If your garden is looking a little tired, then a few changes, some basic maintenance, and a willingness to experiment are all you need to give your outdoor spaces a quick, inexpensive and welcome refresh.
1. Pop in Flowering Annuals
Every wonder how those pristine public gardens and large landscaped estates keep everything so vibrant? It seems like their beds are in continuous and colorful bloom. You can achieve that look the same way they do–by planting annuals that are already flowering and replacing them as soon as the blooms fade.
- Shop the sales at your local garden center to fill those empty spaces left by spent spring bulbs or to provide a burst of color while you’re waiting for your perennials to blossom. Pansies and primroses are inexpensive and readily available for the holes in your garden in those cold early spring months when everything else is looking a little brown.
- All through the summer, you can get vibrant begonia, lobelia, and celosia to brighten up spots needing a shot of color. All these plants are low maintenance and work equally well in containers or garden beds.
2. Perfectly Placed Pruning
Who doesn’t look better after a haircut? Quick ways to get your whole garden looking spritely again is to:
- Prune away dead branches on your perennial shrubs.
- Open bushes up by snipping away excess foliage.
- Trim off faded flowers (deadhead).
You’ll not only lighten up your landscape, you’ll also create healthy, happier plants.
3. Bring Indoor Plants Outdoors
Most of your houseplants can survive, and even will benefit from, spending some time outside during the warm season.
- Acclimate them slowly to life outside by setting them in the sun for one hour the first day, increasing the time a little each subsequent day.
- Don’t start the transition until well past the last frost date for your region, when nights get no colder than 60°F (15.5°C).
4. Mix It Up
Small changes can give you a fresh perspective on old garden beds.
- Take inspiration from the traditional English cottage garden and combine flowers of differing hues and heights for an exciting riot of color.
- Or try a few of your container plants, still in their pots, nestled in bare spots in your garden beds.
- Another trick is to put together some unexpected groupings, for example, alternating rows of flowering annuals in between your vegetables.
5. Rethink Your Layout
- The same way you might rearrange the furniture in your living room, you can rearrange many of the plants already in your landscape. A fresh location may be all that is needed to rejuvenate a plant that has been doing poorly.
- Another idea is to group existing plants that complement each other into new trios that share a common color or create an interesting contrast.
- Got a plant that never lived up to your expectations? Dig it up and either compost it or give it away. Replace it with something you love or experiment with a brand-new plant.
You don’t have to hire a professional crew to refresh your landscape for the coming season. In fact, with many of these tips you can make your outdoor spaces look like a million bucks without spending a single dollar. Looking for more tricks to enhance your garden’s appearance? Why not add some outdoor lighting!
