During winter you may not give much thought to your garden and patio, but soon it will be spring and it is good to be prepared so that your patio is as welcoming as possible in the summer time.
First of all look at the surface of your patio and see if it needs to be replaced. It is likely that you will not need a new patio if you were happy with it last summer, but you may need to pay some attention to cleaning the surface and removing any weeds.
If you prepared your patio properly for winter your garden furniture will be packed away in a dry location such as garage or shed and you will not have much work to take it out and make it ready for use. If, like many of us, you neglected to store your patio set out of the winter weather however, there will be a bit more work involved to get your furniture looking good again.
Neglected patio sets can generally be easily cleaned with warm water, mild soap and a bit of effort with a soft scrubbing brush. Once they are clean make sure that you rinse off any soapy residue and leave your furniture to dry in the fresh air.
If you have hard wood furniture it will probably benefit from being treated with teak oil to restore the oils in the wood. Painted furniture may require a new coat of paint. If so, you can think about painting it in a fresh color to give your patio a new lease of life.
Hopefully, you remembered to take your patio cushions inside at the start of the winter and they are ready to put back on your garden furniture. If they are past their best think about buying replacement patio cushions as they can boost the look of your old garden furniture like nothing else. You can buy new cushions to suit all kinds of chairs so you should be able to find something to fit even if it has been some time since you bought your patio furniture.
While you are making new purchases for your patio think about whether additional items of furniture would be useful. What were you lacking last summer? Perhaps a large patio umbrella would help you use your patio on the hottest days or a drinks trolley might be just the thing for entertaining. Finally think about adding some colorful and fragrant plants to the area of the garden around the patio and add a pot or two of flowers to the patio itself to make it ready for the sun.
