Everyone has an area of their home which always end up a bit of a ‘dumping ground.’ It could be the spare room piled high with washing and unopened deliveries, or under the stairs full of coats/hats/shoes for all seasons. In our home, the dumping ground is our outside courtyard - the area as you come in through the back gate. Our wheelie bins live here and over the space of two years, it has magnetically drawn all the ‘stuff’ we do not know what to do with (as well as been being shamefully neglected.) You’ll find weeds growing up between the patio stones and wooden planters void of plants and rotting away.

So, when the gardening equipment company Flymo asked me to take part in their staycation campaign and transform an area of my garden to demonstrate how to create the ultimate ‘holiday at home’, I instantly knew the area that required a complete makeover! Many of us are not going away this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so making the most of our outdoor space seemed like a great idea. Behind the junk I knew my courtyard had great bones with its attractive brick wall and lots of lush, green Ivy. The idea I have had is to transform it into a romantic Italian courtyard: a place where my husband and I can enjoy an al fresco meal and pretend that really we are on a weekend break in Tuscany (rather than the reality of Essex!)

I am going to say goodbye to the broken bin shed, the wheelie bins and the rubbish, and hello to terracotta pots full of olive trees, a bistro dining area and a pizza oven! Flymo will be supplying me with some of their amazing gardening equipment to get started.

The #gardenstaycation challenge started this week and I’ll be working on the transformation every day until it is complete. You can find daily updates of all the progess on my Instagram Stories.

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