DIY Garden Project: How we created a beautiful outdoor space
It started with a summer house. It was a hot summer’s day and setting off on a trip to London with my sister, I bade Oliver farewell with instructions to “please take down the summer house” . He must have misheard and thought I said “please take down the garden” because these are the scenes of devastation I returned to.
And so a new, unplanned project was born…..
Before
Our gardens are on different levels. The side of our house faces the road - a clever move by the architects who designed it because it means the front is south facing. We have a garden at the front of the house, with steps leading down to a side garden.
Before
The porch overlooks this area so it’s nice to look out at the flower beds but we weren’t so keen on the conifers blocking the view. On the very right of this picture is a large holly bush. On the morning of the garden destruction, our helpful neighbour suggested that Oliver might like to remove the holly bush along with the summer house. I think this might have triggered the whole project. I’ve never quite forgiven him. I don’t think he’s ever quite forgiven himself.
When we moved in, there were really deep borders in the back garden which took loads of space off the lawn area. There were no fewer than 12 trees just in this area. I love a good tree as much as the next person but this was a bit overkill, especially as they were dying lime trees. The main issue though was that there was no hard surface so our garden furniture had to sit on the lawn and we would sink into it.
Work begins
DIY projects are never easy but DIY garden projects are especially hard work. The boys cleared the whole garden, including ripping up the old lawns and removing most of the borders at the far end.
We also had the tree stumps removed - if you live in West Yorkshire, I highly recommend Stumpbusters.
Oliver spent quite a while creating the garden plans - very detailed to-scale drawings of what would go where. And then it was time to put it all back together again - the fun part! Here are my DIY garden ideas on how to make a beautiful garden space.
Invest in comfy garden furniture
Decide whether you want to use your garden furniture for dining or for lounging. Do you need a low coffee table or a higher dining table? We wanted to be able to eat outside and we needed to comfortably seat five people with extra seating for a few guests. After much research we went for the Alif Garden Corner Dining Set from Made. Our previous Argos metal and mesh dining set was ten years old and rusty so we were very excited to be finally investing in a comfy one!
Unfortunately, the Alif dining set has been discontinued now but the Habitat Malta set is similar.
Add lots of texture
We incorporated different textures in the landscaping, using a mixture of lawn, gravel, patio and woodbark to add interest.
We were really lucky that Oliver's dad had some old York stone flags lying around that he didn’t need so we created a flat surface in the corner and used them to create our new patio. Plenty of space for entertaining.
Another simple way of adding texture, especially in a small garden, is with soft furnishings. I created a cosy feel with tufted cushions, throws and pouffes with some geometric pattern and splashes of colour.
Outdoor rugs are a great way of adding pattern and texture. I didn’t feel like we needed one here because we already have lots of different textures in the landscaping but as well as adding softness underfoot, they're also great for zoning small spaces.
Lights, lights, lights!
An easy way to create a lovely magical feel in the evenings. Use lots of different light sources to create little pools of light at different heights. Festoon lights are great for soft overhead lighting.
Our lovely festoon lights were from Lights4Fun.
Hanging solar lights and lanterns from trees or from a pergola is perfect for adding a warm glow to the edges of the garden. I’m going to get lots more of these this year!
Our patterned lantern here is from Lights4Fun and the plain white ones are from Dunelm.
Sit lanterns on the floor to illuminate a garden path. Ours are a mixture of tealight and solar lanterns.
For more ideas on outdoor lighting, take a look at my blog post on the best cordless lamps.
Light a fire pit
Image credit: Homescapes Online Decorative Fire Bowl with Laser Cut Woodland Scene, £175.99
Another inexpensive way of creating a lovely evening atmosphere. There’s nothing cosier than sitting around a fire pit with a glass of wine of an evening. I love the rustic look of our fire bowl and it has cut outs in woodland shapes which look beautiful when it's lit.
Get an arbour
If you have the space, introducing different seating areas is a great way of creating garden zones. This arbour replaced the holly bush.
Our arbour was from sheds.co.uk.
Flowers
I’ll be honest. I don’t know the first thing about flowers or outdoor plants - I've no idea what the right plant is for each location. We were lucky that we already had lovely garden beds with mature borders but we still had quite a few areas to fill. We went to a local garden nursery (Dove Cottage in Shibden) with our border measurements and the lovely lady there advised us on exactly what to buy to fill the flower beds. We also filled lots of pots with plants and dotted them around.
Our garden is now the perfect place for the whole family to enjoy, whether we're just spending time together or we're entertaining. We just need the sun to make an appearance now.
I hope Ive given you some ideas and inspiration for your own garden project!
