A Summer Garden Refresh with Very.co.uk
It’s hot and getting hotter here in the UK and whilst the boys can clearly see how lovely it is outside, it takes quite a bit of encouragement these days to remove them from their gaming stations and into the wide world outdoors. However, although they aren’t good at relaxing quietly, they do love a project and so when Very asked us how we would refresh our garden on a budget, I knew exactly what to do.
No-Mow May
Lawn growth during No-Mow May was helped considerably by the amount of rainfall we had and so it took quite a bit of mowing and strimming to get the lawn to inhabitable length. Grasshoppers went everywhere! I did feel guilty about it; we’d had so many new birds venture into the garden to eat all of the bugs which were clearly having the time of their lives in our jungle-like paradise. I took solace in the fact that at least they were now easier to find. We put extra seed out to try and lure the birds back, as an apology.
Garden Storage
Unlike the indoors, where everything can be stored away neatly, our garden has always had a few things out and about. Tools, pots, toys, balls. I wanted to tidy up at least one area of the garden so it looked neater.
A Place for Everything – Log Storage
As we approach Autumn, we tend to pile up the logs ready for the fire and bonfire – and usually they’re in a messy pile where the spiders crawl in and horrify me when I least expect it. We decided on a log storage unit to make everything a bit more neat and pretty. Ours was simple to assemble and Gav had some helpers assist him with the nail-hammering part. It’s sturdy and smart and the boys are huge fans of not having – or having fewer – spiders in their logs that pop and crackle on the fire. Ewwww. They were very proud of their creation which was apparently all due to their hard work and dedication…
It looks very smart and our neighbours promptly ordered their own [keeping up with the Jones family, we told them] as they are often in the same predicament as us and due to the amount of hedgehogs around we also worry about them becoming trapped by a falling log pile.
Please note that these are just a few of our logs – there are MANNNNY more that need to be stored, but it was so hot, and the BBQ was calling…
Jensen enjoyed taking charge of the log pile, checking for eight legged hitch-hikers. We’ve had some enormous ones here lately.
Add a Fantastic Firepit
Over the years I have invested unwisely in a few “firepits”. None of them have worked out well and when I told Gavin that this was what I was going to settle on, he rolled his eyes. Anyhow, as someone who is obsessed with toasting anything over a fire, I set about finding the biggest fire pit imaginable. And I did it. It’s HUGE. And what’s more it reminds me of the firepit that the boys toasted their marshmallows over in the USA at Fort Wilderness. It’s made of resin and gorgeous. The boys were transfixed on this firepit and even my in laws tried to convince me that it would look better in their garden. A firepit is a meeting place for telling stories at the end of a long day, for warming next to in Winter evenings and of course, for toasting [and setting on fire in my boys’ case] the biggest and sweetest of marshmallows camping out in the garden after barbeques. This one was so simple to set up – we opened the box, poured in the firestones and then hooked it up to the gas. Five minutes and we had a gas firepit ready to roar.
The Garden at Night Time
Even though the marshmallows were delicious in the afternoon, night time seemed like the best time to be eating them as the boys huddled close together and we re-lit the pit. The fire rocks popped and crackled and the boys toasted [and set alight] their pre-s’more marshmallows and enjoyed the heat from the flames as the evening grew colder. It was widely agreed that this was the best garden refresh we have ever done, all thanks to Very.co.uk. Now Nanny and Grandad want one too!
