How to prepare your garden for summer?

Summer is here, and with it the advent of the garden as the most important living space in the home. If you've clicked on this article, you're probably one of the lucky ones who has a small garden or outdoor space all to yourself. Today, we're here to help you cultivate and beautify it with these tips for landscaping your garden!

Avoid monotony

To create a living space of your own for the whole summer, you need to start by delimiting spaces. Don't think of your exterior as a whole, but as a collection of many things.

Whether you have a garden, a terrace or a small balcony, try to create a lounge area with a table (a large family table for the garden and a hanging or folding table for the balcony), armchairs or chairs, to provide a place to eat, relax or enjoy a drink with friends. If you've got room to spare, make a grilling area for your summer meals. Finally, don't forget to protect yourself from the sun with a parasol or shade sail.

Cultivate your garden

The easiest way is to opt for a vegetable garden on your own plot or in pots on your balcony. This will bring your outdoor space and your summer salads to life. Here are a few basic principles for success:

• choose a location with plenty of sunshine
• water meticulously: never water during the hottest part of the day, and get the right equipment for the job
• Stay humble: start with easy-to-grow products such as tomatoes, peas, beans, lamb's lettuce, beet, turnips, radishes...
• protect the vegetable garden: install a fence or tarpaulin to prevent the intrusion of insects and animals.

Decorate and illuminate

The devil is in the details. And the details in question are decoration and ambience, especially lighting. Because yes, when we think of the summer garden, we all have the same images of country lunches or afternoons on the grass.

But when night falls, the night-time ambience of your outdoor space will count for a lot. That's why it's important to think about lighting. Properly arranged, it offers unique moments and adds a personal, original and ephemeral touch.

Renovate or replace garden furniture

The time for change is now. Is your garden equipment in poor condition? Are the chairs rusty, the table worn or the deckchairs broken? Don't panic, summer's not over yet, and now's the time to renovate your furniture and rejuvenate your outdoors.

To do this, you have several options:

• The cheapest way is to renovate your furniture yourself. Give your old furniture a new lease of life with a lick of paint and a look at DIY tutorials on the Internet.
• If you're not a do-it-yourselfer, you'll have to get new ones. But new doesn't necessarily mean new. You can call on your friends and family to pick up neglected nuggets.
• We also recommend scouring flea markets and garage sales - it's in season, after all - or embarking on a bartering adventure . This will enable you to get your hands on new furniture, while sorting out and getting rid of items you no longer use.

To conclude, summerizing your outdoor space means making room to start with, organizing your space to have fun, updating your furniture to renew it and, of course, decorating to feel right at home.