Garden trends for Summer 2016

With the temperature rising and the sun beginning to shine it must mean that summer is just around the corner and it’s time to enjoy some outdoor living.

Below Alasdair Cameron of Cameron Gardens shares his top tips to help your outside space to truly become another room to be enjoyed and lived in, so you enjoy it fully this summer.
 
Planting:
Whether your preference is for a scent filled, relaxing floral space or something more minimalist and structured creating an outside space that is an expression of you and works with how you live is key to its success.

Edible plants such as Calendula Indian Prince, Nasturtium, Borage, Chive or Primrose not only look pretty in the garden but also on the plate, in a salad bowl or on a cake!

A rambling rose such as Rosa Cecile Brunner, which will give you good results in just about any location, looks fantastic and imparts lovely colour and scene.

Encourage insects and bees to your garden by planting nectar rich flowers and not using pesticides, particularly when the plants are flowering.

Outdoor Cooking:
Taking alfresco dinning to a new level by including an outside kitchen area is a wonderful way to broaden your garden’s repertoire.  Depending on its size you could install a sink, a fridge or even a food preparation area next to your barbecue.  This way you don’t miss out on any of the fun whilst being stuck inside, it also means that everyone can get involved whether young or old and it cuts down on mess!

Herbs:
Whether you are cooking in or outside nothing beats using fresh herbs, in addition, with their fabulous scent, plethora of greens and leaf textures herbs are a great complement to any herbaceous planting. For ease plant them near the cooking area, whether in a planter, flower bed, window or even a herb wall, they will help the food taste fantastic, provide a wonderful scent and look fabulous.  And, when they flower they provide a relaxed and natural ambiance.

Lighting:
Clever garden lighting not only helps create the desired atmosphere but also allows you to enjoy alfresco evenings to the full.  Up lighting flower shape and form in the summer months ensures enjoyment long into the night (is that a bit dodgey!)  Beautiful lighting not only brings the garden alive at night but can also extend its seasonal life too by creating a vista in the winter months. And with the most recent technological advances the lighting is not so costly on either your pocket or the environment.