I’m renovating my garden for the first time – 3 things I’ve learnt the hard way

Content creator Lucy Kalice is one of Ideal Home's Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on cleaning, home decor and making the most of small spaces. See the rest of her articles here.

You might remember that I started a garden renovation at the beginning of summer. Yes, the last update might have been a few months ago but lets ignore that…i’ve been summering!

Gardening has been on the back burner but I’m pleased to report that the shovel has been dug back out of the shed and we finally have progress. Actually better than that, it’s so almost finished and I can’t wait to share it all with you!

Now as a first time garden renovation-er and gardener I’ve learnt a lot. So if you’re also planning on doing up your garden, grab a cup of tea, get a note pad and pen and take my advice…

The good

Two recommendations were given to me in this process and I feel it’s only right I pass these recommendations on.

The first – buy a good quality paint and you’ll only have to do one coat. Painting always sounds like fun at the beginning…it’s therapeutic and it’s ‘easy'. But after painting two fence panels your arms start to hurt and you start to lose the will to live (and paint). Minimising the amount of time you spend painting is key and a cheap, bad quality paint is only going to keep you painting for longer.

We painted our fences black and sometimes a black paint can look dark grey which was not the vibe we were going for. We used the brand Bedec and the quality is amazing. We only did one coat and the colour is very rich, no one will be mistaking it for grey!

The second great recommendation we had was to use a paint gun instead of brushes. Admittedly I was a little hesitant to do this at first because I’d seen someone say that the paint can sometimes spill through to the other side of the fence. I wasn’t looking to make enemies with my neighbours so we started painting with a brush. Big mistake. It was going to take us days and days and days.

After three fence panels I caved and bought a paint gun. It’s electric and sprays the paint out evenly. We painted all our fences, the bar and the garden shed in a matter of hours! So basically it’s life changing and you need to get one if you ever paint your garden fences. Best £40 we’ve ever spent.

The bad

Unfortunately we had a little teeny weeny hiccup in our grand garden plans. We wanted an awning to help shade our south facing garden. The vision was an awning with black and white stripes and oh my goodness was I excited about this. I thought it would compliment the fences and the stripes were just so fun! We measured up, I placed the order, my husband’s dad came over to help fit the awning…only to find it didn’t fit. Heartbreaking.

I’ve scoured the internet and can’t find an awning with measurements that will fit what we need. So unfortunately we are having to park the awning for now. I’ll get onto it again before next summer and it’s not a big deal. It’s just a reminder that things never always go seamlessly and my dream of a black and white striped awning will remain a dream for a little longer.

The blooming ugly

Now this is where we talk plants…the best part! We visited a garden centre and had one of our favourite days out of the year. Garden centres are so much fun (is this what happens when you turn 30?).

We had a loose vision with what plants we wanted but as soon as we walked in I saw these gorgeous plants and knew they were exactly what we needed.

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The best thing about them is they are evergreen and low maintenance. Perfect for a novice gardener like me. And that’s definitely something to think about when you’re doing up your garden. Do you want plants you have to regularly look after? Plants that are seasonal or evergreen?

Picking a plant can be like choosing a dog and you have to pick ones that suit your lifestyle.

Now this is where we are up to on the garden…so close! I can’t wait to show you the finished product!