Garden Archives - Page 7 of 9 - Me, him, the dog and a baby!

Getting Out In The Garden With Home Bargains

April 6, 2019July 20, 2020 By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD | Gifted items Spring is finally here after what seems to be a very long wait. The weather is slowly getting warmer, the nights are getting lighter and that means I have been looking forward to getting out in the garden more. Our garden is actually really basic but I just don’t go out there during the winter. So, when the time comes there ends up being quite a bit I need to do to get the garden ready for summer. This year Home Bargains sent us a wonderful selection of their gardening products to

Keeping Our Home Tidy With Vintage Apple Crates

February 4, 2019January 31, 2019 By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD – This post is in collaboration with Vintage Apple Crates. All opinions are our own. Erin is such an outdoorsy child and I think from the minute she learned to walk, she wanted to be in the garden. We have had a good few weeks of bad weather lately but that doesn’t stop Erin from wanting to either play outside or go to the park. Unfortunately, our large lawn gets extremely muddy and disgusting during the winter and I’m a bit reluctant to let Erin play out there a lot of the time. At

5 Ways To Look After Your Garden In Winter

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD – This post is a collaborative post. All opinions are our own. Over the past week or so the temperatures have really dropped and we have even seen a little bit of snow down here in Norfolk. Something I think we tend to forget about a little bit at this time of year is the garden. For us, we don’t go out there nearly as much during the winter and I know we could do more to keep it in better shape. Here are some ideas for how to look after your garden in

How To Water Your Garden Without Inflating Your Water Bill

January 25, 2019February 28, 2022 By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD | Collaborative post If you’re lucky enough to have a large garden, you’ll know how long it can take to water. In most cases, using more water will drive up your water bill, which can quickly stack up during hotter months. There are a few ways to cut down your water consumption without letting your plants go thirsty: if you aren’t sure how to water your garden without inflating your water bill, these tips might make it a bit easier for you: Use a rain barrel Rain barrels are almost as old as gardening

How To Have A Beautiful Garden In Winter

November 28, 2018May 20, 2021 By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD | Collaborative post When we moved into our house around 4 and a half years ago we knew that the garden needed attention quite quickly. The previous owners left it in such a mess that we needed 3 skips to clear the junk and then we had to have a landscaper to level the whole of the garden. For the first couple of months I loved it. We had a beautiful big lawn and so much space compared to what it was before because it was very neat and tidy. I was so in

Get Your Home Ready For Autumn With These 4 Easy Steps

September 11, 2018October 11, 2019 By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD | Collaborative post Summer feels like a distant memory already, doesn’t it? With the weather seemingly changing over night and the nights drawing in, some of us are even contemplating turning on the heating already! But making the transition to Autumn is much more than new school uniforms and digging out your trusty old coat. Getting your home ready for the colder months will mean that when bad weather does hit, you’ll be ready for everything it can throw at you. Unsure of where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve put together this handy guide

How To Create The Perfect Family Summer House

July 14, 2018October 11, 2019 By : Lyndsey OHalloran

AD | Collaborative post A summer house can be an amazing investment for your family, especially if you’re just about to enter a holiday season and your kids are going to be off school for a long, long time! Thanks to interior design specialists Amtico, I can bring you this short guide on how to create the perfect family summer home. Photo credit: Budding Smiles Experiment with plants It can be tricky to get plants right in an actual house, but a summer house might be just what you need to grow your own indoor

Kids love gardens! They’re a great place to play in and explore, at least as long as they’re kept safe. It can be a bit tricky to pull together a garden for the whole family, but it’s definitely possible, and with a bit of advice from Olive Grove I’ve been able to narrow down 7 ways to get the perfect family summer garden. Get the kids involved! A garden for the family should be planned by the family, not just by the adults. Let your kids get stuck in and give them time to find “their” area (the bit they like to play in the most) so you know not to cover it up or pave over it. If they’re less of the playing type, why not let them help plant seeds or ask them what kind of thing they’d like to play with in the ‘new’ garden? Be careful with water Accessible ponds and natural pools can be a lovely decoration, but they’re a big danger to children and family pets. A few inches is more than enough for a child to drown in, and even if they’re just sitting in the water, it could end up being really really cold! That’s not to say you should get rid of all the water, but you should definitely make it inaccessible to younger members of the family. Bordering off a pond or capping a water barrel can go a long way to keeping your garden safe. Always have a shared space It can be tempting to split your garden into the ‘play area’ and the ‘adult’s area’, but it’ll do your family no harm to mix them together a little bit! Putting most of the seating in the middle of the garden might help here, since it’ll draw the whole family towards the same area. Guests should also be considered – they might not be comfortable staying in a defined area, so it’s important to accommodate everybody in each area of the garden – even something as simple as some children’s chairs near the adult’s tables or a bench near the children’s area could work just fine! Get involved in DIY DIY projects can be a great way to make your garden a more accessible space – building a treehouse might be a bit out of your league, but you could always make a wooden shelter for your children to play in and around. For the adults, you could try making a canvas shelter sail to give you more protection from the rain, or some entirely DIY furniture that everybody could help build! Use suitable surfaces Gardens are never just grass – you’ll have patios, stone paths and dirt areas, all of which are a lot less soft. Kids might like playing on something that’s a bit more solid, but falling over could seriously hurt them! If they’re adamant about fooling around on your patio or porch, give them a thick blanket to try and break their fall. Even if they still hurt themselves, at least they won’t get splinters or cuts: just a little bump. Don’t overextend your ideas If your garden is too small to use as a full-sized playground for your kids, try giving them something a bit more improvised. If you’re adding a lot of hedges, you can turn it into a hide-and-seek area (or bring out the water pistols when summer rolls around)! That’s not to say you should try something more exotic – plant some palm trees or add some foreign decorations and give your garden a unique twist! Spend time out there The most important secret to a good family garden is to keep using it – family members, both children and adults alike, definitely benefit from the time they spend together, so using the space as often as possible makes a huge difference. Plus, it gives you an excuse to change things around now and then. Let your children grow up alongside your garden, and eventually it might become more important to the household then the living room!

7 Ways To Get The Perfect Family Summer Garden

July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 By : Lyndsey OHalloran

Kids love gardens! They’re a great place to play in and explore, at least as long as they’re kept safe. It can be a bit tricky to pull together a garden for the whole family, but it’s definitely possible, and with a bit of advice from Olive Grove I’ve been able to narrow down 7 ways to get the perfect family summer garden. Get the kids involved! A garden for the family should be planned by the family, not just by the adults. Let your kids get stuck in and give them time to find