How to tidy your garden (and keep it tidy)

Our garden renovation is officially underway. We’ve already been delayed because it’s been one of the wettest Junes on record and the rain has set us back about 4 weeks.

At the moment, it looks like this:

Garden at the moment with hardcore down and fencing up.

But I’m already thinking ahead to making sure our garden is neat, organised and tidy all year round, particularly because it’s quite a small space.

We’ve chosen not have any borders or flowerbeds, just lots of pots to add interest and make sure we have enough greenery. But, pots can still be quite an effort to maintain and keep tidy.

I’ve had a think about how to keep your garden tidy and organised, and here’s what I’ve come up with.

Trim your plants

It’s so easy for your plants to become overgrown and get out of hand. This is what happened to us.

When we first bought the house, the garden was seriously overgrown. A lot of the plants had gone quite woody because they’d been pruned back incorrectly and at the wrong time of year.

It’s so important to trim your greenery back at the right time of year, otherwise you could potentially kill the plant. You should deadhead any flowers to encourage new ones to grow.

You should clear away any dead leaves and get rid of any plants that have died and have no hope of coming back. Put the waste in a wheelie bin, or see if you can turn it to compost.

Photo showing an allotment vegetable garden with a homemade wooden compost heap filled with rotting garden waste and weeds that are being recycled. The simple compost heap was made using planks from old pallets / pallet wood and is positioned at the end of a grass path.

Remove the weeds

Weeds should be pulled out of your borders, pots and from between paving slabs to keep the area looking neat and tidy.

You could then use a weedkiller in certain areas, such as the patio, to ensure they don’t come back. Finally, brush up the area to remove any soil/bits of weeds.

Think about your garden storage

Gardening comes with a lot of equipment. There’s lawn mowers, spades, gloves, trowels, rakes, hedge trimmers and even furniture. So where on earth do you store it all?

It can be difficult to find space for storage in a garden. A shed or garage is handy, but these spaces are often small and can end up feeling even smaller.

You could invest in a garden wheelie bin and use it for storing spades, loppers, rakes or other gardening equipment for when you need it. Most wheelie bins come with locks so you can keep your belongings safe.

Alternatively, you could purchase a large storage box. These generally come in plastic or rattan to ensure they’re waterproof and can look nice too!

What can I put in my garden wheelie bin?

There seems to be a lot of confusion around what can be put in a garden wheelie bin compost heap, so I thought I’d try to clear this up and list garden wheelie bin dos and don’ts.

Firstly, what can go in?

Grass
Twigs
Flowers
Plants
House plants
Hedge trimmings
Leaves
Cut up Christmas trees
Branches no bigger than 10cm thick and 50cm long

What can’t go in your garden waste?

Food
Household waste
Flower pots/other garden decor
Gravel, rubble or stone
Soil
Timber
Hosepipes

Soil cannot go in your garden wheelie bin. Instead, you should try to reuse it where you can. Perhaps buy a new plant pot and put it in there, or ask a neighbour if they would like it.

Repaint where needed

We’ll be painting our fencing and our garage all the same colour (eventually).

But this paint doesn’t last forever and may need touching up every now and then.

To really neaten up your garden, you could repaint certain areas to make them look fresh again. You may have painted brick walls that need a touch up, or even garden furniture that’s seen better days.

You can use chalk paint and simply spray it onto any surface, or use outdoor paint with a paintbrush/roller. If you have decking, now might also be a good time to varnish it.