are very handy for all-yearround foliage and variety: and adding a plentiful array of evergreens to your garden means you can avoid pruning, deadheading, staking, weeding and all those other things involved with perennials that take up valuable time that could be spent on other tasks… such as relaxing!
FIVE
What weeds? If the idea of spending hours picking out a smorgasbord of weeds from your beds doesn’t appeal, then wood mulch is almost certainly the solution. Not only does it look great, it adds texture and colour too and is a great tool for keeping moisture in the soil, something that will come in handy when the baking sun of the summer months begins to dominate the day.
SIX
Take a fake Finally, probably the best low maintenance addition of them all – fake grass. The technology these days means the look is almost as good as having a real lawn and, if you’re brave enough to take it a step further, then fake shrubs can decorate difficult to reach or hard to maintain corners of your garden in a way that will need little maintenance, whilst offering big impact.
