Designing The Post-Covid Home Garden
As Covid restrictions are lifted, we may want to leave it all behind us like a bad dream, but some things – or how we look at them – will have changed forever. For many of us, we have spent considerably more time in homes that before the pandemic might have been reduced to places to eat and sleep in the busy whirlwind of our lives. We have created home offices out of spare bedrooms or spaces under stairs, or maybe caught up on some of those long-awaited home renovation projects. And with lockdown limiting our outdoor options, we have turned to our gardens for escape and recreation.
We’ve been inspired
For many of us, our gardens have been a lifeline through those long months, providing fresh air and exercise as we have spent more time weeding and pruning them back into shape. And they have given us a place in the sun when our usual destinations have been off-limits.
Even if we haven’t completely redesigned our gardens, we have seen the results that others have achieved and felt inspired to do something with our own modest patch of real estate.
We’re healthier
Covid has reconnected us with nature, and that’s a good thing when it comes to gardens. Quite apart from the benefits this brings to the environment – creating wildlife habitats and corridors, improving biodiversity – working, exercising or just being outdoors and surrounded by living plants has a positive effect on our physical and psychological health and wellbeing.
We see our gardens in a new light
We have found how our gardens can become an extension of our indoor living space, even if the British weather doesn’t always allow us to enjoy it at its best.
The more ambitious among us have been creating exciting new areas to relax in calming, natural surroundings and entertain friends and family, even while there were restrictions on gathering indoors.
We want low-maintenance
Having rediscovered the potential of our outdoor spaces, how will we ensure they keep their good looks once we are spending less time at home and can spare less time for gardening?
Hard landscaping products such as stone or concrete are low-maintenance, and a wide variety of shrubs and plants offer low-maintenance options, but if we want to incorporate grass lawns, gravel beds or planted borders into our garden design, the secret of low maintenance lies in landscape edging.
These areas are all prone to spread into their surroundings and when the clear demarcation between them becomes blurred, the garden design starts to fall apart. Without a clearly defined border, lawn edges will erode or spill over across planted areas and paths, and gravel will scatter. Even stone and concrete paths and patios will benefit from a stable edge to prevent wear and tear.
But traditional edging materials have their limitations. Timber is quick and inexpensive to lay but will quickly deteriorate, losing its good looks and strength. Concrete edging is more durable, but is prone to frost damage and can cause grass dieback when used to edge lawns. Metal landscape edging, made either from aluminium or steel, is a lightweight, easily installed and cost-effective option.
Metal garden edging
Kinley offers a range of metal edging products with something that is bound to suit your garden design. All products have been designed for fast and easy, one-person installation without concrete foundations or haunching, so paving, lawns and beds can be laid as soon as the edging is in place. They are also strong yet flexible, so you can easily incorporate curves into your design. Most products come in a choice of edging depth, so they can be used either to fit flush with lawns and paving or to create an eye-catching step between levels.
Depending on which product you choose, they are available in natural aluminium or steel, galvanised or powder coated for a long, low-maintenance lifespan. Or for a truly organic style you can choose spectacular CorTen weathering steel that offers stunning good looks and excellent corrosion resistance.
Give us a call today on 01580 830688 to discuss how we can help you in your garden project!
