About Advertise with us Get our newsletter
Facebook Twitter Instagram

Magazine

Gardening with Martin McCarron  Picture: Glasgow West End Today
Gardening with Martin McCarronGlasgow West End Today

Outdoor spaces: thinking inside out

In Your West End Garden: In association with West End Garden Centre

If any positives have come out of the past two years, one is a new appreciation of our outdoor spaces.

Whether communal or private, now could be a good time to rethink your favourite outside sanctuary.

This area is one I have given a lot of attention to at the garden centre.


Think outside the box

Make more of your outdoor space this summer by bringing the indoors to our outside living space. Nowadays more than ever we view our outdoor space as an extension to our home and there are a few simple techniques to help you create this.

Grow a living wallpaper

Instead of thinking of the borders surrounding your patio as a selection of individual plants think of the border as a living wallpaper for your garden furniture. If you think like this you will position plants in a very different way and it will also open your mind up to using various textures within a flowering border like ornamental grasses. When creating your wallpaper I would suggest using some taller evergreen shrubs at the back to add structure and colour for the later months of summer/autumn.

Martin McCarron owns West End Garden Centre
Martin McCarron owns West End Garden Centre

Have a colour scheme in mind

When you are decorating a room in your home you will usually start with a colour palette and work from that. I suggest doing the same in the garden. Pick two or three colours (usually starting with garden furniture and flooring) and work out from that. This will give you such a stylish and slick look. It is important to tie your living wallpaper in with this to either be a subtle backdrop or perhaps add splashes of the same colours throughout the border. Preparation is key here, pick your theme and stick to it. And remember, pots are a good way to make quick and effective changes in tone and colour.

Pick modern and trendy garden furniture

Garden furniture is looking more and more like furniture you would expect to find in the home thanks to the recent developments of synthetic rattan and outdoor styled rope. This has revolutionised garden furniture and made new shapes and styles possible. The best thing about the suites available now is that they don’t need any maintenance other than being washed down once a year, giving you more time to sit and enjoy your space in the garden. Now relax.

'More than ever we view our outdoor space as an extension to our home'
'More than ever we view our outdoor space as an extension to our home'
Share this story

@GlasgowWEToday

  • thehoodedsham1 profile image@ThenvsNowPic1 St George’s Cross,Glasgow 1900 and2023 Twitter embedded image 20 hours ago by thehoodedsham1
  • Seansfanclub profile imageThis is an overhead view of my local park. Tollcross Park in Glasgow. There’s a rose competition held there every year. The park is tended by Council gardeners. The design in rose trees is Mackintosh’s Glasgow rose, isn’t it beautiful. #proud #Glasgow 🌹 Twitter embedded image 1 day ago by Seansfanclub
  • GlasgowWEToday profile imageAward-winning saxophonist Helena Kay’s KIM Trio plays @merchantsjazz on Sunday, April 2 | Glasgow West End Today #Glasgow #jazz @rabjourno glasgowwestendtoday.scot… 2 days ago
  • GlasgowWEToday profile imageTree removal … Kelvin Way. #saturday #glasgow
    GlasgowCC profile imageSadly, there are tree removal works that must take place in the woodland around Kelvin Way and Hillhead Primary next week (w/b 13 March), as a number of Ash trees have a disease called ‘Ash Dieback’ and cannot be saved 😞🌳 (1/2) Twitter embedded image 1 week ago by GlasgowCC
    Twitter embedded image 2 days ago
  • AlanPath profile image@UofGlasgow + Kelvingrove Park ~1900 @GlasgowWEToday @74frankfurt Twitter embedded image 2 days ago by AlanPath
  • DrMailley profile imageStories Along Great Western Road will capture the history of Great Western Road. We want to hear from you if: 💍Got married 🛍️Owned or worked in a shop 🏡Live, or lived in the area. 📚Went to school or university 🎉Went to a rave or party. Submit: webstersglasgow.com/hist… Twitter embedded image 2 days ago by DrMailley
  • ScotRoadArchive profile imageWe recently digitised photos from an extensive aerial survey of #Glasgow undertaken in May 1963. This one shows the city centre. What highlights stand out for you? There have been a LOT of changes. 🧐 #Archives Twitter embedded image 2 days ago by ScotRoadArchive
  • KelvingroveArt profile imageWe are very excited about this announcement….. New exhibition – opening Saturday 20 May 📣 Mary Quant: Fashion Revolutionary More info glasgowlife.org.uk/.../m…... Mary Quant and Vidal Sassoon, 1964. © Ronald Dumont/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Twitter embedded image 3 days ago by KelvingroveArt
  • is_glasgow profile imageThis is the Ruthven Lane Cat in the west end of Glasgow, and its a bit of a mystery. It's high on a wall on the back of an old tenement building, and it really doesn't look like it belongs there. Cont./ #glasgow #ruthvenlane #ruthvenlanecat #glasgowwestend @GlasgowWEToday #cats Twitter embedded image 3 days ago by is_glasgow
  • SWG3glasgow profile imageWE ARE HIRING! This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a passionate, ever expanding, independent organisation where you will be given the opportunity to manage the most diverse music and events programme in the country! 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 → swg3.tv/explore/jobs/ Twitter embedded image 3 days ago by SWG3glasgow

Get our newsletter

Glasgow West End Today Loading