4 simple ways to spruce up the garden at your student digs

Student in garden

While the internet is home to a whole host of information about making your accommodation feel homelier, you’ll struggle to find much information about updating the garden. Until now, that is!

In the summer months, it’s likely your garden will become the centre of your social life. You’ll enjoy outdoor study sessions with your classmates, friends will visit for makeshift barbecues and you’ll spend many a night outside, putting the world to rights with your housemates. To have the best time, and make as many memories as possible, you might want to give your garden some slight updates. Read on to learn how you can do it without angering your landlord…

Potted plants

Place potted plants around your garden

When you’re living in a student house, you typically don’t have a great deal of freedom when it comes to updating the interior and garden. So, if you want to add some greenery to your outdoor space, you’ll have to use potted plants.

When choosing plants for your garden, it’s wise to opt for low-maintenance varieties. After all, when exam season rolls around, you won’t want to worry about whether your plants need to be watered. Fortunately, there are lots of plants that can thrive in pots, don’t require too much sunlight, and will look great all year round. ‘Golden sword’ yucca, ‘green wood’ boxwood, golden creeping Jenny, and bergenia are all perfect for the job.

If you would like to do a little bit of container gardening, check out Good Housekeeping’s list of easy container garden ideas for inspiration.

Birds on a tree

Make and hang a bird feeder

If you’re a fan of wildlife and love to hear the sound of birds chirping each morning, consider making and hanging a lovely little bird feeder to attract them to your garden. You can find a whole host of bird feeder ideas on Pinterest. So, whether you’re a crafting newbie or are a DIY veteran, you’ll be sure to find something you can make.

Just be sure you check out the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ guide, which will tell you how to keep the birds you’re feeding safe.

Outdoor seating

Create a seating area

If you spend a lot of time socialising in your garden, you’ll need a practical and comfortable seating area where you can make some fantastic memories with your friends.

You might be lucky enough to have a landlord who has supplied you with garden furniture, however basic. But, if you don’t have any garden chairs or tables at your disposal, ask around and check websites like Gumtree to see if anyone’s giving them away for free. Don’t worry too much about what they look like — the most important thing is that they’re practical, and you’ll be able to remove them from the garden once the year is out.

Your garden’s seating area needs to be comfortable, and you can ensure this is the case by buying a few specially-made cushions for everyone to sit on. Wyevale Garden Centres offers a wide range of beautiful garden cushions, which are made of durable materials. So, not only will they dress up your garden and make it more comfortable, but they’ll be guaranteed to last the university year and beyond.

Fairy lights

Hang fairy lights to brighten the space

You can help your garden to look bright and beautiful at night by hanging strings of fairy lights around, turning it into the perfect social space for you and your friends.

Fairy lights are available in a range of different colours and styles, but we would recommend buying yellow lights that are solar-powered. These will help to give your garden a warm, cosy feel and won’t affect your energy bills at all or require outdoor electrical cabling. If this is something you’re interested in doing, eBay has a great guide, which will talk you through hanging them up.

And there you have it: four simple ways to update the garden of your student house. Just follow these tips and you’ll create an outdoor space where you can study, socialise and make memories you’ll cherish for life.

Top image: ninamalyna/123rf.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *