Gardens are gifts that keep on giving. From empowering our mental health to improving our quality of life, it’s a pocket of paradise many of us consider our refuge particularly during trying times.

If you’re one of the fortunate few who happen to have spacious gardens, beautifying them can be such an exhilarating experience. Whether you’re looking to redesign your space for the next season or to spruce up a pre-loved garden from a newly bought home, we got you covered.

Here’s how you can beautify your garden in five steps.

1. Identify the Purpose of your Garden

Landscape architect, Eckbo once said that a garden serves three primary purposes: To provide food, create a space and be visually appealing.

Knowing exactly why you want to care for a garden allows you to be more focused on your design ideas. This helps you envision your space as you transform it and stick to your goals. Moreover, it prevents you from overspending. Remember that every garden is different from one another. It’s okay to be inspired by those you see online or in magazines. Just make sure to leave room for improvisations, resourcefulness and put your personal taste and style to it.

2. Create Visual Boundaries

There need not be a straight solid line that identifies where your garden ends and your pool area begins. However, it helps to create visual boundaries in your space to give a calming sense of order as well as for one’s eyes to focus on something.

From pretty fencing to gravel walkways and bush lines, clarify your garden’s perimeters.

3. Plan your Plants

What you plant in your garden is what will always take center stage. All the other elements are supporting acts to the show you’re about to put on for your loved ones and neighbors.

Plan with your future plants in mind. Flowers such as day lilies, astilbes, coreopsis, and bleeding hearts bloom for quite a long time. This provides your garden a stunning color variety, which in turn will attract butterflies. If you want bold and solid colors, peonies and roses are a good start. If you’re mixing it up with an edible garden, be sure to grow the ones that you’re most likely to consume more often.

There are plenty of things to keep in mind when beautifying a garden especially when you have a mix of edible and non-edible plants. Some of the most important are pruning, trimming, spacing, companion planting, the probable need for raised beds and planters and proper watering. Above all, choose plants that will thrive in your area and within your micro climate.

4. Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize

Designing a garden means accessorizing it the best ways possible. You can start by making it feel more like your very own getaway.

Install a hammock or a cozy seating corner under the shade. Put some lighting for added drama during the night. You can even include a water feature such as a small fountain or bird bath as another pretty sight to look at.

5. Be Resourceful

Look around your home before you start buying things to beautify your garden with; an old tire can easily be turned into a swing, old cloths repurposed into captivating shades, unused containers to use as pots. Take the time to research and discover all the other ways you can make use of items lying around in your house to make your garden even more picturesque.

Being resourceful not only helps you cut back on your expenses. It also makes your garden your own.