DIY Ideas for Your Yard’s New Look This Summer
Summer is well and truly upon us, and the chances are you’re spending a lot of time outdoors (weather permitting). Whether your backyard is geared up for relaxing, growing flowers or vegetables, socialising with friends and family, or entertaining the kids, giving it a refreshing new look is always a worthy project.
And with a bit of DIY, you can have a fresh garden without breaking the bank. Doing it yourself also means you can exert a lot of creative control over the backyard, and you can get the whole family involved in planning, planting, and construction. Here are some great DIY ideas for your yard this summer.
Planning
Whatever project you decide to embark on, big or small, the planning stage is perhaps the most important. Make a list of necessary materials you require, and how much they cost – although for DIY projects it often lends a bit of character to upcycle materials (and it’s usually cheaper). If your project involves plants or flowers you’ll need to assess the conditions, soil, sunlight, and access to water, in the area you propose to plant. Drawing up a plan with accurate measurements is essential if you’re putting in decking or other large-scale semi-permanent features – even more so if you have a compact garden. A good plan gets you part of the way there.
DIY fire pit
There’s nothing quite like sitting around a fire on a warm summer’s evening, toasting marshmallows or sipping a cold beer. Making one is actually pretty easy. Get hold of some concrete, and two bowls – both large, but one larger than the other. Create a mould by placing the smaller bowl inside the bigger one. It’s a good idea to spray the mould with non-stick spray to help get the concrete out when it’s set. Then simply pour concrete into the gap and wait for it to dry. Finish the pit using coarse sandpaper. The easiest thing is to burn wood or charcoal, but if you want to use gas here are some further instructions.
Vertical herb garden
Growing herbs is easy – they grow fast, look and smell nice, and add a certain something to your cooking that dried herbs simply can’t. But you don’t want to take up too much of your space with them, and that’s where a vertical garden comes in. It’s easy enough to fashion one with pine boards (or an old pallet), common-or-garden screws, tacks, or nails. You don’t need to be a skilled carpenter to put it together either, it’s just as simple as a set of basic shelves. Add holes for pots to sit in, fill them with herbs, and enjoy the flavours.
Birds (and bees)
Attracting wildlife to your garden adds a real atmosphere, and helps birds, bees, and butterflies to thrive. These will add natural sound and colour to your yard, and help pollinate your plants. Birds will appreciate a bird bath, and they’re easy to make, as are bird feeders – you can use upcycled wood and paint them to add more colour. Make sure you keep the bird seed somewhere that squirrels and other animals can’t reach. Certain plants, trees, and flowers also attract your winged friends.
Walkways
It’s nice to break your garden up into zones if you have the space – walkways can help to visually divide the space, as well as provide a route across flowerbeds and other areas that don’t appreciate footfall. Creating paths and walkways can be a good DIY project, again, you can use found or upcycled materials. Stone slabs, gravel, wood (again, from pallets if you have access to them), and old bricks can all be used and provide a lot of character. You may have to treat the wood to weather-proof it. Make sure that paths aren’t slippery when it gets wet, especially if they aren’t well lit, and/or if you have old, very young, or tipsy people using them.
Tyres
If you have some old tyres lying around there are a couple of things you can do with them. One is to make a tyre fish pond – place a tyre on a surface, then add a layer of sand and put wet newspaper on the sides to waterproof it. Add a second tyre, repeating the process, before adding water – you can use it to grow plants out of, for a characterful and pleasantly ramshackle pond. If you have kids, tyres can be used as playground items – lay them flat on the floor to create an obstacle, or put them upright but halved and buried for balancing and jumping. And of course, the evergreen option is to install a tyre swing – just make sure you have something that can support its weight (and that of a couple of children!).
These are just a few of the great DIY projects you can undertake in your yard. Try one or two out, and you might get inspired to think of some more. Summer is the perfect time to give your garden a new look and for trying out some fresh, new ideas.
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DIY Ideas for Your Yard’s New Look This Summer