Gardening in the UK
It can be daunting to find yourself with a garden to tend for the first time. It can also be rewarding and enjoyable with a little thought and planning. Depending on the space available you need to decide what kind of garden you want to have. An expanse of lawn? A patio garden? A vegetable patch or an orchard?
Regardless of the sort of garden you decide on you will require some of the basic gardening tools; A spade for digging, a rake for leveling and removing debris, a hoe for weeding, a trowel for potting, a mower to cut your grass. You can buy the basic gardening tools in your local garden centre or on the web – your tools are an investment, don't make false economies by buying low quality garden implements.
If you want to grow food, consider which kinds of food you can grow given your particular garden. How much sunlight does it get? How much rain? What kind of soil do you have? How much time do you have to tend your vegetables or fruit? You can cheat nature by creating zones which are optimised for growing certain fruit and vegetables, e.g. in a greenhouse, or using grow bags with optimal soil.
If you prefer a low maintenance garden, perhaps just to chill out in on summer evenings then you may want to consider a patio garden. Pebbles, slabs, decking, chips remove the need for grass and don't require upkeep. Plant up some pots and scatter them around the area, invest in garden furniture and you have created a low maintenance garden where you can entertain guests or just relax with a good book.
A lawn is perhaps the most common feature in a garden. To create a lawn you can either lay turf (quick but expensive) or sow the lawn (slower, but cheaper) from scratch. The earth where the lawn is proposed to be established needs to be carefully prepared, weeds killed and removed, stones dug out and the earth raked level and condensed.
Garden safety is critical – ensure that any electrical appliances you use outdoors are appropriately protected through a circuit breaker and special take care when using them. Follow manufacturers instructions carefully and store your gardening tools carefully and securely away from children, perhaps in a locked garden shed.
Whichever garden features you opt for, with planning and care you will create a enjoyable place to while away long summer weekends.