If you are you aren’t alone. Lots of people are dissatisfied with the way their garden looks – sometimes to the extent that they are embarrassed for anyone else to see it.
There is no doubt that having a well kept and tidy garden means you will use it more often. But if you feel really frustrated with your garden, perhaps it is time to sit down and think about what you could do to change things.
The first essential step is to grab a notepad and pen to figure out what changes you could make. Don’t worry too much about what it might cost to do them, or how long it might take or even how easy or difficult it could be. Just focus on doing as much as you can and writing down every thought that comes into your head.
Some jobs will naturally be faster to do than others, and may make more of a difference immediately. For example if your garden is surrounded by hedges, why not spend an afternoon trimming them with a hedge trimmer? This doesn’t take too long to do and it will immediately bring a smarter look to your garden. You might be inspired to give that lawn a mow as well while you are at it.
Of course the lawn itself might pose other problems. If it is patchy and looks rather unattractive, consider using a ‘feed and weed’ formula to begin with. This will get rid of all the weeds and moss, and feed the grass that is there. It will give you a much better idea of how much grass you actually have, and how many areas need to be re-seeded with grass seed.
You should also find that contributing just a few minutes a day to your garden can make a big difference. Some activities won’t bear fruit – or flowers – immediately, but will pay off further down the line. For example, plant some bulbs in pots or flowerbeds and then watch the stunning spring display that will greet you when the time comes.
Whatever you do, make sure you keep that notepad handy so you can glance at it and see how far you have come at any point. Tick off jobs you have completed and add new ones you think of to the end of the list. This should be a living list that keeps on changing as your garden starts to improve.
It does help to concentrate on those jobs which are fairly easy to do and which give your garden an immediate facelift. You could buy a couple of ready made and planted hanging baskets for example. A few moments spent hanging them up by attaching a bracket to the wall in the desired place would be all you’d need to do.
And as you start to see those changes in your garden, you will also start to feel more positive and proud of what you see there. You will use it more, enjoy it more and feel as if you actually own it. And what better feeling could there be than that?