Bad habits to avoid for a tidy and organised outdoor space – 5 things professional organisers want you to stop doing immediately

During the summer months, our outdoor spaces become essential extensions of our homes. But no matter whether you have a cosy balcony, a large lawn or a smaller patio, it’s important to keep it tidy and organised. This way, you can enjoy every inch of your outdoor space without being overwhelmed by clutter.

And while it’s well worth taking tips from people with tidy outdoor spaces, sometimes being told exactly what to do isn’t the best way to maintain your garden. Instead, understanding what you shouldn’t do can help you correct bad habits and adjust your to-do list so you’re working with your outdoor space rather than against it.

So, to help you maintain a tidy and clutter-free garden, I’ve asked professional organisers what you should avoid for the most organised outdoor space you could ask for. This is what they said.

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1. Use your shed as a dumping ground

As someone with a huge shed in my garden, I know just how easy it is to stash everything you don’t want on show in there. But as Shannon Murphy, Professional Organiser and Founder of Simpl Living Co explains, ‘You should never use the shed as a long-term storage unit for indecision.’ Instead, you need to take the time to declutter and organise your shed regularly.

This involves taking stock of what you have, what you no longer need, and what you can get rid of to restore order and keep on top of clutter. And as sheds often need to house smaller, loose items, Hester Van Hien, a Home Decluttering and Organising Consultant from Tidylicious, suggests, ‘Write a list – either using pen and paper or by making a note on your phone – of the items stored in your shed on it.’

The less you have in there, the more manageable it becomes, and the easier it is to effortlessly put things away in the future. But if your shed is simply too big for your needs, it could be worth downsizing from a shed to a garden wardrobe to dissuade you from using it as a dumping ground in the future. This can also open up more usable garden space for you to enjoy.

2. Keep plastic pots ‘just in case’

If you’re a green-fingered gardener who regularly buys plants from the garden centre, there’s a high chance that your outdoor space is full of plastic plant pots that you’re keeping because you don’t know if you’ll need them again. But the reality is that you don’t need them - not all of them, anyway.

Shannon explains, ‘If you never grow seedlings, these pots simply become clutter. Keep a small number if you genuinely use them, but recycle the rest.’ Thankfully, it’s very easy to recycle plastic plant pots and give them a new home instead of just sending them off to landfill.

By keeping your plastic plant pots to a minimum - say, one of each size - you can stop them from cluttering up your outdoor space. But if you really want to keep hold of more, you might want to consider buying a potting bench so that you can clearly distinguish your gardening area from your entertaining or relaxing area.

3. Let garden waste build up

The easiest way to clutter up your outdoor space is to fill it with rubbish - quite literally. And if you have leftover plant clippings, rubble from your latest DIY project or even old garden toys lying around, take this as your sign to get rid of it as soon as possible.

This is especially important, as a tidy garden is also a mind game. And if you already have a pile of garden waste in the corner of your garden, you’re more likely to continue piling it up and make your garden look even worse. That’s why Shannon says, ‘Regularly clearing waste keeps gardens looking aesthetically pleasing and easier to maintain.’

Keeping floor space clear is also one of the best ways to make a small garden look bigger, so it’s well worth understanding the new garden waste recycling rules to understand what can and can’t be put in your household garden waste bin. However, you should also compost at home and take a trip to the tip if needed.

4. Have multiples of the same item

An outdoor area often has to serve various purposes at the same time. Because of this, they also require many essential items, such as garden furniture cushions and garden tools. But having multiples of the same item is one of the bad habits professional organisers want you to avoid.

It’s easy to accumulate new items over the years, with many of us stocking up on garden decor simply because we like it and fancy new tools just because they offer something your old tools don’t. However, the reality is that you probably don’t need many of these things - and they’re cluttering up your outdoor space as a result.

These duplicate items are things a small garden doesn’t need, and large gardens can struggle under the weight of these extras too. That’s why Shannon suggests, ‘Keep the one you naturally reach for and let the duplicates go.’ And this applies to everything in your outdoor space.

5. Buy items without knowing where they'll go

Outdoor spaces are always evolving, but professional organisers want you to avoid buying items without knowing where they will go. Kate Dufton, Professional Organiser and Declutter at Ace Your Space, warns, ‘We can all be guilty of popping to the garden centre at the first sign of sun and getting carried away.’

She adds, ‘This often results in lots of new flowers, shrubs and other garden items, but with no plan of where they will go, which can be a costly mistake.’ This can also make a garden look messy, overfull, and unorganised. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t buy anything new at all.

You just need to be tactical about what you buy, and the one-in-one-out rule could help here, as with each new purchase, you have to get rid of something else to avoid a buildup of clutter. Hester agrees, saying, ‘I think it’s better to donate unwanted gifts to charity for someone else to love than for those items to gather dust in your home or dirt in your garden.’

So, give your garden some organisation love this summer!