Creating a beautiful garden is surprisingly easy. As long as you have a vision, most people can make it work. However, building a garden landscape that encourages you to spend more time in the open air can be a little more challenging. You’d like to be outside enjoying fresh air more often, but various problems, such as being too cold, get in the way.
In this post, we attempt to correct this. We show you how to build a garden that encourages you to get outside. Once you provide for your basic needs, such as warmth and shelter, it actually becomes surprisingly easy to be outdoors. After implementing these changes, you could find yourself outdoors in nature more often than you ever thought possible.
Set Up A Fire Pit
The winter can be a terrible time for being outdoors. When temperatures fall below around 10 degrees C, it becomes physically uncomfortable. It’s just too cold for human beings unless they’re wrapped up warm.
One way around this is to set up a fire pit. These days, you can build attractive versions made of stone with handy metal grates to contain all the wood and charcoal. These can serve as a centrepiece for your garden’s seating area, whether you’re alone or with other people. Position it close to the middle of your patio and then arrange seats around the edge.
Wheel Out Your Infrared Lamps
If you’re not keen on fire pits, then you might want to experiment with infrared lamps instead. One of the major benefits of these is that you can use them under canvas, so you can spend time in your garden, even when it’s raining. Infrared lamps work by blasting your body with infrared light. Infrared wavelengths are too short for the human eye to see, but you can feel their effects on your skin.
Don’t worry: infrared is totally different from ultraviolet. It can’t damage your DNA. Instead, it warms you in a similar way to a fire by pumping out the right kind of light that your body can absorb. The downside is that lamps can be expensive to run. They consume vast amounts of energy so you may want to limit how long you keep them on for. Ideally, you’ll need your positioned around your body to keep you warm on cool winter days and crisp evenings.
Do Something Productive In Your Garden
While gardens are partially there for enjoyment, they’re also potentially highly productive. And that can be a great incentive for getting you out more.
If you have a vegetable patch to attend to, then it sets up a big incentive for you to get out more. You have to regularly take care of your plants to ensure that they thrive as the seasons change. The amount of work that it requires is actually quite high. Plus, you’ll need to do a lot of planning, keeping track of what you have growing, and where.
Add Beautiful Paving
Sitting on a chair in the middle of a lawn doesn’t quite feel right. There’s something strangely awkward about it. That’s why many homeowners invest in patios. These spaces provide solid foundations on which they can then build outdoor seating areas.
There’s a big difference in the quality of the paving available. In the past, people put down concrete slabs or flagstones, but these days, you have more choice. The range of stone types available is much higher than it was in the past, allowing you to achieve the perfect look for your home’s outdoor space. For instance, you could go for a classic French country aesthetic, or something that looks similar to a Beverly Hills luxury mansion.
Build Decking
Decking is another option for outdoor space. What’s nice about it is that you can build it to the same height as your interiors, creating a seamless transition from your indoor to outdoor spaces.
Where possible, consider using WPC composite decking. This tends to last longer and requires less servicing and maintenance.
If you construct decking on stilts, it’s a good idea to keep a chest underneath containing a fabric pergola and all the attachments required to set it up. This way, come the summer, you can quickly set up your shelter and prepare the deck area for spending more time outdoors.
Install Outdoor Rooms
Another great way to make more use of your garden is to turn parts of it into outdoor rooms. The classic example is to turn the area under your pergola into a fully-fledged lounge. These days it’s possible, thanks to outdoor cushions and upholstery that won’t go bad, even if conditions are damp.
Of course, some homeowners go further than this by installing outdoor kitchens. These provide all the equipment that they need to prepare meals in the open air, allowing people to talk to their guests at the same time as preparing food. Outdoor kitchens also do away with the need for extractor fans. Cooking in the open is generally much easier than doing it indoors.
Create A Nook
Another option is to create a nook in your garden – somewhere you can go for quiet reading, meditation or reflection. Pick a quiet corner with natural privacy and then add some seating and perhaps put up some temporary screens. Add a few pot plants to the interior environment, and you have the makings of a great space to spend your time.
Put Up Screening
Screening is a good way to create “rooms” in your garden, without annoying neighbours with permanent fencing. Pergolas and landscaping fences are both good options for this, as are tall bamboo and rose bushes. You can also line up potted trees which will grow and become thicker over time.
When you feel like you have privacy, you are more likely to spend time outside. Once you’ve set up the basics, make your outdoor spaces feel more homely by adding things like candles and fairy lights. You might also want to make the space larger than the equivalent room in your home to make it feel more luxurious.
