People are often surprised to find out how much I, at the grand old age of 25, love garden centres. For as long as I can remember, visiting a garden centre has been one of my favourite weekend activities – I love picking out a firepit and garden furniture for my dream future home, and buying little fruit plants and rummaging through all the seed packets. It’s sad but true. The other week I had an email asking me for my top tips for garden hygge, so I thought I’d continue that trail of thought in a post. Aren’t you lucky?!
Create social spaces
Hygge is for sharing, so have a think about how you can create a garden ready for entertaining. Whether you have a tiny yard or acres of land, it’s perfectly possible to build a social space into a garden of any size. All you need is somewhere to sit down comfortably, which could be a petite bistro dining set, a picnic table or even giant outdoor floor cushions, and a way to make the space inviting. Keep it bright, welcoming and relaxed – perfectly preened lawns and pruned hedges don’t scream hygge – and make sure you have lots of blankets on hand for when it gets a bit chilly.
Get your hands dirty
For everyone who still thinks that hygge is purely for winter, this one’s for you. Getting the family involved in gardening is a great way to get some fresh air, some light exercise and to watch your efforts bloom before your eyes. Gardening needn’t be daunting – if you have no idea where to start, why not try a gardening subscription service like Bloombox? This is a quarterly subscription service where plants are delivered to your door along with tips to help you make the most of your new garden, which is great if you’re new to gardening or want to check out some new options. Gardening together is a fantastic activity for little ones, who can watch plants grow from scratch, and if you’re growing food you can eat what you grow for the ultimate hygge vibes.
Light it up
As if we were going to get through a post about a hyggeligt home without mentioning lights! If your garden is a bit of a suntrap (lucky), solar lights are an eco-friendly way to stay illuminated well into the evening. I also love torches and lanterns to save on electricity (though steer clear if you have pets, fire-obsessed children or lots of curious critters who call your garden home), and every garden in the world looks better with a string or five of outdoor fairy lights (go for battery powered if you don’t want wires trailing out into the garden).
A multisensory experience
The real beauty of gardens for me is the fact that they engage all the senses. I like looking for aesthetically pleasing flowers (hydrangeas and violets are some of my favourites), as well as blooms that smell divine (stocks, hyacinths, jasmine, roses… there are plenty of options here). Herbs both smell and taste great, and they can be frozen into ice cubes to pep up your summer drinks or snipped over a salad for extra fresh flavour. Also think about hanging some windchimes from a tree – I much prefer wood to metal, but you could even make your own with some little seashells if you’re from the seaside (like me!).
Embrace nature
In issue 3 of Project Calm magazine, I wrote all about how you can connect with nature the Nordic way this spring. Why not head outside with a sketchbook and try your hand at painting? Or download an app to help you identify the bird songs in your own garden? Or choose your favourite flowers and press them (you can buy flower pressing kits, but I still have flowers from my grandma’s garden 15 years ago that I pressed in the middle of a heavy dictionary!)? Or, just embrace your inner child, lie on the grass for a while and watch the clouds go by. If you want to learn more about what’s going on in the sky today, The Cloud Collector’s Handbook is a great little guide to our fluffy friends, and I’ve read my copy many many times.
What’s your favourite hygge moment from your garden? As the weather gets brighter, I’d love to hear what’s made you happy over the years!
Hello Hygge 
I love this! Gardening is a very important thing in our family. I love when the kids want to pick the veggies from the garden for dinner! My background is half Danish, I think I found my love of gardening through my Grandma on that side of my family!
Aww, that’s so sweet! Definitely good to get the kids into gardening early – it’s a great family activity!
I want to have a garden so badly this year. Your post has inspired me!
Aww, that’s so nice to hear – hope you manage it! 🙂
Wonderful and educational piece. Thank you!
Thank you for stopping by!
Great post as I love the outdoors and gardening is always a huge plus. Especially when you get to step back and marvel at your artwork!
You’re right, it really is artwork! I feel the same way about baking 🙂
Ahh yes baking is awesome! Admire quick before it’s all gone lol
Wow I like it so much!
I love being outside and enjoying flowers but the organising and the planting part…. Not so much!
Baking though… I love baking!
Oh I’m all about the baking too! Maybe you could just buy a few potted plants – much easier 😉
My potted plants are fake!! 🙈🙈
I won’t tell if you don’t 😉
This is beautiful! I’m so intrigued with the idea of hygge, it warms the heart ❤
Juliette | https://namastaytraveling.com
Thanks Juliette, that’s lovely to hear!
Last month, because it was spotlighted in my library’s new book collection, I read The Little Book of Hygge. I’d never heard of hygge, and I loved the idea but, as you mentioned, it seemed like you could only truly hygge (is hygge a verb lol?) in fall/winter. So, because we’re moving into spring/summer, I sort of shelved it (literally and figuratively). I love how you’ve countered that idea here, and I’m looking forward to adding some hygge to my little homestead. Thanks!
Yes, hygge is absolutely a verb (as in, I love to hygge)! The media has definitely painted a picture of hygge as something you can only do under a blanket in a pair of fluffy socks, but in Denmark it’s something people do all year round. I’m so glad you’ll be finding ways to hygge all year round!
My hygge is/will be the pallet decking we are currently building with a fire pit centrepiece in the sun trap end of our garden
Oh wow, I’d love a fire pit! Perfect for garden hygge 🙂
Great post!!
Thank you!
Love this post! The photos are so lovely 🙂
Just last night, I went for a walk because the weather was beautiful. I took in the fresh air and just admired the tulips and tree blossoms…spring is beautiful! I can’t wait till our own little garden starts budding in. We love to grow lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Makes for a nice, tasty salad!
-Lor
acozyspace.com
Aww thank you! I love spring so much! I bet you’re so excited for your vegetables to grow – it’s so satisfying eating things you’ve grown yourself! x
Garden centres are such a beautiful little collection of nature! Great post – absolutely love your blog.
xx
https://colourpotblog.wordpress.com/
Thank you Clare! You’re so right – I often think of them as free botanical gardens 😉 xx
I love gardening 🙂 ❤
https://outfitsandmakeupblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/13/review-viktor-rolf-bonbon-eau-de-parfum/
Me too! I can’t say I’m especially green fingered, but I find it very therapeutic – especially when you see those first few shoots poking out of the soil!
This is amazing! I love being abel to spread throughout my whole house…and yard. Wonderful!
Juliette | https://namastaytraveling.com
Thank you! I think gardens are often sadly neglected, when really they’re a whole extra room for us to play with!
Lovely piece! Im new to wordpress so im not too sure how things work but either way,loved your piece and would love a starter support 😁😁
Thank you so much!
I love gardening! There’s absolutely nothing like it… Though it takes a lot of knowledge 😉 I have inherited a garden from my grandpa, and I’m trying my best to cultivate it… it’s going veeery slow, plus my idea of a garden is completely different than his was.. so a lot to be done, but I’m working on it 🙂 It’s my sanctuary nevertheless!
Oh how lovely! I can imagine it’ll be very satisfying once you’ve got it exactly how you want it 🙂 The great thing about gardening is that the process is just as fulfilling as the final result!
I loved this post! We are currently doing up our garden and it’s been very helpful!!! Thank you!!!
Aww thank you! Hope it all goes well for you 🙂
Thanks!! It’s one of those things that always takes longer than expected!! But totally been inspired by the thought of solar panel lights to see us through the evening when we are out there 👍🏼👍🏼😊
I love your post. Thanks for your great effort.