How to make your terrace summer-ready

Spring is finally here and that means - especially given this pandemic - that this is the time to get your garden and terrace ready for spring! You can finally read that one good book in a beautiful setting, or enjoy an evening barbecue with family or friends. Discover how to get your terrace ready in no time for those relaxing and cosy moments at home. Good riddance The first step before the fun begins is to tidy up and clean out everything. Due to the rain and wind in the winter months, your patio has suffered and there will be green stains everywhere. Scrub and sand everything off on a sunny day and you might even pick up some colour, a win-win! A high-pressure cleaner can make this job much easier. Not a fan of weeds? Then this is the ideal time to remove the weeds, because they come up during spring. Cleaning vinegar will get you very far, without having to use heavy pesticides. Just apply a little to the weeds and they will die. Your garden furniture could use a scrub as well. A bucket of soapy water and off you go! A little more oiling and those chairs will be as good as new. An urban jungle on your terrace If you don't have a big garden, you can turn your terrace into an urban jungle to enjoy nature and create a zen oasis. Plants are very soothing, so no reason not to do it! They bring an instant splash of colour to your terrace and create a cosy feel. Choose large planters, a few smaller potted plants and possibly some climbing plants to green the walls or hide an ugly fence. A vertical garden gives a unique holiday feeling to any terrace. If space is limited, you can also hang shelves on your walls to make the most of every square centimetre. Tip: Make your own herb corner, so that you have herbs available when cooking. March is the repotting month March is the perfect time to repot patio plants. April is just about passable. It may seem like a lot of work for the amateur planter, but it's not as difficult as it seems. If the roots grow under the pot or the leaves turn yellow, it is advisable to repot your plant. Choose a pot that is a little larger: about three centimetres in circumference. When you remove the plant from the old pot, you must take care not to damage the roots. You should therefore be careful. Choose a pot with a hole in it, over which you put a shard. Then put some Hydro grains on it, so the excess water can drain away without damaging the plant. This tip will help you prevent root rot in your plants. Holiday lighting Extra magic on your terrace? Then choose the right wall lighting to create a cosy mood. Overkill can be harmful, so don't stick to the mix-and-match principle too much. A bare terrace immediately becomes cosy with warm and dimmed light. Use rattan lanterns and candles, for example. Ugly terrace floor or wall? A thing of the past! With a little effort, you can transform an unappealing terrace floor. Ugly tiles? Then paint some of them in bright colours. A carpet can also help to hide a less beautiful terrace. If you don't have a garden but only a terrace, a grassy surface is quite nice. Ugly walls can also be decorated with carpets. A lick of paint will also work wonders: what about Wonderwalls by Katrien Vanderlinden? Tactical textile You can create extra cosiness by working with textiles and experimenting with colours and textures. Think of a sitting area with cushions, plaids, a sheepskin, ... This gives a lounge feeling and you can still enjoy when it's colder. How about watching the sunset together under a blanket, with a reflection in that lovely swimming pond? The perfect spring or summer evening, if you ask me! A hammock is also always a hit! What about the colourful plaid Matisse which is available in different models? DIY-bench You can also upgrade your terrace all by yourself! By connecting chairs together with ski slats or beams, you'll have a bench in no time. Palettes also offer a nice alternative and putting them together is a piece of cake!