Gardening does so much more than just give you a beautiful looking outside space. It can actually have a major impact on your health. The repetitive movements you make as you garden, give you a light cardiovascular workout, strengthen large muscle groups like your quads, hamstrings, and glutes, while also strengthening smaller ligaments and muscles in your feet and hands. Meanwhile, being outside in the fresh air, spending time around nature is also great for your emotional health too. In fact, gardening offers an all-around health boost. Now that it’s getting warmer, the days are longer and the flowers are in full bloom, it’s time to get your garden ready for summer.
Give Your Garden a Thorough Tidy
One of the first things you should do to get your garden ready for the summer is to give everywhere a thorough tidy. Get rid of any rubbish, broken pots, and old garden furniture you no longer want to keep. Then work on removing any weeds from your flower beds and any that have sprouted up through your patio. Remove any dead plants and if there are any plants that perhaps have seen better days either remove them or give them the attention they need to come back to life. Remove any dead sections, feed with the appropriate plant food and then water well, especially if you’ve not had any rain recently. You can next look at tidying up the borders with an edging tool to make sure everything is neat.
Cut the Grass and Aerate your Lawn
One of the quickest and easiest ways to improve the look of your garden is by simply cutting the grass. Make sure you remove all the cut grass from your lawn afterward. Aerating your garden lawn is also a good way to help your garden look its best for the summer months. By using a fork, you can help to improve drainage, encourage grass roots to grow and also help the grass to be able to absorb nutrients. Once this has been done, give the grass a thorough watering and you should have a lush green lawn to enjoy over the summer months.
Provide Shelter and Shade
It’s important that you don’t forget to provide some shade in your garden for those very hot days during the summer. An awning will give you an area to relax in the shade while enjoying your garden and the beautiful summer weather. Retractable awnings can transform your garden for the summer, while according to marygrove.com, fixed residential awnings can help reduce the cost of cooling your home by as much as 40 percent.
Give Your Garden Furniture a Makeover
When you have worked hard in your garden all year, you want to be able to sit out in it over the summer and enjoy the fruits of your labor. So, don’t let old, worn looking garden furniture spoil it. If your wooden table and chairs or bench are looking tired and have seen better days, don’t simply get rid of it. Think about what you can do to bring it back to life. All it takes is a good sanding down, primed and varnish, or a good lick of paint and you can completely transform old garden furniture.
By just giving your garden a tidy-up, cutting the grass, renovating old garden furniture, and creating a comfortable shaded area, you can ensure that your garden is ready for the warm summer months ahead.
