How to Get More Light in Your Garden
As the summer finally arrives, so does the foliage. Our gardens are bursting into life, and growing at a rapid rate. To fully enjoy our gardens at this time of year and into the onset of Autumn, it’s a great idea to get your garden tidied up and think about any areas where you might want to welcome a little more sunlight. So, how can you get more light into your garden?
A few ways in which you can improve the natural light in your garden are through garden maintenance, such as hedge trimming, and tree pruning. If you have larger trees you may want to reduce the density of the branches and foliage or even remove the tree if it has grown too large for the space.
Read on to learn more ways to get light into your garden for the summer, and the benefits this can have.
Natural Light in Your Garden
Many people seek out a house with a south-facing garden, as this provides the longest amount of sunlight per day. Not all of us have this, so getting as much light in the garden as we can is important.
In the summer months, we want to maximise the time we can spend outdoors, whether that’s relaxing in the garden or having family and friends over for a summer BBQ. The layout of your garden is important, and weighing up where you want the most light and where you’d like shade is something you can manipulate or create.
Hedge Trimming & Garden Maintenance
Large hedges tend to grow rapidly over the summer months and may require cutting on more than one occasion. As healthy hedges can be quite dense, hedges on the tall side can block out sunlight to your garden. Trimming down your hedges can help to increase the amount of light, keep them looking tidy and promote healthy growth.
Hedges that commonly need to be trimmed in the summer months include:
- Hawthorn
- Beech
- Privet
- Laurel
- Conifer hedges.
Hedges can be tricky to trim, you want them to look neat and uniform and want to avoid, if you can, exposing any patches. They are also a labour-intensive task, hiring a qualified professional who has the tools for the task as well as the knowledge and experience, would save you finding the time to do this yourself and leave you with a professional finish.
Crown Thinning & Lifting
Crown thinning can help if you have a large tree that has grown dense, or is perhaps blocking light to your garden or property due to its size. Crown thinning is removing branches from the tree and reducing its size overall, to make it more manageable and to allow light to pass through.
Crown lifting removes the branches from the lower part of the tree, letting more light through and also reducing the risk of danger from pets or children climbing the tree!
Tree Felling
In some instances, it may be necessary to remove a tree altogether. This is usually in instances where a tree is obstructing a property or has become a potential danger, but a tree on your property can be removed as long as it is not designated as preserved through the tree preservation order.
We wouldn’t recommend felling a healthy tree, but rather modifying it to suit your needs, so crown thinning and reductions may be best suited if it is purely for letting more natural light through.
Benefits of Getting More Light in Your Garden
There are benefits to getting more natural light into your garden and homes than you may realise!
- More light, for sun-loving plants – Many plants thrive in full sun, giving them more light may help them to thrive and improve the appearance of your garden.
- Health benefits – During the summer months natural light helps to boost our mood and mental health, provides us with essential vitamin D and can even help with getting a good night’s sleep!
- Resale value – As we mentioned earlier, the light into your property can have an effect on how desirable your property is. As such, having a good amount of sunlight can be a positive on the value of your property, not to mention a well kept garden being more appealing.
- More time to enjoy the garden – the obvious one, but longer daylight hours in summer means more time to enjoy your garden. Your garden will be warmer with prolonged exposure to sunlight.
How Broadleaf Tree Surgeons Can Help
Our arborist services range from tree felling, hedge trimming, crown thinning and more. If you are in need of specialist tree care, hedge maintenance or a specialist query we can help. We are based in the heart of Kent, offering our services to the surrounding area such as Medway, Gravesend and Maidstone as well as further afield.
