If your garden's looking a bit sorry for itself, then it's time to set it right. While it might seem easier to pay someone else to come and fix it, the cost of getting in professionals is not insignificant. Here, we take a look at some gardening and garden maintenance jobs that you can do yourself. These jobs require very little skill or prior knowledge, and can also be done on a budget, saving you even more money.
Low maintenance plants
If you don’t want to pay for a gardener or landscaper, but don’t have green fingers yourself, just stick with low maintenance plants. Fill beds with shrubs rather than flowers and once they are established, the only work is a spot of cutting back once or twice a year. If you do want flowers, consider something relatively low-maintenance but visually-high impact, like geraniums or roses.
Quick furniture fixes
Garden furniture is generally built to last, and even if one section is in disrepair, it’s usually better to patch it up than replace it. You can make repairs to wooden furniture with a wood filler and repair cracks in metal furniture using a metal paint. Ripped garden furniture and cushions can also be repaired easily, without the need for any needlework. In fact, a quality fabric glue is perfect for most repairs to fabric. This includes heavy duty exterior fabrics, such as those used to make deck chairs, sun loungers, and hammocks.
Extend the life of garden furniture
Well-maintained garden furniture can last many years. To ensure maximum longevity, furniture can do with being cleaned twice a year and then retreated annually. It is best to use an oil or woodstain for wooden furniture. Whilst metal furniture should be either oiled or painted. Doing these jobs at least once every 12 months can actually extend the lifespan of metal and garden from years to decades.
Give the shed a once over
Just like garden furniture, a well-maintained shed can also last decades. As the main focal point of many gardens, it’s also a visual imperative that you keep it maintained too. Choosing a quality shed paint or treatment is essential, but you can also have some fun with it. Who says sheds have to be brown or green?
Clean the patio
You don’t need to invest in an expensive jet-washer to keep your patio looking nice. Especially if you're prepared to put in a little elbow grease. Simply fill a large bucket with warm water and washing up liquid. Then, pour it over the patio and scrub at the surface with a hard broom. Then, simply use a hose to rinse it all away. All said and done it won’t take much longer than jet washing, and means there’s no need to invest in extra appliances or make unnecessary demands on your electricity meter.
Lightweight lawn maintenance
It's a complete myth that keeping a nice lawn is difficult. And sadly, so many people believe this that they just don’t bother. But you really don’t need to be ‘green-fingered’ to have a nice lawn. It’s an easy job when you take a little-but-often approach.
Lay a scattering of lawn seeds wherever you see a patchy part and just use a small fork to turn the earth a bit. Other than that it really is a matter of mowing regularly. Consider a mechanical mower, which can be picked up and put away in seconds, and just do a few minutes here and there each time. Also have a hand weeder at the ready and then each evening, take five minutes to pull out any weeds.
General weeding
For other weeds, such as those that are coming through the patio or gravel, you can simply use a weed killer and save your knees. You can make a budget weed killer using ingredients from the cupboards and fill up a cleaned-out pump spray bottle to make it easier to apply. Just be sure not to use it near your lawn or flowers.
These garden jobs require little-to-no skill to complete. Each one costs no more than the price of a tub of paint and many cost next-to-nothing to carry out. Many of these jobs are quick as well, taking from just a few minutes to a few hours. So this year, save some money by doing these easy garden jobs yourself.