With the AFL Grand Final weekend been and gone, Australia
can truly say goodbye to winter and hello to summer. With the arrival of summer
I’m predicting a lot of cricket, sun-burnt noses and the constant smell of
barbeques. On this note I wanted to write this week about creating the perfect,
low maintenance outdoor entertaining area.
In Australia the barbeque has become something of a
spiritual ritual, where whoever holds the barbeque tongs truly holds the power.
Consequently, us Aussies seem to take a lot of pride in the condition of our
backyard, however, hardly any of us have the time to maintain our backyard
regularly. This is where some of my handy hints come in.
1. Opt for tiles or pavers. Of course we’re going
to opt for tiles in any case, we sell them. However, for a low maintenance area
tiles and pavers make sense. Typical decking, being wood, requires constant
maintaining to retain its condition. Tiles won’t rot and maintain their good
looks. If it’s the decking look you’re after there are now tiles that replicate
the wood look, so it’s win-win.
2. Keep the grass to a minimum. Although grass
looks and feels great it requires consent mowing in spring and watering to stay
alive in summer. If you’re not sure you have time to maintain a lawn don’t
plant one!
3. Choose native plants. Our climate is not a very
welcoming one and those water loving foreign plants won’t love it. Australian
natives were born and breed here, they are made for our weather, and with such
a wide variety of plants to choose from why wouldn't you go native?
4. Make it your own. You’re not going to love
entertaining out there if it’s not you! So flick through magazines, scroll
through the web and find your own style. Don’t conform, be you!
Hopefully this helped you with your outdoor entertaining
area or at least got you thinking about it. Now I’m back to counting down the
days until summer (and fingers crossed warm weather) kicks in. Only 60 days now
I think...
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