Ideas to brighten up my small garden (on a budget)

[Coffeegirl75]

Please help… I have a small garden, it has a raised bed along the back wall and along both sides but only halfway.

Looking for ideas for shrubs (easy to maintain) and flowers.

My kids are already planning to plant peas, carrots, tomatoes this year and thinking about blueberry plant and strawberries.

I’ve a wooden fence that’s seen better days, I’m thinking to paint a bright colour just to liven up the garden. Does that sound naff?
Then thinking of painting the bench that’s also seen better days too.

Me and the kids will probably spend more time outside this summer when not at the parks. So hoping to get couple of kids bits; water table/sand box.

But just thinking what to plant to make the area look and smell lovely. I’m thinking of some lavender but open to ideas.

Thank you, I don’t have green fingers but I’m very keen to learn!

Nasturtium seeds are easy to sow because they are large and easy to handle. They are very cheerful when flowering and can cover a big area cheaply. Some are climbing - check the seed packet.

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst

Nasturtium seeds are easy to sow because they are large and easy to handle. They are very cheerful when flowering and can cover a big area cheaply. Some are climbing - check the seed packet.

I have this years batch in the mini greenhouse , already growing .

I really don't like them but ..... they attract the Cabbage Whires so we get a bumper crop of caterpilllars

Loads of Kids Garden Ideas on Pinterest. I like these ones.

If you're keeping costs down, look for free materials to add interest with the kids.
Eg, stones you can paint, plants you can propagate - eg once you have one lavender, you can take cuttings and make many more (although it's not a quick fix).

If you want a project with the kids, I used to love making miniature gardens when I was small, and I make "fairy gardens" with dd sometimes.
I used an old seed tray, but any pot would do. I put compost in, then arranged small plants (mainly uprooted weeds!) and moss from elsewhere in the garden. The moss was the fairies "grass". Small pebbles for a path, a twig for a bench etc. Very twee but quite fun! Found one from last year we'd forgotten about... and it was thriving!