Guest Blog by Tobermore
Recent events have meant that a lot of people are at home more than before and spending more time in their outside spaces. Having to entertain children at home has encouraged many to turn to growing their own vegetables, whereas others have turned to traditional gardening, to enjoy more outdoor living and bring some colour into their gardens and windowsills.
Paving between the raised beds means that you can easily access your plants and vegetable plot, even in wet weather.
Make a point of checking the area through the day to see where the sun is most.
Here you could construct a small area for a table and chairs to enjoy a cup of tea in between spells of gardening.
Tobermore Mayfair and Beaufort paving flags will provide beautiful smooth paving options to work with any furniture.
Raised beds are also easier on your back when it comes to weeding or pruning.
Walling can be very functional in smaller spaces for some extra seating. Build your wall to the required height and add a coping for some extra seating.
Create a raised bed from Tobermore’s Country Stone Walling or Secura Lite.
Some useful tips for growing your own vegetables:
Don’t go overboard - Plan how many of each item you normally use and grow accordingly. In a packet of salad seeds, there is more than enough to keep you going for years. Sow little and often for a continuous supply.
Think small - Your vegetables don’t need to be grown in a traditional kitchen garden - integrate your vegetable crop into your flower borders and garden pots where space is at a premium.
Don’t take it too seriously – not everything goes to plan so enjoy whatever turns out well. Even a small amount of home produced veg is a good start
Some tips for planting:
Getting the balance right - It is important to get the balance between hard and soft landscaping in your garden. Hard landscaping incorporates paving and walling which can be complemented with soft landscaping; planting, grass, hedges and trees. Be sure research plants in advance and select those that are repeat flowering
Size matters - In order to ensure that your planting will be low maintenance, choose varieties of plants which will only reach a size suitable for your garden. This means you will not have to do a lot of cutting back every year. In a small garden, you may decide to replace the lawn with artificial grass.