Gardening transformation in a day?

[Cornishtit]

I have the day off. And I have a huge garden. I don't have all the tools in the world but I have some.

I'd love to transform the garden somehow. A few months ago it looked lovely and green. Now? Overgrown weeds, brown grass and everything has died apart from one beautiful shrub.

I have some garden fence paint. So I could paint the fence.

But is there anything else I could do? I mowed the grass weeks ago and it hasn't rained since. The grass is short and now brown.

I could plant some things? But is it worth it in this dry period?

What would you do if you had a spontaneous day off on a sunny day in the garden?

I have no edging / borders so maybe I could tidy up the edges of the garden? I don't know.

I also have one empty raised bed (which has wild flower seeds but none grew!)

I wouldn't attempt it - you will only end up hot, tired, dispirited and even less likely to try again. The ground will be rock hard and although it's unlikely everything has died it will cause stress to plants to prune or move them in this heat. Gardens need time and planning, so instead do that.

Sit out there with your laptop and really look. What is the aspect? Where does the shade fall throughout the day? What plants have you currently got? What do you want it to look like? What do you use it for? Research your soil type. Later take a walk around your neighbourhood and look at other people's gardens, taking (discreet!) photos of things you like. What will grow in theirs will likely grow in yours.

Treat it as a project. By this time next year you will be well on the way to having the garden you want. Good luck!

The lawn will bounce back when it rains, so don't worry about that. I imagine the ground would be a bit hard for edging the lawn today.
Do you have time to water the garden every day when it's hot? If you do you could put in some bedding plants in the raised beds.
If not then I think I would paint the fence and pull up some weeds.

Thank you both! Love the idea about walking around the neighbourhood.

I do have time to water but we have a hose pipe ban and our water butt is now empty (we bought a big one knowing we'd still be in drought!) but it hasn't lasted. The forecast says rain next week so maybe this is a project for after the rain.

In the meantime I'm going to paint all the tired wooden things as I have lovely paint already here. 😊

(I never considered the ground would be hard! But it is solid!!)

I would give everything a good water - including the grass. Then choose a small patch to weed and tidy up. You will probably be inspired to do more if you keep it to small parts at a time. Water again. Spend sometime tidying, cleaning pots and cleaning paths. It’s going to be a hot one so don’t try to do too much!

Sorry - watering ban doesn’t help!

It’s very hot today OP, don’t wear yourself out.

Not good weather for planting or moving things.

Do you have shears? Trimming the edge of the grass always makes the garden look nicer I find.

Maybe sit in the shade and make a plan of what you’d like to do with the garden/what you’d like to plant once we get some rain.

Painting is a great idea. Also tidy up around your seating area, maybe buy some pots and fill with flowers to brighten it up.

Buy and plant up some lovely pots?

Definitely no digging or planting today! You could cut things back, and it’s fine weather for paint to dry, but otherwise I second sitting and looking and thinking.

I started weeding and hay-fever struck me big time. Itchy nose, watery eyes, migraine on its way. Awful!!

I don't usually have hay-fever....

What a colossal fail.

The thing i wish I'd done years earlier is get some height into my garden. So have a god look now with the summer sun and plan where it'd be nice to have trees or climbers to have shade, provide privacy, or get a nice view.

I love cherry, apple and pear blossom (and the fruit) so have a tree of each of those. However planting now is likely to kill the tree because it is soo dry. Plan now, buy and plant over winter to enjoy next year and in future. it's taken three years for my trees to become established, and they are still under 3 m tall.