After what feels like a lifetime of cold days, long nights and evenings spent hunkered down beneath a vast swathe of blanket, winter is, at long last, on its way out.
Spring is rolling in to grace us with an explosion of new life and optimism, all brought on by warmer weather and sunnier days – and it couldn’t have come soon enough!
With the warm weather comes the opportunity to rediscover our garden spaces, and often, the discovery that they’re looking a little tired after the cold season. But for the four in five 18–34-year-olds seeing gardening as a ‘cool’ pastime, the prospect of tidying up a garden space in time for spring might even be a positive one!
Thankfully, even for those with little interest in horticultural affairs, there are many simple ways in which we can spruce up our gardens for spring, ready to entertain guests once more. The following accounts for just five.
Low Maintenance Green Things
While gardening may be a cool pastime in spring, busy summer schedules often make the activity a bit of a chore. Come summer, your garden should be a space for relaxing and entertaining; as such you’ll want a low maintenance garden during its ‘high season’, so you don’t have to waste endless chilling time on the garden chores of watering, weeding and de-heading.
Enter lush leafy plants that are oh-so low maintenance; think evergreens, ferns and tall grasses, which make your garden feel natural and lush without looking unkempt. Consider, too, introducing self-watering planters to your garden setup. These clever containers feature a reservoir at the base that slowly feeds moisture to your plants, meaning you can go for extended periods without having to water them manually. Perfect for forgetful gardeners or busy professionals, these planters work brilliantly with drought-tolerant plants like lavender, rosemary and succulents. Not only do they reduce your maintenance time, but they also ensure more consistent growth as your plants receive exactly what they need without the feast-or-famine cycle of traditional watering.
Shrinking the size of your lawn is an option, too. While this may not be a simple suggestion, it will simplify your garden chores, lessening the load of mowing, raking and the like. Do the bees a favour and turn part of your lawn into a small scale wildflower meadow. Alternatively, add some decking or paving…
Read: 5 tips on how to maintain your lawn
Decking
Introducing decking to your garden space is a brilliant way to create a dedicated area for entertaining or simply relaxing with a cuppa. While it requires more effort than hanging a garden ornament, it needn’t become an overwhelming project.
When choosing materials, pressure-treated timber will withstand the British weather nicely, but composite decking offers even better durability without the need for regular maintenance. Made from a mixture of wood fibres and recycled plastic, it resists fading, staining and won’t splinter like traditional timber—worth considering despite the higher price tag.
Many garden centres offer decking kits with pre-cut boards, making it an achievable weekend project for the moderately handy homeowner. For larger installations where ground preparation and drainage need consideration, local landscape gardeners can typically complete the job within a couple of days.
Once installed, a thorough sweep and occasional wash will keep your decking looking fresh throughout the seasons. Add some weather-resistant cushions and perhaps a parasol, and you’ll have created an inviting outdoor living space that serves you well through spring and beyond.
A Splash of Spring Colour
You can make a huge impact on the feel of your garden by simply introducing a little visual vibrancy to proceedings. One major way to add colour is to repaint your garden fences and exterior-facing walls.
It should be noted that painting straight on to the surface makes for a mediocre result, owing to the possibility of flaking paint or debris being stuck to the surface. Instead, you can use a cordless angle grinder to safely remove old, flaking paint from your walls without damaging the material beneath, before re-priming and re-painting in a seasonally-appropriate colour.
Another way to add a splash of colour to your garden could be to simply replace your flower pots and planters. These pots and planters can serve to add serious character to garden and patio spaces, especially if mismatched. Go for a mismatched look or choose colours that fit with the colours of your garden to create a unique colour palette throughout.
Don’t forget the power of seasonal bulbs to transform your garden’s colour palette. While many gardeners plant their spring bulbs in autumn, you can still find pre-grown potted tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths at garden centres that can be placed strategically around your garden for instant impact. For summer-long colour, consider investing in some dahlia tubers or lily bulbs, which can be planted in spring for dramatic blooms later in the season. These showstoppers require minimal effort yet deliver maximum visual punch, perfect for gardeners seeking impressive results without the corresponding workload.
Ornaments & Sculptures
Speaking of character, a great way to imbue your garden with it is to accessorise out there. Think wind chimes and ornamental rain catchers, garden gnomes and avant-garde sculpture.
A cursory search through your local garden centre may reveal garden ornaments to suit your taste, with many perfectly suited to being hidden in flower beds or hung from your trees and shrubs.
Some garden accessories have the added benefit of bringing new wildlife into your garden. A bird feeder pole, a birdbath or a sculpture, for example, can be chic ways to increase the bird population in your garden, and give you more visual intrigue to enjoy from your patio or window.
Water features, even modest ones, can elevate your garden from pleasant to enchanting without requiring extensive installation or maintenance. A small solar-powered fountain can be placed directly into an existing container, creating a soothing soundtrack of trickling water that masks urban noise and attracts more wildlife to your garden. For something even simpler, consider a decorative rain chain in place of a traditional downpipe, transforming mundane rainfall into a mesmerising visual display. These functional art pieces work particularly well in smaller gardens where space is at a premium but aesthetic impact is still desired.
In The Zone
Lastly, curating different zones in your garden that serve distinct purposes can completely transform your whole garden
You could do this in any number of ways. Some choose to create a bistro porch area by their back door, while others zone by introducing a paved patio seating space with outdoor sofas and a chimenea for late evening warmth. We’re especially fans of pergolas for designating a space for some quiet reading. Creating a proper space for gatherings means you all get to enjoy your spruced-up garden in comfort and style.
Consider vertical zoning as well, by incorporating different heights into your garden design. A raised planter bed can serve as both a practical growing space and a subtle boundary marker between zones. Similarly, a well-placed archway covered in climbing plants creates a sense of transition between different garden areas while drawing the eye upward. This approach to zoning works particularly well in smaller gardens where horizontal space might be limited but the vertical dimension remains largely untapped. The added height also creates visual interest throughout the seasons, especially when adorned with climbing plants that flower at different times of the year.
We won’t keep you any longer; we understand you’re desperate to get outside. But before you go, why not check out these 4 interesting zoning ideas for your garden?
