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For many of us our gardens are mostly used during the warmer months of the year and we rarely venture out into the garden unless we are doing some tidying or sweeping up dead leaves in the winter. There are however ways to enjoy your garden all year round especially if you have a patio area that is slabbed or fitted with decking.

Pots that are planted up with flowers that bloom throughout the autumn and winter such as pansies can brighten up an outside area and evergreen bushes can provide greenery too. Solar lights around the garden will usually continue working through winter and can be hung in trees and on fences giving a wonderful, magical feel to the space.

Many types of garden furniture are now weatherproof and so can be used in the winter. A fire pit or outdoor patio heater can provide warmth on chilly evenings as can a cosy blanket. There is nothing quite like being outside on a clear night looking up at the stars.

If you are fortunate enough to own a hot tub this can be used all year round and gives a totally different experience to the user in the winter in fact many owners enjoy using the hot tub just as much when the weather is cold outside.

Whether you want to fill up the flower beds in your garden or add to your collection of houseplants it will not be cheap but there are a few ways that you can reduce the costs and acquire a wide variety of plants for free.

The first thing to do is to join a local horticultural group if there is one in your area as like-minded gardeners will probably be interested in swapping plants and seeds. You may also gain knowledge about propagating new plants successfully from other people, another way of getting new plants by taking cuttings from original plants.

If you have plants in your garden that have become too large for the space they are in it is a good idea to divide and separate them and plant the other plants in alternative spaces in the garden, or give away to a friend or neighbour.

Collecting seeds from plants that have gone to seed and storing them in a cool dry place ready for next year is a useful way to produce new plants. Seeds can even be collected from fruit and salad items that are past their best and dried ready to produce a new crop the following year.

During spring and summer many of us invest in garden furniture and play equipment that we can use all throughout the arm season. As winter starts to approach these items tend to get used less and less and sometimes need to be stored away or at least covered over to try and protect them. If you leave all of this outside in the elements then you may find that the next year they are perished or faded and need replacing again. If you have an outhouse or a shed, then you may be able to pack much of it away and store it in there over the colder months, but if not then you should invest in some covers. When putting covers over items such as tables and chairs, you need to ensure that the covers are secure otherwise as soon as the wind picks up the covers will be gone.

Some manufactures sell covers that have been specifically designed to fit their furniture or play equipment but often these are quite expensive. You may be able to buy non genuine ones at a fraction of the cost that are just as good.

There is a wide choice of garden furniture available to buy in store or online, but which sort of furniture is the best for your family’s needs?

The answer to this question will depend on the size of your family, what you enjoy doing in your garden and the space you have available. If your family enjoy barbequing and dining outdoors during the warmer months it would be beneficial to have a large table and chairs so that you can all sit at the table to eat however if you and your partner just like to sit in the garden with a cup of coffee and put your feet up, a couple of loungers would be a better choice.

It has certainly become a trend lately to make the outdoor space in a garden resemble the indoor living area and so sofas and coffee tables made from waterproof materials have become popular additions on the patio. These usually have removeable cushions that need to be stored during rainy spells so it is a good idea to have a storage box that will hold the cushions when not in use.

Garden benches are still immensely popular as they can be sited in different locations around the garden and used to add interest to a variety of areas.