Children love mystery and magic of fairy tales or great stories.  One story that is known the world over is the English classic, The Secret Garden.

It is about a young girl, Mary, who is discovering her way in life after growing up in India.  She doesn’t like her new home too much and there is a very sad boy who lives in the house.  Upon adventuring around the grounds she stumbles upon a locked door in the garden.  She is determined to break through and eventually discovers a secret garden.  The story is based around bringing this garden back to life and making the boy better by sneaking him outside.  It is purely delightful and worth a read.

Our garden’s can often be less than magical but that doesn’t mean, with a little creativity, we can’t take a leaf out of Mary’s book and give our children something amazing.

[Photo courtesy of Leah Kelley/pexels.com]

Think about what you want to achieve, a secret hidden away cove behind her wall of roses?  Perhaps a tucked away fruit garden for your kids to discover and delve into? Or even a real modern rockery with water features or even an inverted fish tank.

Before you get stuck in it’s worth giving a termite treatment now.  Prevention is better than cure and discovering you have a problem after all your landscaping could lead to disappointment.  Once you have the all clear and advice on how to avoid any invasions, get to work.

[Photo courtesy of Kaboompics // Karolina/pexels.com]

Busy families mean keeping on top of a garden can be quite demanding.  But if you enlist the help of your little ones then not only will you have them outside creating, you will also have some keen green fingered workers to help you with digging and planting.

A fun and unique twist on a garden, if you have little or no outside space, is the brilliant living wall.  This is an eco wall of oxygen promoting plants.  You can have them indoors our outdoors and they will purify the air of pollutants.  In fact growing an eco wall in urban areas has quite a positive effect on the environment.

Herbs are a really simple grow and offer a variety of scents which your children can enjoy.  Fruits produce both flowers and then edible delights! Roses can hide fences or walls under their beautiful large petals or you could go with another great kid pleaser, the towering sunflower!

Get creative with your outdoor space and encourage the children to play.  Dedicating a little area all of their own will make them feel like they have a little hideaway and also kick start them off on the road to enjoying creating things.  Bringing a plant to life is one of the most humbling things we can do with simplicity.  Just make sure to teach the children any potential dangers of playing outside in the garden, such as eating fruits they don’t know.  A little bit of mud is good for the immune system, but washing hands is vital after handling plants!

I love gardening, and when the sun is shining, I’m always out, seeing what I can do to improve my yard. Most of the time, it’s little things such as pulling up the weeds from between the paving. Or, planting some new flowers in the soil around the edge of my front lawn. Every so often though I do like to take on a big project and work to completely reinvent my yard. That’s what I’m going to talk about today. If your garden is looking dark and dreary, make some changes, and you’ll love spending time out there again.

Start Small

[Photo courtesy of Counselling/pixabay.com]

You should start small when tackling a new look for your garden. I think we should begin by cutting the grass because that’s going to make it look grander. I’m sure that’s something that you want. A garden that gives the impression your home has a lot of space. Cut your grass as short as possible, and it will also look neat, tidy and well maintained.

Next, we need to take a look at any patio areas in your garden. If you’ve never cleaned your patio, it’s going to be looking worse for wear. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are easy ways to fix that. I suggest you start by renting a power washer if you don’t have one. A power washer is the easiest tool to use for cleaning your patio. It will blast the marks, dirt and grime away, making it look brand new. It can even get rid of the weeds that are growing between the cracks. Let it dry out and then take a look at the effect. The grass is short; the patio is clean, and essentially, you have a blank canvas. Now you can style your garden however you want.

Lovely Landscaping

[Photo courtesy of Robin Zebrowski/flickr.com]

If you want to change your garden, you need to think about landscaping. There’s nothing small about this idea, and you’ll certainly need some tools. You might even need extra help to complete this job because it tends to involve restructuring the garden. You might raise certain parts, lower others and by the time you’re finished the garden is completely different. It’s sectioned, and it has different areas for all your needs. In one part of the backyard, there’s a patio place, perfect for outdoor furniture. In another, you have a vast stretch of green for your kids. Then, around the side, there’s a place to grow flowers and maybe even some veg? Landscaping makes this sectioning a real possibility. No matter what your yard looks like right now, you can have your perfect garden with a little landscaping.

Brightening It Up

[Photo courtesy of MabelAmber/pixabay.com]

Usually, gardens are dark because something is blocking the sunlight. If you’re overlooked, you can’t do much about this. The best idea is to add some outside lighting, but that can be expensive. In some cases, though, it’s going to be natural issues that is blocking your light, such as an overgrown tree. There’s an easy remedy for that. You just need to cut the tree down and to do this; I suggest you get a chainsaw with a long lasting battery. Getting the wires tangled around can lead to real problems cutting the tree. In some cases, you won’t have to remove the whole tree. Instead, you can just cut it down a little so that it’s not as full and thick. Once you’ve yelled timber, dispose of the fallen branches correctly to stop it cluttering your garden.

Colourful Ideas

[Photo courtesy of Jean Beaufort/publicdomainpictures.net]

Some of your local flowers, shrubs and plants might not be quite as colourful as you’d like. So, how about importing some tropical shrubbery. This will give your garden a unique look, guaranteeing it stands out from the rest of the homes on the street.

If you don’t want to import plants, you can get the same effect with stones and shells. You can use a collection of rocks and shells to brighten up the garden, framing the patio or the grass. Make sure that the stones are bright and glisten. If they get dirty, give them a good wash to keep your garden looking stunning and stylish.

Shopping Spree

[Photo courtesy of ghansela/pixabay.com]

Finally, let’s finish off reinventing your garden with a good old shop. You can buy some beautiful garden furniture for your yard and right now is the perfect time to do this. At the end of summer, the prices of gorgeous garden furniture go through the floor. You’ll save a bundle and have the perfect accessories to make your garden an absolute delight.