How Do I Make My Garden Look Tidy
Without regular work, gardens can quickly look overgrown and messy. However, getting a garden to look tidy doesn’t need to be a massive job, especially if you’re not after a super manicured space.
Below, we’ll cover some top tips for how to make your garden look tidy. These are designed to combine minimal effort with the highest reward so you don’t have to spend weeks gardening.
How Do I Make My Garden Look Tidy?
1. Mow the Lawn
If you have a lawn, cutting it can immediately make your garden look tidier. This is because lawns are usually the largest area in a garden and long grass can look tatty. So, whip out the lawnmower and get cutting!
If it’s really long, you’ll get better results cutting it a few times. Start on the highest mower setting and work down over several weeks. This’ll give the grass time to bounce back, resulting in a greener lawn at the end.
2. Tidy Your Patio
The next largest area is likely the patio, so this should be your next focus. Pull up weeds and then sweep the area to make it look tidier. The best part is that this job doesn’t require much effort, even for a big patio.
If you’re feeling particularly energetic, you could also pressure wash your patio or deck. It’ll make it look a lot cleaner and, again, it’s not a very time-intensive job.
3. Deadhead Flowers
Granted, this might take a bit more time depending on the size and layout of your garden, but it’s another job that yields noticeable results without a lot of effort.
As flowers die off, they may start turning to seeds, which draws much needed energy away from the plant. By cutting off dying flowers, you not only make your garden look tidier but you can also help the plant produce more.
4. Trim Hedges
Trimming hedges can be a fairly big job, especially if you have large border hedges. However, it’s another one where the results are immediately obvious and can make your garden look much fresher.
Generally, you should aim to trim hedges outside of their growing season, which is autumn and winter. However, if you didn’t get around to it, you won’t do much damage by trimming a hedge in spring. The worst thing that’ll happen is it’ll look a bit bald for a few months.
5. Clean Garden Furniture
Ideally, you’ll have somewhere to store your garden furniture over winter when it’s not in use. If not, you’ll want to clean it in spring or early summer before you plan to use it again. Luckily, this isn’t usually a massive job.
Plastic garden furniture can be cleaned with a hose or washing up liquid and a brush if it’s very dirty. Wooden furniture should be brushed down to remove dirt and then oiled or repainted depending on how weathered it is. Doing this will keep it going for a long time, so it’s definitely worth it.
6. Trim Leggy Plants
Trees, bushes and shrubs can all start to look leggy if they’re not pruned regularly. This is simply when they’re allowed to produce all the stems they want, causing them to look long and skinny. Generally, you want smaller and bushier plants for a better look.
Again, this should ideally be done in autumn or winter depending on the plant. But if you’re doing a bit tidy up and want things to look tidier, it won’t be the end of the world to prune plants at another time of year. You might affect their growing cycle for that season, but it’s nothing too serious.
7. Throw Down Some Lawn Seed
If your lawn is looking a bit patchy after you’ve mown, throw down some lawn seed. Most brands include fertiliser too, although you can buy this separately for the rest of the lawn. You can get different types for different light conditions and times of year, so make sure you do some research.
Using lawn seed can be as simple as poking holes in your lawn, but some brands state you need a completely clear area. Again, look at your options to figure out what best suits the level of effort you want to put in.
Final Thoughts
Tidying up your garden doesn’t need to involve loads of work. While these jobs might sound like a lot of effort, they’re not too bad compared to how much you could do otherwise. Of course, if you don’t have the time to maintain your garden then you can hire a local gardening service or if you already have a domestic cleaning service hired for your home, then you can ask the cleaner to pick up any of the small gardening tasks.
