Gardening tips: Simple ways to add colour

Do you dream of a beautiful garden, filled with colour – but worried you’ll need spend a fortune to achieve it? Fear not my friend!  I’m back with some more budget gardening tips! Creative ways of adding colour to the garden without spending an absolute fortune on plants. 

If you’re a regular here on Girl about townhouse blog, you may already know that gardening didn’t come naturally to me. I’ve always had much more of a black thumb than a green thumb and let’s not even mention house plants please.

I know what you’re thinking – I probably shouldn’t be giving anyone gardening tips. But wait! Over the last couple of years, something has changed. I started reading all the gardening magazine’s I could get my hands on and making statements like ‘Geraniums are very hardy’.

I know, move over Alan Titchmarsh – there’s a new gardening guru in town!

Gardening tips: Simple ways to add colour on a budget

Plants

Well, let’s start with the obvious shall we? Of course, plants are a great way to add colour to your garden! But choose wisely and use them cleverly.

Pick some evergreen shrubs to ensure year-round colour. There’s nothing worse than a one season wonder, when it comes to gardens. You need a garden that will lift your spirits just as much in Winter.  My favourites are Lavender and Camellia. I also have my eye on Knock out roses, that can produce flowers for up to nine months of the year – great value for money!

Speaking of year round colour, invest in some perennials that will flower at different times of the year and return on an annual basis – rather than spending lots of money on bedding plants that won’t last.

Make the garden look more colourful by using plants at different heights. A carefully placed hanging basket, combined with a couple of pots can have just as much impact as heavily planted borders. Trends for this year include plant stands and plant walls, which you can totally DIY to save money.

But it’s not all about plants! There are so many more ways to brighten up your garden.

Transform your space with paint

It’s no secret that I love a good paint makeover (if you don’t believe me check out my vintage chair makeover or my chalk-painted toy box). Why should the garden be neglected? It shouldn’t, I insist – you won’t regret it!

A quick and simple way to add a burst of cheerful colour to your garden is to paint your pots. I’m completely in love with chalk paint at the moment, it gives great coverage and it requires no prep, just a clean surface. If you’re feeling super creative you could even paint some patterns!

Paint your patio! In the world of interior bloggers I’ve seen quite a few patios painted black, which looks AH-mazing. But you don’t have to go to the dark side! How about a stunning teal? I love this painted seating area I snapped at the Ideal home show this year. I’m sure decking would look great in the colour too.

Sheds, fences and walls are also prime painting candidates. You could even have your very own feature wall in the garden or perhaps a mural if you’re arty!

Here’s a little before and after of our painted shed…

Before

Ugh there are no words…

After!

Shake it up with shingle

This is so much more affordable than laying a patio and a whole lot quicker and easier! Add it to your borders to create some interest and discourage those pesky weeds from sprouting – you could even use it to create a pathway. We use a lot of purple slate in our garden as you can see above, it really cheers up the area around our shed.

Bunting

If you’re going for that vintage country cottage garden look, how about adding some cheerful bunting? It’s perfect if you have long stretches of fencing, that can look a little bit boring. Plus it’ll give you those village fete vibes the minute you step out there and it’s more or less obligatory to pour yourself a glass of Pimms.

Solar lights

Need I say more? You can pick up coloured string lighting super cheap and then even at night you’ll have a beautiful colourful garden to admire. Every garden need fairy lights – FACT!

Outdoor accessories

As an interior addict, I love the concept of creating an outdoor living space. I love using outdoor cushions and lanterns to add a homely element. Adding a colourful rug under your patio furniture can help to create that indoors outdoors feel too and inject some colour!

Colourful furniture

I don’t know about you but I keep seeing gorgeous brightly coloured outdoor furniture EVERYWHERE! I found this gorgeous pink and orange Bistro set from Asda, which is an absolute steal for £89. It’s super tropical and fun.

Well hopefully you’ve found these garden tips and ideas useful! Now your garden can give Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat a run for its money. Or maybe not ; )

If you’d like some more cheap and cheerful gardening tips to help you garden for less, hop on over and read 9 tips for saving money on you garden. 

Now it’s your turn, tell me your gardening tips – how to you like to add colour to your garden?