4 garden projects to set your sights on this spring
During the past year, the reverence we feel towards our homes and the way we utilise them has evolved in one way or another. From providing us with essential stability and a comforting, safe environment, to demonstrating the multifunctional uses of our living spaces which have transformed into home offices and/or classrooms overnight: we are all united by how important our homes are to us.
If you are reading this blog at home, you may be near a window or door where you can see out into your garden, or indeed, you may even be wrapped up warm and sitting within it! Despite not being a structural part of our four walls and regardless of their size, our gardens can be viewed as extensions of our homes and additional ‘rooms’ that we can also tailor to our tastes.
Findings from a study by The National Garden Scheme in 2020 show that 92% of the people surveyed considered “their gardens and outdoor spaces were ‘extremely important’ to them during the current situation in terms of health and wellbeing,” with 82% saying “they have used their gardens more” within recent times.
If you too have been making the most of your garden and you are searching for new and achievable outdoor projects, here are a handful of ideas to get you started.
1. Nurturing Nature
One suggestion within our “5 ways to boost your wellbeing at home” blog, is how we can benefit from inviting Nature into our homes. So, lets apply this concept to our gardens, through the encouragement of new life and more growth!
Listening to tweeting around your bird feeder and watching more bees and butterflies draw to your garden will generate a hive of activity on your doorstep which changes with the seasons. Introducing new plants, such as wildflowers, will help to create the perfect backdrop for such wildlife to thrive. Learn more from The National Trust’s garden experts.
2. Tone setting
When purchasing new flowers for our gardens, we are greeted by a plethora of varieties and subsequent colours to choose from. While these may vary with the time of year, just like perusing home colour charts to find your perfect paint palette, you can design your garden so the colours in bloom are reflective of your taste and how you would like to feel.
If you are looking forward to your next sunny holiday, consider flowers with bright and vibrant tones that instantly make you take a deep breath in and exude a warming smile. Perhaps you would like to create an outdoor space that epitomises tranquillity and peacefulness? Soothing beige colours and the sound of a trickling water feature will provide an ideal starting point to build on. For more colourful inspiration, dig into this article by Real Homes.
3. Home growing
Have you always wanted to grow your own food at home? Perhaps you already harvest vegetables, and you would now like to plant seeds so you can pick lettuces to accompany your lunches, or herbs to add depth to family dinners?
It goes without saying: home grown produce has a unique taste that you just can’t quite put your finger on! The process itself also fills you with immense satisfaction, and you are safe in the knowledge of where everything derives. What’s more, you don’t need to have lots of space to get cracking! From herb boxes on your kitchen windowsill to nominated vegetable patches, here are some tips and advice from the Royal Horticultural Society.
4. Alfresco living
Once you have grown your produce, what could be better than to enjoy the fruits of your labour outside, (weather-dependent of course!), especially if you have spent the day working indoors.
Creating a designated area in your garden where you eat at any time of the day, or just simply spend time and ‘be,’ is something you will thank yourself for throughout the rest of the year and beyond! In Warwickshire, the Grey family designed and constructed their own oak frame home office in their garden, shown below. It was important to them that their new space served multiple purposes, so they incorporated an alfresco living area, covered by an oak canopy. Continue reading their story…
Here at Oakwrights, we understand our clients’ ideas for their dream garden building, such as the one pictured above, naturally vary. So, when working together we begin by understanding their wish list, before transforming their ideas into an oak frame design that truly captures their vision and sits beautifully within their surroundings.
If you would like to discuss your future outbuilding or extension plans, we would love to hear from you. Please call 01432 353 353 or arrange a complimentary online design consultation with our team here.
