garden

Exterior Design – How to Give Your Outdoor Areas a Stylish Makeover

March 19, 2018 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

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Is your home outdoor area looking a little lacklustre these days? Are you bored of your current decor, or simply looking for a fresh injection of life into your space? If that’s the case, this is the article for you. Read on to find out a little more about how you can give your outdoor areas a stylish makeover. With a little know-how, you’ll be able to turn your space into one of your dreams.

Keep It Warm And Toasty

Summer has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean that your days of lounging out in your outdoor areas have to come to an end. A simple solution to keep your outdoor area warm and toasty all year long is to install some gas outdoor heaters into your space. These heaters look stylish, and ensure that you can continue to wine and dine outside, even in the colder months. The fun doesn’t have to stop just because the weather has shifted!

Dress Your Table

Your outdoor area is not complete without a large table where people can come together to relax or have a family meal together. We recommend purchasing wooden tables or tables made of natural materials so that the aesthetic flows with the earthy tones of the outdoors. Always keep your table well dressed, with a table runner, placemats, flowers and tea lights. This will truly breathe some new life and elegance into your outdoor area, and you’ll always be ready should company come knocking on your door.

Lighting Is Key

Nothing transforms the mood of a space more than lighting does, and your outdoor area is the perfect opportunity for you to get creative with lights. You can consider hanging up affordable fairy lights, paper lanterns, or even go all out and install step lights, solar powered lights, spike lights and pathway lights into the area. Keeping the area well lit ensures that you have a great ambience even when the sun goes down, and makes your outdoor area look much more inviting in the evening.

Landscape, Landscape, Landscape!

Landscaping is essential if you want to give your outdoor areas a stylish makeover. Not only are they beautiful, but plants also help to breathe life into your space, beckoning you in to sit down and relax. There are a myriad of options when it comes to landscaping – from vertical gardens to shrubs to privacy offering hedges. If you are not confident in landscaping yourself, don’t fret, there are many professionals out there who will be able to offer you guidance and assistance.

Why Not Grow Your Own Produce?

Outdoor spaces don’t have to be all about just entertainment – why not put your space to good use by starting your very own fruit and vegetable garden? There is nothing better than growing your own food, knowing how it has been grown and enjoying the bountiful crops of your hard work. You can grow many cost effective veggies such as herbs, lettuce, tomatoes and beans in your outdoor area, saving you money in the long run as well. Aside from growing your own food, you can even compost, which is a way of recycling your organic waste and turning it into a nitrogen rich substance that will greatly improve the soil in your outdoor areas.

We hope that this article has given you some insight into how you can go about transforming your outdoor area. With a little know how and a trip to a DIY store or two, you’ll be lounging in your dream outdoor patio or backyard in no time.

The Summer Saviour: 6 Weather-Wise Ways to Prepare Your Garden for a Heatwave

November 13, 2017 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Summer is fast approaching, and what a time it is. Time off from work, spent at the beach or firing up the barbie with your nearest and dearest. Christmas presents and New Year’s Eve parties. Long evenings spent in the back yard, with a cool drink at hand and your garden growing lush around you. However, all that warm weather can be a green thumb’s mortal enemy. Let’s check out six ways you can summer-proof your garden.

Keep it Watered

Plants need water to survive. Rain is not the most common occurrence during the hotter months, and those direly needed showers can be few and far between. You need to ensure your garden stays wet and watered during summer. A sprinkler system can be a great way to do this. You can set it on a timer, so you don’t have to worry about wasting water or a giant water bill. If this isn’t your cup of tea, make sure you get out there with the hose every morning and night!

Keep Your Soil Cool and Moist

You want ideal growing conditions for your plant friends, and cool and moist soil is your best bet. But exactly how are you going to achieve that when the weather is so hot and dry? A good layer of mulch is a great place to start. You can pick up mulch from your local hardware chain, and you are spoiled for choice. There is pea straw, pebbles, pine bark or sugar cane, all of which function as a protective layer. An added plus here is that mulch helps keeps the weeds at bay, too, so you’ll save time down the track that you’d usually spend weeding.

Prepare in Spring

It’s ultra-important that you get the ball rolling in spring, so you’re not left high and dry in summer. Firstly, remove any dead flowers from your plants. If you leave these on, you run the risk of those plants going to seed.

Secondly, keep an eye out for pests and disease. If your plants come down with the sickness during summer, they can find it harder to bounce back. You want to identify and treat any conditions in spring, before it gets too hot.

Finally, apply some slow-release fertiliser to your smaller shrubs to give them a boost of energy during summer. If you have mature, established shrubs, skip this process.

Firm Boundaries

Some plants are a lot like schoolchildren, they need firm boundaries in order to flourish. We’re talking about those aggressive plants that like to take over the rest of the garden. Talk about pushy! Summer is a great time for these cheeky muffins, as they have more sunlight to power their growth. Take some action to restrict their movement.

One trick to achieve this is to pop them in a large pot, cut the bottom of the pot off then plant everything in the ground! Yes, including the pot. The plant will look like it’s growing from the ground, but the pot will contain the growth.

Prune, Prune, Prune

Spring is the best time to do some serious cutting back. Target your woody ornamental shrubs – such as rose bushes and hydrangeas. Ensure you use good quality gardening tools to do this, because you want a nice clean cut. Cut just above dominant buds, or close to the main trunk of the plant.

There You Are

Prune back certain shrubs, contain aggressively growing plants, do the majority of your prep work during springtime, install a sprinkler system and keep your soil cool and moist and your garden should survive the upcoming summer!

Developing your Garden Space

April 30, 2014 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

A bland, dull outdoor garden can easily be spruced up to become a lush oasis with a little work.

It takes a bit of planning and a green thumb, but everything can come together neatly. To learn how to create a garden space, it is ideal to speak with a garden specialist or take out a book from the local library. Help from this article will also help you understand what to do, when and how.

Preparing the Ground

The weekend before you plan to put items in the ground it is ideal to prep the ground. What this means is that you should rototill the ground, add plant food, fertilizer and water. The next day, rototill the space again.

This ensures that everything is incorporated into the ground well and that it is soft enough for planting.

Carefully outline your space for each type of plant, shrub, tree or vegetable. You can use landscaping molding to ensure that this area is separated from green space and walking paths.

Laying out the Plants

How to lay out the plants:

Trees along the edge of the space
Shrubs staggered between the trees
Ground cover plants and flowers toward the front
Arrange vegetables in raised beds in designated areas

The reason for laying the plants out is to visualize how the garden is going to look ahead of time. Of course, you can rearrange before packing them down into the soil if you prefer. It is just easier to view the garden before plants are packed down.

Installing Irrigation

Irrigation is important. Rather than carrying watering cans out each evening and morning, it is ideal to install a timed sprinkler system. This dispenses only a set amount of water for a specific amount of time.

It can also be setup to irrigate at a specific time of the day or evening.

The irrigation system should be installed prior to planting the ground. Once the plants are laid out you can see where the ideal areas are for the sprinklers to go.

Feed and Fertilize the Ground

Right before planting the ground, feed and fertilize again, but do not mix it in. Leave it sit on the top of the ground. Slowly mix it in as you plant. What this will do is put the fertilizer and plant food right next to the roots of the plant.

It boosts the growth in a more rapid manner.

Plant Everything

Now that the soil is ready and the irrigation system is installed, it is time to plant. Ensure that you make the holes deep enough so that about ½ inch of the stem of the plant is covered. All of the roots and included soil must be covered.

Pack the soil around the plant down tightly.

Install Lighting

Solar lighting is ideal for outdoor spaces. What this will do is create highlighted areas and a safe walking area after dark. Solar lighting soaks in the sun during the day and illuminates the garden after dark.

This is the easiest way to go about creating a garden. These simple steps, when carried out properly, will have your garden space looking like a professional did it for you.

Creating and building a garden space is something that the whole family can partake in. Children might have a better idea for the placement of a specific tree or shrub. The suggestion for a water feature might also be brought up.