If you’re just coming home from an awesome trip somewhere, the last thing you want to be confronted with is an overgrown garden full of weeds that need to be dealt with! When you get home from traveling, you want a garden that’s just ready for you to go and sit in and have some time to decompress. Here’s how to create a garden that won’t greet you with any unpleasant surprises.
Get rid of the lawn
Lawns are great for kids to play on, but they also grow incredibly quickly, especially in the summer. If you want to make sure that you don’t have an unruly lawn to deal with when you get back, the best thing that you can do is to get rid of it.
Try creating a paved garden with lots of plant pots and perhaps an area with woodchippings underneath a swing set for the kids to play on. Alternatively, you could invest in some fake grass so that you can have all the benefits of a lawn with none of the upkeep! It’s possible to get fake grass that is so convincing nobody will know the difference. The kids will still have a place to play, and you can get rid of the lawnmower. Win-win.
Clean the grouting
If you have a patio or any brickwork in your garden, you can almost guarantee that after an extended period away from home, you will return to find that weeds are growing everywhere.
One of the best ways to prevent weeds from growing in between the grouting and brickwork is to make sure that you give them a good clean periodically. Using a specialized grouting cleaning kit will make this job much quicker and easier, so you can spend more time planning your next trip! Check out arbourlandscapesolutions.co.uk for everything you need.
Mulch
Mulch serves two purposes. Firstly, it keeps your soil moist and cool so that your plants will continue to thrive while you are away. Secondly, it prevents the seeds from any weeds in the ground underneath the mulch from having access to light, which means that they won’t grow.
If you want to make your own mulch, all you need to do is rake leaves from your garden into a pile and then shred them using your lawnmower. Or, you can buy ready-made mulch if you prefer!
Use raised planters
Raised planters are great for a few reasons. Firstly, a wooden planter looks really good and is cheap and easy to make. You can use up scrap wood, so it can be a low-cost project, too.
Secondly, they prevent your plants from overgrowing, which means that they are kept under control. This means that when you come back home from a trip, the garden will be pretty much as you left it. Finally, planters prevent pests like slugs from being able to access your plants, which keeps them safe.
Choose your plants carefully
If you stock your garden with plants that need a lot of care and attention and then go away for weeks on end, the chances are that you will come back to a garden full of dead plants!
You can still have plants and enjoy a green outdoor space at home if you’re going to travel often; you just need to be careful about which ones you choose. The best low maintenance plants are evergreens and things like cacti. Steer clear of climbing plants as they are likely to take over the place while you are gone and need to be severely hacked back on your return.
Making these few small changes means that when you get back from your trip, you can focus on planning the next one, rather than having to get outside and tackle the garden!
