What Gardening Zone Is Chicago

Oliver Perrott Photography Ltd/Lights4Fun

Whether you have a sprawling garden or a small city balcony, creating zoned areas will help you make the most out of your space and optimise its functionality.

"There are lots of creative ways to break up your plot with recycled materials, screens and new plants," Chris Bonnett from GardeningExpress.co.uk says. "Seeing your garden as another room of your home is helpful when zoning. Think about what you would like closest to the house.

"Whether you need a relaxing spot to read the newspaper, or a play area for burning off steam, these tips will help you achieve it on a budget."

Take a look at how you can zone your garden without breaking the bank...

1. Focus on a dining area

With warmer weather on the horizon, now is the perfect time to create an outdoor dining area that wouldn't look out of place on Instagram. "Carving some space in the garden for an area to eat alfresco will be appreciated in the summer months," Chris says.

"Place the area where you have existing hedgerows as they are great at absorbing noise, so you can enjoy dinner without interruption from the outside world. Patio sets are costly but can be found cheap on local community online selling sites, especially during the spring and autumn."

2. Privacy

Looking to create a peaceful, private haven? Chris suggests: "Creating a privacy screen is the ultimate easy garden DIY project to gain a concealed area. Apart from nails and a hammer, the quirky yet functional partition can be made solely out of out of old doors or wooden pallets."

Alternatively, beautiful climbing plants like a colourful clematis or ivy planted along a garden fence will create a private space and a great place to nature spot. Why not give it a go?

3. Create a safe space for children

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Encourage your children to head outside this summer with pop-up tents, magical play areas or a table tennis station. "Creating an area where kids can let off steam is ideal for those will little ones. Move old outdoor toys into this space to declutter the rest of the garden," suggests Chris.

Top tip: Use the summer holidays to build a bug hotel with your little ones. Providing crucial habitats for insects, these can be easily created using materials such as straw, dry grass and hollow plant stems.

4. Somewhere to relax

"When zoning your garden, think about where an extra space could be added to relax in," says Chris. "There are nooks of space in most gardens to create a small relaxation area. Hang a hammock in between a pair of trees to unwind in privacy or place an arbour over an existing seating area to create more shelter. Solid wood arbours are quite expensive, so for a cheaper aesthetically pleasing arbour, cover a plastic arch in jasmine, or evergreen honeysuckle climbers."

5. Keep your space tidy

Clear away clutter this summer by tidying away toys, tools, bikes and furniture items not in use. If you don't have a shed or garage, consider purchasing an external storage box to keep your belongings safe and tucked out of sight. It's a surefire way to elevate your garden in no time.

Looking for a new shed? Country Living has just launched gorgeous cottage-style sheds and summerhouses at Homebase. Coming in aurora green and thorpe grey, they're perfect for every garden scheme.

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16 great books for gardening and indoor plant inspiration

Garden book

RHS How to Create your Garden: Ideas and Advice for Transforming your Outdoor Space

Adam Frost's practical, no-nonsense approach will help you plan and build a garden that works for you. The Gardeners' World presenter takes you step by step through the whole process, from simple garden design ideas to a full garden makeover.

Garden book

Modern Container Gardening: How to Create a Stylish Small-Space Garden Anywhere

Isabelle Palmer shows you how to make the most of every little space with a series of projects for small gardens, singular containers and window boxes, that can be completed in a day or weekend. Perfect for novice gardeners,Modern Container Gardening offers beautiful photography and clear step-by-step instructions.

Garden book

National Trust School of Gardening: Practical Advice from the Experts

The National Trust employs over 500 gardeners with an extraordinary wealth of expertise. And now, in this in-depth guide, they pass on their wisdom and provide the answers any new and seasoned gardener is looking for. This book is intended to give you inspiration and confidence to make the most of your garden, without being overwhelmed with unnecessary technical detail.

Garden book

Veg in One Bed: How to Grow an Abundance of Food in One Raised Bed, Month by Month

Veg In One Bed explains how to build your bed and grow from seed, as well advice on planting, feeding, and harvesting. YouTube gardening star Huw Richards shows how to guarantee early success by starting off young plants on a windowsill and suggests what to grow in each part of the bed.

Garden book

The Complete Gardener: A Practical, Imaginative Guide to Every Aspect of Gardening

Monty Don offers straightforward gardening advice in this book, revealing the secrets of growing vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs, while respecting the needs of the environment by gardening organically. You can also enjoy a tour of his Herefordshire garden, including his flower garden, herb garden, kitchen garden, and more.

Plants book

RHS Practical House Plant Book

The Practical House Plant Book by the RHS contains a dozen step-by-step projects to help you assemble an eye-catching terrarium, create a floating kokedama 'string garden', or propagate succulents. Complete with 175 in-depth plant profiles, this is an essential practical guide for indoor gardeners.

Garden book

Small Garden Style: A Design Guide for Outdoor Rooms and Containers

A small garden space – an urban patio, a tiny backyard, or even just a pot by your door – doesn't have to sacrifice style. InSmall Garden Style, garden designer Isa Hendry Eaton and lifestyle writer Jennifer Blaise Kramer show you how to use good design to create a joyful, elegant, and exciting yet compact outdoor living space.

Garden book

Charles Dowding's No Dig Gardening: From Weeds to Vegetables Easily and Quickly: Course 1

Charles Dowding, innovator of no dig, teaches you everything you need to know about this method of organic gardening. With 19 chapters, you'll learn how to use no dig on different soil types, recognise and massively reduce the different types of weeds, know the difference between soil and types of compost, and grow an abundance of vegetables using the no dig method.

Plants book

In Bloom: Growing, harvesting and arranging flowers all year round

Get all the inspiration you need for planting cut flowers, and fill your home with colour and the gorgeous scent of the garden year-round withIn Bloom. Clare Nolan reveals her secrets for growing a bountiful harvest as well as styling spectacular homegrown displays in this beautifully designed book.

Garden book

RHS Complete Gardener's Manual

The RHS'Complete Gardener's Manual will help you choose plants that will thrive in your space, design a border for year-round colour, grasp different pruning techniques, discover how to protect your veg patch from pests, and make the best compost.

Garden book

Wildlife Gardening: For Everyone and Everything

Bloomsbury Wildlife

£10.19

Do you want to attract more bees, birds, frogs and hedgehogs into your garden? InWildlife Gardening for Everyone and Everything,Kate Bradbury teams up with the Wildlife Trusts and the RHS to help you discover how you can make your garden, balcony, doorstep or patio a haven for garden wildlife. You'll find handy charts, practical projects and fact files.

Plants book

My House Plant Changed My Life: Green wellbeing for the great indoors

Gardener and TV presenter David Domoney is a firm believer that indoor plants can make 'a practical and emotional contribution to our wellbeing'. In this book, David explains the hard science behind the positive effect of the humble houseplant on wellness, and provides expert tips on how to keep your plants thriving, plus shares his top 50 life-enhancing houseplants.

Garden book

RHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design: Planning, Building and Planting Your Perfect Outdoor Space

If you're looking for new garden ideas, theRHS Encyclopedia of Garden Design will guide you from planning to planting, such as choosing the correct materials for your structures and assessing your drainage, to laying patios, making ponds, and planting perennials.

Garden book

How to Create an Eco Garden: The practical guide to sustainable and greener gardening

This planet-friendly book is filled with ideas for creating your own eco garden on any scale, from a small courtyard to a large garden or allotment. Discover organic techniques that improve biodiversity, learn the value of using recycled and reclaimed materials for landscaping, and take on simple projects such as making a pond and a wildlife hotel.

Plants book

RHS Encyclopedia Of Plants and Flowers

Drawing on expert advice from the RHS, this best-selling reference book – organised by colour, size, and type, rather than as an A-Z directory – will help you select the right varieties for your outdoor space.

Garden book

Build a Better Vegetable Garden: 30 DIY Projects to Improve your Harvest

Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd

£12.55

Joyce and Ben Russell have devised 30 kitchen garden projects, devised to either extend the season, protect crops from pests or improve yields. These projects transform your vegetable plot into somewhere more productive, more attractive and more secure.

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