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Nobody would blame you if you have not had the time or energy to maintain your backyard. After all, gardening requires a lot of effort to perfect, so it’s understandable if life has got in the way of you doing this.
Maybe the lawn is now so wild that you have lost the hole in the ground where the washing line sits, the bushes you planted are now entirely undetectable amongst the weeds, and there is absolutely no semblance of a border anymore.
If this sounds like your garden, then you have definitely clicked on the right article, as here is a detailed and thorough guide to turning your overgrown garden into a veritable oasis.
A Detailed & Thorough Guide to Turn Your Overgrown Garden Into An Oasis
Start by Decluttering
Just in the same way as you would approach the renovation of a room inside your property, the same decluttering principle should apply to your back garden and patio area, too.
Take a strong bucket and meticulously walk the length and breadth of your home garden to remove anything that is not entirely and wholly natural, from broken clothes pegs and old tennis balls to rubbish that has escaped from the wheelie bin and cans from last summer.
Cultivate Your Own Compost Heap
Next, it would be safe to assume that a great deal of greenery in your garden currently is the kind you never wanted, and this is why weeding should not only be the next thing you turn your attention to after decluttering, but also something you should allocate ten minutes every other day to doing.
For an incredibly sustainable and eco-friendly way of using the mountain of weeds and deadheads you take from your garden is to pile them neatly in one space within the lawn or border area and cover them completely with an unfolded cardboard box.
Every time you engage in weeding for the next twelve months, add to the pile and cover it with another layer of cardboard every so often. A year from when you first started, you will have your very own entirely organic and high-quality compost heap.
Get Yourself the Right Gardening Tools
Obviously, a lot can be achieved with the combination of tenacity and some thick and durable gardening gloves, but to really transform your garden, especially if the weeds are as high as the shrubs, you are going to need the right tools.
Naturally, everyone’s gardening needs are different, but as a general rule, the following implements should suffice:
- Large buckets or a sturdy wheelbarrow for numerous trips to the garden bin
- An electric trimmer for hedges and larger shrubs
- Gardening gloves that are puncture-resistant for nettles and thorns
- A firm and padded kneeling mat
- A generous selection of smaller hand tools
- Gardening shears
Restore Clean Edges & Lines to Your Garden
This task is best undertaken after it has been raining so the soil is more supple and pliable. This will not only have an impressive influence on the overall aesthetic of your new garden area but will also help to keep the weeds at bay and give your plants and flowers a better chance of growing.
There are essentially three simple steps to bringing back a sense of organization through defined edges, and these are:
- Trimming the lawn back as far as possible and neatening the wayward edges
- Keeping the plants separate from the soil itself by scattering pebbles
- Use a second mulching material to contrast with the grass
Treat Yourself to a Water Feature
The calming effects of water cannot be denied, and what better way to encourage yourself and the rest of your family to spend more time in your new garden oasis than to head to your local garden center and treat yourself to a water feature?
You could choose a smaller sculpture that stands to the side of the lawn, or else select a more ostentatious focal point and instead decide upon a granite fountain. Such fountains come in a seemingly endless amount of different shapes, sizes, and themes, with some grandly encompassed around a bench and others with ambient lighting options.
Alternatively, you could instead look into either building your own small pond or having one installed into the ground to encourage dragonflies, newts, and frogs and also to give any animal a place to drink from.
Garden ponds are aesthetically pleasing and provide a fabulous focal point. However, it has to be said that they do need a certain amount of maintenance and upkeep, so only choose a garden pond if you are ready to look after your garden again. A pond may also not be suitable if you have young children, so think about how you will keep the pond area safe.
Create a Natural Flow Indoors
Bringing the outdoors inside your home is a hugely fashionable trend right now. You can do this by seamlessly blending your indoor space with the outdoors and by adding fresh flowers indoors. You might look at investing in earthy and natural hallway tiles that help you to integrate the indoors with the outdoor world.
Encourage Wildlife
Finally, another sustainable and environmentally friendly decision to make in your new outdoor oasis of calm is to do everything you can to cultivate a beautiful yet natural space for wildlife to thrive.
Luckily, encouraging birds, insects, and wild animals into your garden is as inexpensive as it is simple. You might decide to include plants that butterflies and moths adore in your new garden layout. What is more, if you make sure to plant a wide variety of different butterfly-friendly flowering plants, you have more chance of seeing various species.
Other simple ways of encouraging wildlife include removing any source of artificial light in the evenings and through the night, which will make the garden seem a safer place for owls and bats, and not cutting every plant back to within an inch of its life.
If you are ready to tackle your overgrown garden, then this article has all the advice you need to do just that. By following the above tips, your garden will be an oasis in no time at all.
