Find out how MNers are getting on with their Homebase Garden Goals challenge NOW CLOSED

[AmeliaMumsnet]

This feedback thread is for the 10 MNers taking part in Homebase’s Garden Goals challenge. Each MNer is undertaking a particular task to create their dream garden; either making an edible garden, a patio garden, adding some colour, encouraging wildlife or creating a garden for entertaining.

Each tester was given a £100 Homebase voucher and is undertaking a ‘one hour’, a ‘half a day’ and a ‘one day’ task to transform their gardens by following Homebase’s Garden Goals tips and instructions. They will leave weekly updates on their progress on this thread.

Here’s what Homebase has to say: “We have teamed up with Anne-Marie Powell to launch our Garden Goals challenge to help families get their outside spaces ready for summer. We want to encourage those of all gardening abilities to complete a garden project; whether that’s creating an edible garden, creating a patio garden, adding colour to your garden, encouraging wildlife to your garden or creating a garden for entertaining.”

Watch this short video to find out more:

We also tasked 5 MN bloggers with the same Garden Goals challenges, check out how they got on below:

Create an edible garden challenge before and after by Attachment Mummy
Create a garden for entertaining challenge before and after by A Strong Coffee
Add colour to your garden challenge before and after by ET Speaks From Home
Create a wildlife garden challenge before and after by Confessions of a Crummy Mummy
Create a patio garden challenge before and after by Le Coin De Mel

Testers

Throughout the 8 weeks when posting about your progress with your garden, please think about and answer the below:

• Which Garden Goal did you take on and why did you want to undertake this particular challenge? What was your garden like before you started to work on it?
• How did you find your in store experience at Homebase? Were the staff friendly and helpful?
• How useful did you find Homebase’s ‘how to guides’?
• How did you find using the shopping lists provided? Did you find everything you needed in store to complete your Garden Goal?
• Do you feel like you achieved your Garden Goal?
• After completing your Garden Goal, do you feel more confident in gardening and would you like to take on more challenges throughout your home and garden?

Each week we’d love to get an update on how you are progressing with your Garden Goal tasks and to see lots of lovely pictures. Please also share your photos on your social media channels using #GardenGoals and tagging @ Mumsnet on Instagram and @ MumsnetInsight on twitter.

Everyone who leaves their feedback on this thread as required will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Homebase voucher.

Thanks and happy gardening!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

Would love to see a black fox too! We get a juvenile fox come in for a nap mid morning sometime - they are such handsome creatures.

So I've struggled to do all the garden goals listed but we have done some, I've planted up sinks and planters in a much more colourful way, I've put some more solar string lights up and created a feature of pathway lighting. I was excited to do the arch but unfortunately it wouldn't fit in the car and no other option was given. I've taken up some of the tips from the other garden goals and my 85 year old neighbour is loving the bird feeders I put in my front garden as he gets to sit and watch the birds feed and nags me if I've forgotten to fill them up! It's been nice for my partner and I to do some projects together. Feedback re stores, hectic and struggle to find knowledgeable people to help at a weekend. I would also dual display solar in with gardening. Finally it would have been great if you'd grouped the garden goal stuff together in store and made a feature of it as it might encourage more people to take it up? Thanks so much for the opportunity I've really loved having a mooch around Homebase and being inspired to try something different! I'll post photos next year where hopefully I'll have been able to achieve even more!

Here are some photos taken today!

*- Do you feel like you achieved your Garden Goal?
*
Yes! The garden is much more colourful. Although with the qualification that I think it'll be much more obvious in another month or two when the sweet peas start flowering.

- After completing your Garden Goal, do you feel more confident in gardening and would you like to take on more challenges throughout your home and garden?
So much more confident, and it's really inspired me to make much more radical changes to my garden. I would now like (over the next few years as funds allow) to put in a little pond, to plant up the bank which is currently a wasteland, and to extend the annuals into baskets and pots etc.

It also allowed me to be far more adventurous! Although I ended up spending about £150 in total, it was much easier to take chances and try things when I was spending the vouchers. I love the maypoles as hedges, and suspect I'll do that for the next few years!

I would love to take on more challenges, I have enjoyed this so much. Massive thanks to Homebase for giving me this opportunity.

Here are my final pictures from the three challenges I did - BUILD A PATIO GARDEN, DECORATE YOUR PATIO and BUILD A HERB GARDEN.

I think the biggest difference was the building a patio garden which was the first challenge I did - looking back I can't believe my DD was only a couple of weeks old! It's made a huge change in our garden. It's far from done but is a massive change! The deck is about 10 feet by 10 feet and lovely to sit at in the evening.

And here is the wildlife!

The fox cub (on our plum slate!), the robin who is very interested in our goings-on, and a frankly dreadful picture of the black fox which I snapped from an upstairs window!

It is so awesome to see everybody's final efforts.

I have done a few more challenges although have struggled to complete a full day challenge. We couldn't find the funds or the tools to lay a patio in the allotted time, which is a shame as I would have loved to have completed it properly. So i guess my full day challenge is to create the perfect patio.
There is not a lot of info on exactly what this means but I have spent many days completing my patio garden and I am very pleased, especially when you look at what I started with.
Instead of making a full sweetpea arch I decided to make more of a sweatpea display but I guess I have lots to learn still as this is not doing so well. I borrowed the lighting challenge from the entertainment goals and I love how atmospheric the lighting I chose makes my garden feel at dusk. I have planted many containers, jet washed my existing patio, built a herb garden and dressed my patio.

Do you feel like you have achieved your goals?
Oh my god yes! Ok, I haven't quite achieved everything I wanted too, but with limited time and a small budget I have created a beautiful and functional space from an absolute state. It is only by looking back at the photos I can see quite how much I have accomplished. I would have loved to put a proper patio down but I still think it looks great.

After completing your garden goal do you feel more confident in gardening and would you like to take on more challenge throughout your home and garden?
I was pretty much a complete novice when I started this, and I still have so much to learn as not all of my plants are doing that well but I am determined to learn and develop. It has given me a huge kick start and me and my husband have got so many plans for the future. We are hoping to lay a proper patio and build a pergola and I know it'll look ace.
I liked having the challenges as with having a toddler and not a lot of free time I definitely benefited from a gentle nudge and some motivation. I would love to do this kind of thing again, there is no way I would have achieved what I have without being a part of this test. I am very proud and am loving showing off my garden 😀

Thank you so much to Homebase!

photos

reminder of my before photos

more photos

Updated of my pot plant display.

• How useful did you find Homebase’s ‘how to guides’?

I think they were a great starting point.

• How did you find using the shopping lists provided? Did you find everything you needed in store to complete your Garden Goal?

The shopping lists were a good tool. However I struggled to keep everything under the fairly small budget. This is probably due to starting the challenge well into the growing season, so i had to spend a large chunk on plug plants instead of growing from seed.

• Do you feel like you achieved your Garden Goal?

Yes. I have been growing lots of lovely produce. My children have loved been able to pick peas and strawberries from the garden. I have also found it very convenient having herbs ready to add to cooking.

• After completing your Garden Goal, do you feel more confident in gardening and would you like to take on more challenges throughout your home and garden?

Yes! It has been a brilliant introduction to growing our own food. In fact we are already on to our second rotation of food in the raised beds. Sweet peppers, aubergine and beetroot are coming along nicely.

Thank you for the chance to explore growing our own food, myself and the children have had a blast!

Do you feel like you have achieved your garden goals?
Yes I do. The aim was to make the garden edible and I have succeeded in that as we now pop out to pick some herbs most days to go with dinner.
My salad sink has been a big success and we are starting to see the blueberrys turn from green to blue. We've also enjoyed a few mojitos thanks to the enthusiastic mint plant!

After completing your Garden Goal, do you feel more confident in gardening and would you like to take on more challenges throughout your home and garden?
Yes I feel much more confident now and have some plans in place for next spring. I was very much the sort of person who digs a hole and chucks a plant in, stand back and hope for the best. I've learnt there is a bit more to it than that! I've had some hits and misses as some of my plants were destroyed by storms, but on the whole I've really enjoyed it. It's made the garden a useful place.

Thank you Homebase for letting me be part of the challenge.

Blueberry bush doing well!

Thank you all for taking part in the Homebase Garden Goals challenge and for sharing your lovely photos and progress over the last 8 weeks

Also, congratulations to @Gardengirl123 whose name was pulled out of the prize draw to win the £300 Homebase voucher!

Wishing you all a wonderful summer

Well done gardengirl!!

Well done gardengirl! And well done everyone else on their brilliant progress.

Well done Gardengirl

Well done Gardengirl!

Another month on, and my area is a riot of scent and colour... Am really pleased with how it's turned out! Thanks again to Mumsnet and Homebase for the opportunity.