Disclaimer: This post contains gifted product from Cox & Cox and Garden Trading.
It’s all very well me saying how great our garden was upon completion last year in the big makeover reveal. But the true test, especially in the UK where the weather is not great for the majority of the year, is how it has held up over time! So that’s what today’s post is all about, our garden a year on – the good and the bad.
OUTDOOR TILES
Hands down, putting tiles down for our patio was the best idea we had. Given where we live, surrounded by fields, we get a lot of weeds popping up all over so when we had bricks down previously that was a real problem and didn’t stop them coming through between the brick (as well as moss). It was a huge task de-weeding every year as well as scrubbing the bricks down – even with a jetwash it took hours to clean the bricks up one by one. Tiles are so much more low maintenance. This year we gave them a quick jet wash at the beginning of the summer and that’s it! They have been absolutely brilliant. The tiles that we chose have a grain in them so they aren’t slippy, not even when wet. The only thing you have to watch out for is putting metal planters on the tiles, over time water and the metal will create rust around the base and rust is particularly difficult to get off the tiles.
OUTDOOR FURNITURE
All our outdoor furniture has held up really well – there’s not a huge amount to say here other than make sure you cover them especially in the wetter/colder months – you can pick up super cheap furniture covers from places like B&M bargains! Spending a bit of money on covers now will save you a lot of money on replacement furniture years down the line! And if you have space, take the cushions indoors or in a shed or somewhere!
If you’ve been following along over on Instagram then you will know that we are in the process of getting our driveway sorted – and it’s going to be a long old process since we have had some insanely high quotes! BUT as part of this process, the front garden will go, which means our greenhouse will be gone. That’s why I was so excited to receive these gifted items from Garden Trading for the back garden – mainly this dreamy Wooden Latchmere Raised Cold Frame. The greenhouse may be gone but at least I still have somewhere to nurture seeds and baby plants before they are ready to plant out! Teamed perfectly with a few other pieces from their outdoor range: The Wooden Garden Hay Rake, Brass Garden Scissors – perfect for pruning and collecting your garden herbs, Wooden Garden Plant Tags, Wirework String Holder with Black String and the Wooden Seedlings Tray!
Their Wooden Chelwood Modular Bin Store is hands down the chicest bin store I’ve ever laid my eyes on! Oh and the Moreton Potting Bench – that is definitely on my wishlist!
DINING BENCH
I’ve upcycled our dining set for the second time giving it a new lease of life. A few years ago it was pale blue, then dark grey and this summer I painted it black and now it ties in so much nicer with our BBQ and hanging chair. Plus it’s protected the furniture for a few more years so it’s a win win!
FIREPIT
As much as I loved our previous firepit, it was open top and one day when it was lit a huge ember flew out and landed on the sofa (even though it was metres away) and unfortunately burnt a large hole in our cushion cover – frankly I’m just glad it didn’t land on someone’s skin – or on the dogs, but it was still annoying. So as a safer alternative we opted for this which was kindly gifted by Cox & Cox. It’s not actually stone which makes it easy to lift and move (which I could never do with the previous firepit) AND it comes with a grill so you have the option to BBQ on it too! Also, as it’s not metal like our previous one it means we don’t have to worry about leaving it on the tiled patio and marking it! YAY!
GRAVEL
Our gravel has really surprised me, we went for an off white Cotswold gravel which I picked because I knew it would really brighten up the space but truth be told I didn’t think it would be that practical, I was fully prepared for it to be green by this year. It did get a little green in patches that don’t get that much sun, but after a quick jet wash, it looked brand new again! So, all in all, it’s been really low maintenance – I think we are lucky not to have many trees surrounding the garden so we don’t end up having to rake up leaves – so keep that in mind if you are thinking to gravel your space! Lastly – make sure you put a good quality weed proof layer down before the gravel – that’s what we did and we have very few weeds popping up though so that has made the world of difference compared to what we had coming up previously!
STILL TO DO
But like everything in life, there is always room for improvement. I was hoping to get a couple of outside shed doors painted this summer but still haven’t got round to it. They really need sanding down properly so it’s not a quick fix but I will get to it eventually. I think I will paint them all white to keep the garden white – plus I have some leftover white outdoor paint in the garage somewhere!
Behind this decorative shutter window (which is rotted and falling to pieces) is one seriously ugly window which needs replacing as it doesn’t even cover the whole size of the window frame – I’m thinking a fluted (glass or perhaps perspex would be more practical in the garden) window will look much smarter!
Next year I’m going to spend some time re-organising the flower beds in the Spring – I have a much better idea of what I want them to look like after years of spending time in this space and I have a much better understanding now of plant heights etc and I need to seriously prune that rose bush back!!
Lastly, I need to find some kind of short plant/shrub to plant here – two years in a row I have planted lavender and it has been killed off a few weeks later both times – I honestly think it’s down to the dogs cocking their legs on them every day, so maybe I need to allow whatever I plant there to let its rooted become fully established before I let the dogs anywhere near! Basically I would like a very miniature hedge – any suggestions?
So that’s everything – I hope you enjoyed the garden update – I’m still over the moon with this space even though we still have bits to do!
