Brightening Up A Gloomy Garden

A gloomy garden is likely to make you feel glum. Here are just a few ways in which you can brighten up your garden and make it a cheerier space.

Remove unwanted obstacles causing shade

A lack of sunlight in your garden is likely to be the biggest reason as to why it feels dark. While it can be nice to have some shady areas for cooling off in the summer month, you don’t want your entire garden to be constantly under a shadow. By removing or relocating certain obstacles, you may be able to bring more sunlight into your garden.

Large trees could be to blame. Trimming back these trees or felling them completely could allow more sunlight to enter your garden. If your only reason for removing a tree is to allow more sunlight into your garden, you may struggle to get planning permission in certain areas. However, it’s possible there could be other reasons for removing certain trees – these signs to remove a tree could be worth looking into. Trees should always be removed by a licensed professional.

You may also be able to lower high fencing or relocate sheds to allow more sunlight into your garden. When it comes to buildings or trees in other people’s garden that are causing shade, there may be little you can do to remove these obstacles and so you may have to look into other ways of brightening up your garden.

Make use of bright colours

Certain colours are more vibrant and more reflective. Using these colours in a gloomy garden could help to brighten the space up.

For instance, if you have dark brown fencing and dark grey patio slabs, you could consider switching these out for white fences and lighter grey patio slabs. You could also paint walls or sheds in bright colours to help make them look more vibrant (even in the shade, a yellow shed and yellow fencing is going to feel bright).

Use artificial outdoor lighting

You may be able to illuminate your garden with proper lighting. There are all different types of outdoor lighting to look into from wall mounted lights to hanging fairy lights. You can even add lights into the ground.

Battery-powered lights are likely to be the best option – this gives you freedom to locate them in your garden where you please without having to trail out cables. Solar-powered lighting may not be useful in a shady garden, given that it requires sunlight to charge up.

Embrace colourful shade-loving plants

There are some plants that don’t need a lot of sunlight. Some of these can be quite colourful and can be a great option for brightening up a gloomy garden.  

Heucheras (coral bells) are one such plant – they thrive in shady areas and have leaves that can range in colour from purple to orange. The Euphorbia Polychroma meanwhile changes colour with each season and similarly grows well in the shade. Primroses and foxgloves also produce bright flowers while requiring little sunlight.