With Summer fast approaching there’s a few things that will need to be sorted out in order that the garden is up to scratch for more Summer fun with friends and family. So I’ve put together this handy checklist to help you get a kick start in the garden this summer.
Clean up the barbecue
Hands up who cleaned up the barbecue last year? I didn’t, in fact it looked so rough I was thinking about buying a new gas barbecue because I had enough of looking at my current rust bucket and charcoal barbecues are quite time consuming. Fortunately though, I found a really handy tip on how to clean it up with minimal fuss which was doubly good because when I thought about it, I would lose that lovely smokey flavour you just can’t get from a gas barbecue.
The cleaning process was pretty simple; just get a load of kindling wood and really get the fire roaring over the grill and around the hood. This turned all the charred black soot white like ash and then removing it was really simple, I just got myself a decent wire brush and gave it a good once over.
Get the grass cut or go artificial?
We all know it, cutting the grass after the winter months is the worst job out there. It can be a good eight to ten inches thick after we did our last cut in the November garden preparations, my poor little Flymo just couldn’t handle it. Let’s not blame my trusty Flymo though, it was because I didn’t keep the blades sharp. My number of tip for your flymo every Winter when there isn’t much to do would be sharpen the blades on your Flymo.
There is another option that I would love to pursue; just get artificial grass instead! It comes with all the benefits such as being child friendly and great for pets without the need for all the maintenance above. I don’t want to go anti-green on you here, I love a bit of garden planting but with all the other chores it’s one thing I think that would really my my families life a little bit easier.
Clean up the garden furniture
After four months left alone, the garden table and chairs are looking like they need a real deep clean. One super trick I found was baby wet wipes. They really clean up garden furniture quickly and efficiently. Be warned though, I went through nearly two packs, a J-Cloth and soapy water takes a bit longer but will save a few pounds.
I’m not sure why the garden furniture ends up quite so dirty but it’s like a magnet for much over the Winter months. I think this year I’ll invest in decent furniture covers instead of struggling again!
Either way though, these few handy tricks will get the garden up to scratch for the family this summer. Hopefully you’ll find them as useful as I will when I revisit this post next year around Spring.