David Domoney helps you to take a look at your garden with fresh eyes and to ask the question: "Does it need a makeover?"

14 January 2022

 

A Garden Makeover

A new year is the perfect opportunity to take stock and assess your garden. It’s the time to decide which elements you’re happy with and consider which features in your garden are due a makeover or refresh this year. Whether you’re hoping for a full garden transformation or small but subtle changes, there are plenty of ways to enhance the design of your garden and get the best from your space.

 

 

Lay a good foundation

A solid start to the new year is setting a good foundation so the rest of the year can follow. What better way of laying a good foundation than giving your patio a spruce up?

 

 

Get a head start

If you want your existing patio to shine, get a Patio Cleaner that’s right for the job, this is perfect for removing stubborn dirt and debris from sandstone, slate, granite, marble and porcelain paving among others. The high-performance cleaner is easy to use and fast acting, taking the hard work out of cleaning. Keeping your patio in good shape all year round by incorporating regular cleaning into your gardening routine.

 

Pots of Vibrant Colour

To ensure it looks the part through the months, switching up potted patio plans will keep the space seasonal. Through summer, go for vibrant colourful flowers to bring an air of cheer to the space.

 

Dahlias are a great choice for summer containers in a sunny spot where they repeat flower until the first frost, ‘Bishop of Oxford’ has coral-coloured flowers atop dark purple stems. Pair these with the trailing habit of Thymus praecox (white flowered thyme) ‘Albiflorus’ and the fragrant, white flowers will complement the container well.

Then, in winter, hardy plants such as cyclamen and winter flowering pansies will bring a burst of colour on darker, dull days.

 

 

Summer Socials

Alternatively, if you’re investing in a new patio, consider the final look that you want to achieve in your garden and then work from the bottom.

 

 

Colour Considerations

Starting with your patio will allow you to create the shapes and journey around your garden for the full experience. The paving type and colouring will have an impact on the final space, so choose wisely.

 

 

Prepare For Summer

Make changes now for a spring and summer of socialising in the garden by preparing spaces for friends and family to convene.

 

 

Exotic Dreaming

For outdoor dining on a warm evening, welcome your guests to the space with a Mediterranean feeling complete with Mosaic Paving. The warm coffee colours of Arabica make the paving a focal feature itself. When topped with terracotta pots full of strawberry plants, geraniums, or red-hot-pokers, you and your guests will be transported to the Mediterranean for a holiday at home.

 

 

Grow the good lfe

When planning ahead for visitors, you always think about what’s on the menu for their visit. So, get one step ahead and grow your own ingredients, because there are so many benefits of growing your own fruit, vegetables, and herbs at home. The journey of nurturing and caring for produce, then harvesting to eat in homecooked meals is a joy.

 

 

Fresh From The Vine

Get creative with your planting spaces, for example in sloped gardens, retaining walls can bring structure as well as providing more space to grow. Whatever the design of your garden, there is bound to be a Burford Walling stone to suit your scheme. For darker tones with hints of red, Yate Grey is the perfect building block, or for some sunshine in the structure, opt for Golden Buff. Not only can you choose the colour to match your design, but the finishing options of the stone too; split, pitched, or tumbled for a weathered look.

 

 

Slope Solving

Just like raised beds, the space can be filled with any soil type to suit the crops that are being grown. Pick out a couple of your favourite meals and plan your raised beds around the fruit, veg and herbs you can grow to make it. For example, grow tomatoes, peppers, onions, chillies, spinach, and oregano to add as toppings to homemade pizzas.

 

 

Pizza Perfection

Another great thing is that these sections of the raised beds can be split up to suit the veg that’s being planted. Keeping legumes, brassicas, roots, and potatoes in their own sections will ensure you can care best for each segment, as well as making crop rotation easier to follow for the best produce year after year.

 

 

Make It Accessible

Get your year off to a flying start by choosing the changes you want to make in your garden to get the most from your space. Achieve a stunning social space in time for summer or create a grow-your-own haven for tasty meals year-round.

 

 

This month I've selected a video which has just undergone the process of a 'makeover'. Note the unusual way the  porcelain paving has been incorporated into the face of this upright feature. I think it is one of my more recent favourites.

 

David Domoney, TV gardener, horticultural expert and Pavestone brand ambassador blogs monthly on the Pavestone website on all things landscaping related.

We look forward to seeing you back again next month.
 

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