Get garden ready for summer

IT’S THAT time of the year when you should be starting to enjoy another season al fresco. But there is an unsightly eyesore spoiling that indulgence. Your outdoor space looks like a war zone.

The dead potted plants lie dotted around your exterior like cannon fodder, left where they fell and atrophied. The deck has an unhealthy green pallor and is perilous to walk on.

The block walls and fencing are a very unfashionable grey and the grass looks like it’s got mange.

Where do you start? Procrastination won’t make-over your garden, says Sheena Vernon, a gardener turned landscape designer who runs Sheena’s Garden Designs. “It’s an external spring clean that is all about elbow grease.”

Mark Radix of Radix Gardens, who worked on the film Asterix and Obelix: God Save Brittania, which was shot on location in Ireland last summer, recommends starting by putting a three-in-one product on the lawn and paving. “Apply it on a clear day so the rain doesn’t wash the product away,” he counsels. “Leave for approximately for one week, until the weeds turn brown.”

Then hire a power washer to cleaning paving and walls. Take care with block paving as power cleaning can dislodge the sand, Sheena cautions. A cold power washer from Sam Hire costs from €60 per day.

Next cut your lawn, says Andrew Dunne of Andrew Christopher Garden Design.

“Cutting the lawn is the exterior equivalent of decluttering. Buy mulch or bark or compost and put all over planted areas. Don’t run to the garden centre in a panic. You will buy all the plants that are flowering now and you will plant them in the wrong space. You will end up with a garden that will bloom only on the weekend that you went to the garden centre.” Rather work with what you have, Dunne says.

Sharpen up the edges of the lawn and flower beds and prune back sprawling shrubs to let light and air into the centre of the shrub. This may all seem blindingly obvious but If you don’t do these basics first your make-over will be like decorating a really grubby space, Sheena says.

Blocks of dark colour will make the greens in your garden stand out, says Mark Grehan of Mark Grehan Designs. “A feature wall, for example, will really brighten up a space. A group of four or five people, either friends or family, can paint a wall in an afternoon. Burnt orange, teal green and aubergine are all trending. They’re stronger, bolder and feel fresher than the pastels that have been in vogue in garden design for the last few years.”

Bring in colour also through pots or hanging baskets. Ikea has a wide selection of bright designs that will work as well on balconies, small terraces and roof gardens.

“Rather than buying small plants buy plants that cost €24 – €30. Their scale will add instant impact to a space,” Mark says. He suggests Paris Daisies. In a smaller space put your plants in pots rather than in beds; agave and olive are two suggestions that don’t need a lot of care.

Upcycling is big in exteriors, Mark continues. “Look at what you have in your attic or house that could work as pots for plants, shrubs or flowers. It could be an old claw foot bath, a Belfast sink or even olive or tomato tins to dress windows with herb pots.”

During the boom economist David McWilliams called us a nation of decklanders. Every rear acquired a status symbol deck designed to knit our indoors to our great outdoors. We neglected to read the small print about the maintenance required to keep timber in a climate such as ours and the deck dream unravelled.

Many such decks are now grey, weather-beaten and wear coats of moss and slime.

If your decking is beyond CPR don’t declare it dead until you investigate Colortrend’s Solid Colour Deck Stain. You can use the super-tough 100 per cent acrylic finish to enliven tired garden furniture, railway sleepers that are past their sell-by date, decking and fencing, cladding and facias that have seen better days. It gives an opaque, semi-gloss finish that is extremely durable.

Best of all it can be mixed to all RAL colours, British Standard (BS) colours, Colortrend’s Historic colours and the brand’s Design Colour collection.

“Light and dark shades are no problem to mix,” says Wendy Shaw of Colortrend’s marketing department. “The middle range of colours is more difficult to mix. Nuances of shade and tone are harder to realise.”

Give your deck a one-day make-over. A window box of muscari or grape hyacinth inspired one Dublin 6 family to make a bold move.

They painted their deck a Majorelle blue, the colour created by artist Jacques Majorelle in his botanical gardens in Marrakech and made famous when Yves Saint Laurent bought the gardens from him. The shade makes the greenery in the garden sing so it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t get a lot of light or is north-facing.

Unite the colour scheme of your indoors and outdoors by painting the garden fencing the same colour as your indoor walls, suggests Radix. “It will help bring the garden indoors.” Use a pump-action spray to expedite the job.

In Andrew Dunne’s own end of terrace suburban house he’s created a terraced garden and added hot pink paint to walls and fluro yellow to fencing.

Furniture will add personality to any outdoor space, says Andrew Dunne. “Make yours look fresh by adding add colour splashes through coloured cushions. If you’d prefer something new now is the time to buy garden furniture, says Radix.

“Shop around and you’ll find lots of durable examples at half price. Come mid May all garden furniture will be full-price in all shops.”

If you have a large lawned area that gets the sun in the evenings make this a focal point. Jacqueline Horner-Sullivan, owner of concept boutique The White Door with shops in Dunleer in Co Louth and on Exchequer Street in Dublin 2, has an enormous four acre garden.

As part of his design landscaper Andrew Dunne installed a paved island into the middle of a large expanse of sheltered lawn. “It’s a great place for sitting in the evening and drinking glasses of wine,” Jacqueline says.

A big garden can take years to put together, says Oliver Schurmann of Mount Venus Nursery.

He suggests exploring the idea of a miniature garden instead which can be put together in a day.

If your property has an unsightly asphalt or felt flat roof you could explore the idea of covering it with sedum, as Mark Radix did for Grafton Architects.

“The plant flowers in spring and looks really atmospheric.” He built one in two days for Ophelia’s cottage, one of the characters in the Asterix movie.

Kilsaran’s Terraza is an economical way of working a wood railway sleeper-effect into a patio or deck.

Ikea’s Platta decking adds texture and looks specially smart on balconies, especially if the space inside has wooden floors – you could stain them to match. Price €20 for a pack of nine.

And if all else fails call the professionals. “What a designer brings is the knowledge and experience to plant so that your garden will be in bloom for 12 months of the year,” says Andrew Dunne of Andrew Christopher Garden Design.

“A professional designer should be able to get better value for you; better costs for materials and won’t make mistakes,” he continues.

“Good gardens come from good planning. My job is to come up with the best design for your budget, whether your budget is €2,000 or €20,000.”

Most of all a garden needs people in it to make it come alive, he concludes.

TAKE ME TO THE ISLAND

Steal the style of Jacqueline Horner-Sullivan, owner of concept boutique The White Door with shops in Dunleer in Co Louth and on Exchequer Street in Dublin. Install a patio island in a large lawned space. It creates a feature and is a great way to break up the expanse of green. The large table and chairs were custom-made to fit the space. Similar pieces can be ordered through the White Door. Call 01-604 0033 or see thewhitedoor.ie

Hot colour looks cool

The suburban garden of Andrew Dunne of Andrew Christopher Garden Design has pops of hot pink and fluro yellow that enliven the space. The job includes boardwalks, water features, a suntrap patio, and lots of lush grasses. This design would take four weeks to have it done professionally and will cost upwards of €30,000 to install. His son Sam (18 months) is pictured against the pink wall. Note the pops of blue inserted into the brick wall in the patio eating area.

POTS ENLIVEN BALCONIES AND TERRACES

These Grava pots from Ikea will look great on balconies, small gardens and roof decks. Their supersize scale adds oomph. They come in fashionable fluro yellow and neon pink. Price €16.

REFRESH OLD FURNITURE

Give tired old furniture a make-over using Colortrends solid colour deck stain. This chair has be coated in RAL 3020 Traffic Red. The wooden slats to the rear of the shot have been painted Tuscan Tile from Colortrend's Historic Colour Collection. The door is painted RAL 6032 Signal Green. Prices for brilliant white deck stain start from €21 for one litre. A litre of coloured deck stain costs from €23.99. Five-litres of coloured deckstain costs from €75.50. For stockists call Colortrend on 01-628 8224 or see Colortrend.ie.

BEAT A MOULDY DECK WITH BLUES

Revitalise weatherbeaten mould-ridden decking with a brush with the blues. This colour was originally called Hot Sauna and is another of Colortrend’s solid colour deck stain. The deck first needs to be washed with a fungicidal agent to prepare it for paint and to remove any moss and mould. Let this dry before applying the stain.

STYLE THE PATIO

Kilsaran’s Oakstone, from their Stonescape range is an economical way of working a limestone-effect into a patio or deck. Ask architectural technician Mark Herwood, based at their Dunboyne depot, for advice on how best to work the paving into your garden scheme.

Kilsaran International, Piercetown, Dunboyne, Co. Meath, Ireland.

01-8026300 or LoCall 1890 92 99 92. Kilsaran.ie