National Gardening Day rolls around every 14th of April just as we’re entering the summer season. As the sun begins to appear on a regular basis, we feel the urge to spend more time outdoors. Gardens are the perfect place to soak up the summer rays with a little bit of privacy. However, for those of us without a spacious green paradise outside our back door, it can be difficult to figure out how to enjoy the warm weather at home.
Fortunately, here at Careline365, we have compiled a list of ways you can have your own patch of paradise. Whether it be a courtyard, a balcony, a shared garden, or even a window sill, there’s plenty of opportunity for gardening. In honour of National Gardening Day, here are some gardening tips for unconventional spaces, both outdoors and inside!
Gardening Tips for Courtyards
Those who live in a terraced or attached house will be especially familiar with this sort of outdoor space. They can be small, they can be grey, and sometimes the sun can miss them entirely. However, the good news: there are plenty of ways to turn your small concrete square into a place you’ll like to sit in, host in, and fine-tune your green fingers in.
Pot plants are an obvious choice here and you can find a whole array of colourful plants and flowers to go in them. However, if this isn’t enough to satisfy the gardener in you, an alternative could be a wooden planter box. These planters are usually large and long, imitating a flower bed you would have in a garden with grass. They can hold a whole range of different flowers and have the added bonus of being raised off the ground. This means you won’t need to keep bending down when tending to your plants, which can be tricky for anyone with back pain or mobility issues.
The sun can often miss courtyards entirely, due to their high, usually brick, walls, especially if they are North facing. However, there are plenty of plants that do not require a lot of sunlight to thrive. These include hydrangeas, English ivy, Chaenomeles, bee balm, and many more. Whichever plants you choose, they’ll all add colour and life to your little courtyard garden. If none of these fit into the look you had for your garden, see if the sun hits any part of it at any point in the day and place the flowers you want that do need sun here. Alternatively, place your garden table and chairs in the sunny spot so you can soak up the sun yourself!
Growing Plants on Balconies
Balconies are a brilliant alternative to a garden. Not only do you get the outside space, but they also come with a view. They also offer many opportunities to explore your gardening abilities. Unlike in courtyards, big planter boxes will not work in your average size balcony, so smaller pots will be needed here. On the other hand, most balconies have the added bonus of many places to hang and suspend your plants. You can use hanging baskets or climbing plants such as ivy to decorate your railings. Some balconies will be big enough for a trellis, which you can use for roses, sweet peas, and winter jasmine among others.
Gardening in Shared Gardens
While shared gardens can be entirely spacious and satisfactory, negotiating changes can be tricker when they have other users. They also do not have much privacy. Luckily, they can still be an ideal way to show off your green fingers, as many residents will not object to cosmetic improvements to your shared space. A shared garden could also give you access to a shared or individual shed/greenhouse, which can come in very handy.
If you would like your slice of outdoor heaven to be purely for your own/your family’s enjoyment, there are ways to secure your privacy. If you’re permitted to, you could fashion your personal space with trellising, bamboo partitions or, as a temporary measure, windbreaks.
Best Plants for Windowsills
Those who don’t have any outdoor space might not even consider gardening as an option. Thankfully, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Just as with courtyards and balconies, pot plants will be your best friend here. To bring some flora into each room, try plants such as dracaena, cast iron plant, or philodendron. These plants do not need a lot of light and are perfect for keeping inside.
Alternatively, windowboxes are sure to spruce up any windowsill. A smaller version of planter boxes, these can hold as many flowers as the size you have and are fine for plants needing light as they will be behind a window. Windowboxes came in wood, tin, plastic, and all shapes and sizes.
National Gardening Day
Gardening is proven to improve mental and physical well-being and is a hobby that anyone can enjoy, regardless of age or ability. That’s probably why it has a whole day dedicated to it! This National Gardening Day, how about picking up an old hobby you thought you didn’t have space for? Give your home and/or garden a new lease of life.
Gardening is an excellent way to shake off the winter blues and embrace the summer. It keeps your body active with physical exercise while stimulating your mind too. Caring for plants can be very rewarding – and you’ll end up with something beautiful in return for your efforts.
Safety While Gardening
As mentioned above, gardening can sometimes be physically strenuous. For extra peace of mind for you and your family, consider a Careline Personal Alarm. Personal alarms give the users the confidence and ability to continue with hobbies they can enjoy and are designed to be easily worn in everyday life. Our standard Careline pendants have a range of 100 metres from the alar base unit, protecting you in your garden as well as your house.
If you’re interested in ordering one of our life-saving Careline Alarms, please do get in touch with one of our helpful team members on 0808 304 4510. Alternatively, send us an email to info@careline.co.uk for more information. You can also order online at any time.
