Five trends for summer gardens
Five trends for summer gardens
With all the glorious weather and time at home, we’re feeling inspired to get our outdoor spaces in tip-top condition. Five garden trends that should be on your radar…
1
Wild flowers
Forget formality – summer gardens this year are all about wildflowers and natural looking flowerbeds. Less manicured gardens break down boundaries of traditional borders with perennial shrubs, bulbs, grasses and vegetables. Think asymmetry and your garden will evolve into a rustic outdoor paradise. Mismatching pots also adds to the natural look, and mix flower beds up for a gloriously colourful result.
2
Grow your own
With the battle against climate change ramping up, it’s all about sustainable living. Get out there early and plant all sorts of fruit and vegetables so you can contribute to the zero waste movement. Runner beans make for beautiful climber plants up brick walls and benches, tomato crops and radishes are easy to grow and all sorts of lettuce thrive in warm summer weather and mean tasty side salads all throughout the season and well into autumn.
3
Grown up garden hideaway
Forget Man Caves – She Sheds are big news. No longer a place for rusty tools and your old junk, sheds are being pimped beyond all recognition. Buy a simple off-the-shelf option and paint in a variety of colour-ways, add rugs, fairy lights and seating. Type She Sheds into Pinterest for some glorious inspo. Featured image: Giles Pike Architects
4
Vertical planting
This garden trend shows no sign of abating, and is particularly popular among those who have limited outdoor space. Optimising your garden by transforming every wall or fence into a space for gardening will make your outdoor space all the greener and will help do away with that unexciting garden wall. There are plenty of herbs and vegetables that thrive vertically including tomatoes, peas and beans.
5
Support wildlife
Help your local micro-environments thrive with support for wildlife in your summer garden. Think about the garden birds the next time you’re at the local centre and buy food for your feathered friends to lay out on a bird feeder. Consider making a pond to encourage biodiversity, with insects, fish and birds all attracted to an open body of water. Growing wildflowers will also encourage bees to your garden and to the flowerbed where they can collect nectar and pollen. Surrey Wildlife Trust are urging people to help local wildlife by doing things like cutting a 13x13cm hole in fences for hedgehogs, or to build a bug hotel. The trust also encourage you to not use pesticide and slug pellets, avoid weed killers and use peat-free compost.
