How to Make the Most of Your Outdoor Space
Spending time outdoors is crucial for mental health and well-being. If you have access to your own garden, then you have a valuable means of spending time outdoors. But getting the most from this space might mean investing time and energy into caring for it – and, sometimes, making changes that will allow it to perform better.
Let’s take a look at a few choice changes, and the benefits that they might bring to your garden.
Divide Your Space into Zones
A garden space can serve many different purposes. It can be a place for producing food, relaxing, or exercising. Ideally, you’ll split the space up so that various corners of it will serve various functions. This will prevent exercise areas from intruding into your vegetable patches, for example.
You can define the edges of the ‘zones’ in your garden with the help of features like walls, hedges, and pathways. You might accent these boundaries with decorative elements, like solar lights, which will make those boundaries clear even in the darkness.
Embrace Naturalistic Planting
Increasingly, homeowners are allowing their gardens to grow wild and free. An unstructured approach to landscaping can help a garden space mimic the look of a natural one, while also enjoying the benefits of biodiversity and variety. This trend is largely a product of two factors. First, we’re looking to create gardens that support the natural world, and limit the need for artificial pesticides and fertilisers. Second, we have less time to spend looking after our gardens. Once you accept that not every border has to be kept immaculate, you can get away with spending less time at work in the space.
Add Features for Relaxation
Of course, for many homeowners, the primary purpose of a garden is to facilitate relaxation. How you actually go about relaxing will depend on your preferences. You should therefore listen to your preferences when you’re deciding which features to install. You might want a pergola, under which you can take shelter, or a hammock, where you can doze in the afternoon. If you’re often hosting barbeques, then equipment for cooking and dining might be essential!
Prioritise Sustainability
By taking sustainability seriously, you can minimise the need for outside materials. You don’t need to buy fertiliser when you have a healthy compost heap, and you don’t need to turn on the tap when you have a decent system in place for harvesting rainwater. These things can reduce your bills, as well as the environmental impact of your garden!