5 Tips to Beautify Your Garden

Due to some technical difficulties last week, this post never made it to its final stages. My apologies, and hopefully it was worth the wait!

We all know how important curb appeal is when selling a house. Sure, you can hire landscapers, or get your mom to come over! If you’re not a green thumb (probably because you never tried) like me, here are some great tips I got from our friends and neighbours at Bradford Greenhouses. Your garden doesn’t have to be complicated. Just enjoy it!

We have been incredibly lucky with record-breaking warm weather this month (except this past week…brrr). You may be getting the gardening bug, so keep reading to help you start your journey!

1. Plant native plants. If you’re new at the gardening game, using plants that are native to our geographical area will help ensure a successful garden. Native plants are anything that you might find naturally, say if you went for a walk in the forest. Luckily, Bradford Greenhouses are local experts and they can guide you toward plants like honeysuckle which grows wonderfully here.
2. Plant bulbs. Bulbs are very attractive to me…drop them in a hole in the ground, water, and wait. Not a lot of room for me to mess up! My favourite flowers are lilies, and they’re so easy to grow. Every bulb has different planting instructions, but maintenance is easy; keep the soil moist and add some fertilizer.
3. Plant perennials. Some of us can never remember the difference between perennials and annuals. But the important thing to remember is that, because perennials come back year after year, the long-term maintenance is manageable. Plus they often bloom from April to October, so you get the biggest bang for your buck!
4. Plan your design. It may seem unnecessary, however taking an hour or so to properly plan where everything will go will make all the difference in the world. The shape, the soil type, the sun or shade factor – these all play a part in the success of your garden. Plus, you want all the colours and plant height and size to make sense. And if you need help with this, the lovely people at Bradford Greenhouses can help you with a consultation.
5. Maintain your lawn. With all this garden talk, you don’t want to ignore your grass. Especially if you’re considering selling your house (even next year!) this is an important factor to curb appeal. A potential buyer who sees a dead or weedy lawn will think a lot of work has to be done. Keep it watered and fertilized, and you will notice the difference.

Following these tips is a great way to start your Spring garden. Keep in mind our local weather and various soil types, and when you visit your local garden centre you should be in good shape.

Our friends at Bradford Greenhouses gave me some fun extras to share with you. Enjoy!

• To prevent accumulating dirt under your fingernails while you work in the garden, draw your fingernails across a bar of soap and you’ll effectively seal the undersides of your nails so dirt can’t collect beneath them. Then, after you’ve finished in the garden, use a nailbrush to remove the soap and your nails will be sparkling clean.
• Turn a long-handled tool into a measuring stick! Lay a long-handled garden tool on the ground, and next to it place a tape measure. Using a permanent marker, write inch and foot marks on the handle. When you need to space plants a certain distance apart (from just an inch to several feet) you’ll already have a measuring device in your hand.
• To create perfectly natural markers, write the names of plants (using a permanent marker) on the flat faces of stones of various sizes and place them at or near the base of your plants.
• The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don’t pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you’ll be amazed at how the plants respond to the “vegetable soup.”
• Always misplacing garden seeds, gloves, and your hand fork?  Try placing an old mailbox in your garden. With a new coat of paint, you have the perfect spot to place all those little things!