As soon as the air begins to chill and the weather becomes less reliable, our gardens often shift into a dormant state awaiting the fresh spring sunshine to bring them back to life. But winter doesn’t need to signify the end of time spent in your garden, so whether you are looking at homes with land for sale and are looking for some fun winter garden ideas or you want to give your current garden a little TLC then here are 3 DIY garden projects to try.
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Create a bug hotel
This DIY project is a great, fun way to encourage children to learn about the diverse range of insects and animals that live in your garden. It’s also a craft that involves foraging for materials outside but can be assembled inside making it perfect for even the coldest of winters days. By creating a bug or garden hotel you could encourage all sorts of wildlife into your garden by providing shelter for hedgehogs, toads, solitary bees, bumblebees, ladybirds, woodlice, and many other creepy crawlies. To get started all you need is some raw natural materials from your garden, such as straw, sticks, logs, bark, bamboo canes, leaves or woodchips. You can find a step by step guide to creating your hotel here.
Make birdseed Christmas decorations
During the cold winter months, many birds find it a lot harder to find food, so do them a favor and spend an afternoon creating them some adorable birdseed Christmas decorations. To get started you will need:
- 4 cups of birdseed
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- 3 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 lb of melted lard
- Festive cookie cutters
- Parchment paper
- Cooking spray
- 2 straws
- Twine
Firstly mix together the flour, water, corn syrup, and gelatin to form a sticky paste, this will hold your birdseed together. Next, add the birdseed and the melted lard. The lard also helps hold the see together whilst also providing the birds with important fats. Next place your cookie cutters on some baking parchment and spoon in the birdseed mixture, pressing it down into all of the corners firmly. Press the straws into the ornaments at the place where you wish to hand them and then let the ornaments sit and dry for 3- 4 hours. Once dry remove the straw and add the twine and then hand them up in your garden and watch the birds feast.
Give your garden tools a makeover
The winter months are a slow period for growing fruits and vegetables which makes it the perfect time to give your garden tools some attention and organize your tool shed. Give every garden tool a good clean to remove old soil and give them a wipe of linseed oil over both the wood and meta areas to prevent them from rusting. If you want a fun craft to do inside with your kids and an excuse to let your creativity run free, then you could even bring them inside and go to town with some acrylic paint and glitter finished with some spray shellac to keep it all in place.
