12 Ways to Kick Your Garden Up a Notch
As the season slows and I clean out the end-of-summer overflow, I tend to dream up new additions to my little garden space. I want to be outside even more in 2025, and I crave a little table to sit and sip my morning coffee. I want to grow more sprawling plants like winter squash next year, and I’m itching to install some more obelisks. You can likely relate: gardening is a constant process of dreaming, building, testing and reiterating; even if it’s just a tiny tweak, it’s exhilarating to plan improvements for the next year in my garden jungle/heaven. I’ll share with you some of my own inspiration for kickin’ it up a notch.
More Verticals: Adding more arches, obelisks and panels feels like adding something as essential as toilet paper. You will inevitably need more. Whether you’re growing pole beans, cucumbers, new varieties of tomatoes, or a 5 foot eggplant, verticals make life in the garden so much easier.
Lighting: Exterior lighting is a subtle way to take your garden up a notch. Imagine the glow of a low-voltage lamp or solar bulb on your beautiful eggplant, or at the base of your tomato arch— what a special way to direct dinner-party guests to your favorite part of the house :)
Trim: If you have a raised bed but want to improve the aesthetics of your space, add trim. TKG uses 1X4 cedar boards, and we cut them with a miter saw for 45 degree angles. The trim is not only pretty, but it protects the cedar from sun and water damage and holds your tools or harvest baskets while you work.
Outdoor Sink: My Dad and several ex-boyfriends have long hoped that I would install an outdoor sink. They have grown tired of broken garbage disposals and gritty drainpipes. A utility sink out by the garden would encourage me to harvest more, clean quickly, and shake out my kale bundle on the way to kitchen. I’d rather leave the dirt and slugs outside the door.
Fountain: No doubt I love the sound of running water in the garden, but fountains serve an even more practical purpose than sweet background noise. Butterflies, bugs, birds and animals need water, and instead of eating my juicy tomatoes, I’d rather provide them with running water to take a drink and get a bath. (TKG often conects the fountain to an irrigation system to reduce maintenance needs.)
Hoselink: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: hoselink changes the game when it comes to managing the garden chaos. The hoselink quickly and easily wraps your 50 or 82 feet of garden hose into top-quality casing. It pivots in the direction you need it to, and it has a multi-function garden wand that is gentle enough to hand the watering duties to your 9 year old (or husband.)
Irrigation: Adding dripline to your raised bed ensures that plants get watered where they need to: at the root. And, adding a timer to the hose system allows you the brainspace to focus on other aspects of the garden— like smooshing bugs or staring adoringly at your newest dahlia— while the plants get watered consistently.
Seating Furniture: I often forget about the importance of slowing down and enjoying the garden; it’s so tempting to pick and prune, tie, tuck and tend. But if you build it, they will come, right? Find respite in the garden. Drink your coffee, watch for hummingbirds, take a nap. Benches, cafe tables or some Adirondack chairs will be calm you down and prove to be an impressive pest management tactic.
Paver Pathways: TKG frequently installs gravel pathways at the base of our garden beds for cedar longevity and easier maintenance when plants tumble outside of the box, but some gravel can be tough on tender feet. I love the symmetry of pavers, or the natural layout of Tennessee flagstone in the garden.
Firepit: TKG has built several beautiful firepits that match the aesthetic of our garden space— whether they are modern and sleek propane fixtures or rustic Tennessee boulders, we love adding additional “rooms” to the garden space.
Workbench: Sometimes efficiency in the garden is key, and a workbench or potting table with all of your tools in one place can save you some seasonal sanity. If you’ve gotten into growing your own seedlings, transferring tubers, or you just need a spot to get dirty, consider adding a workbench to your garden space.
Greenhouse: Ok so this idea may take it up more than a “notch” when it comes to garden improvements, but I promised to share some dreams, right? Greenhouses are beautiful, aren’t they? They are also handy in Tennessee in the winter and early spring, when we can start cool season plants like broccoli and kale in small pots and transplant them out in the garden as soon as it’s warm enough. I’d also love to keep orchids, ferns and citrus under glass if it was heated or held warmth from the sun.
Let me know if any of these ideas inspired you, or if you have any more to add. (I will always love Raechel’s addition of a mailbox in her garden for her tools, and as I close this entry, I’m debating on adding an asymmetrical 13th note!) If you need help implementing your “kick it up a notch” aspirations this fall, reach out for a consultation!
