Outer Space: How to make the most of your garden before Summer

From creative planting to glorious griddles, Kya deLongchamps shares the secrets to turning your garden into a showstopper

We're obsessed with patinated outdoor fireboxes, features and accessories this year.

We're spoilt for choice this season when it comes to options that put personality and charm into our rooms outside. Whether it’s maximalism or colour that flows from inside to out, and whether it’s a balcony or a sprawling garden, we can truly inhabit the space with a refreshing approach to outdoor mindfulness and see what art deco inspiration and the influence of the curve can do to soften the lines of all our hard landscaping.

Looking for a lead into creative planting? The hot reach of the Mediterranean garden can brush right up against your entertainment areas and deliver fresh food right to the griddle.

This affordable Ikea Solviden ceiling light, €29, in powdered steel is a scene-stealer for a protected patio or garden room. It has an avant-garde double drum profile, with a mesh housing that not only distils and gentles illumination, but casts fascinating, shifting patterns of light and shadow play on nearly surfaces. Hung from a hook, it has an LED light source and an it's ideal for sheltered porched areas with an IP44 splash-proof rating.

Every structure in the garden has quiet potential for somewhere to shelve foods for entertaining or take meditative shelter with a cup of tea from a rare drop of rain. Ensure the approach is neatly styled and easy underfoot.

On the patio, cushions and throws are essential set dressing that take the ache out of firmer garden pads, planks and weaves.

Don’t dump an existing upholstered set of outdoor furniture — doll it up with some soft throws, cushions and accessorising. Anchor your suite on a large weather-resistant rug, and add some chic deck chairs 2026 for extra guests.

Time out

Connecting with the room outside is good for the body, the mind and the soul. Don’t just blast through your garden with the mower every weekend; create a mindfulness area to intentionally pause and “smell the roses”.

This classic glass greenhouse has been transformed by a little wireless light magic into a dazzling mega-lantern. TruGlow CandlesString Lights and Tassel Lanterns from a selection by Light4fun.co.uk.

In even a diminutive garden, use a secluded seating area in a shelter of plants to enjoy a moment to yourself each summer day. Take in comforting scents, sounds, and the soft breezes of summer. Install a path to your special place (a few pavers in grass will do) and drop in some containers of fragrant herbs, flowers and even a small water feature to stroke the senses. Remind children that it’s a little “thinking spot” they can slip away to, to reset.

Art and individuality are blooming in the 2026 summer garden. Include unexpected honest materials for punches of tone and texture. The weathering on these sculptural stakes by New Zealander Lisa Sarah sings with the greenery and a richly stained black fence. They're inspired by the iconic fernlike koru symbol, venerated in Māori culture. From 85cm to 1m high, they're €151 each, Lisasarah.com. 

The weathering on these sculptural stakes by New Zealander Lisa Sarah sings with the greenery and a richly stained black fence. From 85cm to 1m high, they're €151 each, Lisasarah.com.

Keep it lit

Also for relaxing, as well as entertaining, outdoor fireboxes, fireplaces, barbecues, and accessories are another of our obsessions this year.

Hanging lights flown at various heights in flocked groups, anchor and define space. Always check the weather rating of your outdoor pieces. Meeting our obsession with globes and curves this season, these (mains) Martinelli Luce Ciulifruli (just adore the orange cable) include an external plug. They're €144, Lights.ie.

Masonry BBQs have an unmatched charm and solidity, and the heat stored in its thermal mass will radiate back for hours. With a surprisingly compact footprint, they offer a perfect foil to the expected outdoor kitchen with runs of lengthy units. Enjoy them as an eye-catching feature and outdoor fireplace year-round, using your method of cooking, from LPG to a real wood flame. Most urban models are made in weather-resistant concrete, composites and steel, and should last decades (just replace worn cooking components). Suppliers include Habitium.ie, Woodfiredoven.ie and Outdoorliving.ie. Prices from €400 for the Buschbeck Oregon (fire/grill).

Masonry BBQs have an unmatched charm and solidity, and the heat stored in its thermal mass will radiate back for hours. Suppliers include Habitium.ie, Woodfiredoven.ie and Outdoorliving.ie. Prices from €400 for the Buschbeck Oregon (fire/grill). Pictured is the Gargano 3 by Palazzetti (Italy).

There really is a barbecue for every situation, and sometimes for balcony life or in a small yarded area, a single burner really will do. The George Foreman portable gas BBQ in power-coated steel is a sleek easy-to-use one-burner propane grill featuring short, fixed legs, a secure catch-locking lid for secure manoeuvring, an integrated thermostat and enamelled pressed steel grill for perfectly cooked steaks, fish and seared vegetable sides. For a weekend away, just put it in the micro-camper and go; €149, Currys.ie. 

The George Foreman portable gas BBQ in power-coated steel is a sleek easy-to-use one-burner propane grill. €149, Currys.ie. 

Mirror, mirror

Last but not least, mirrors can be added to any outdoor space, from a small balcony to a vast patio area. Could you see yourself in a totally mirrored “invisible” extension or garden room?

Use mirrors, including disco balls, judiciously in entertainment areas to make even a small patio look twice its size, playing up shifting firelight and colourful decorating. Ensure human reflections are flattering.

Go invisible with mirrored extensions and cabins from Ood (Estonia). See through from within, privacy and infinite reflections from outside. From €85,000, Oodhouse.com.

Walls, chain-link and fencing smothered in climbers can take a mirror nestled into the foliage to create a delightful Narnia moment. Look for curved organic shapes (now trending) and hide the edges of the mirror for a ponded effect. For longevity, use a no-fuss resin frame or weather-resistant metal for support for mirrors and mirrored garden sculpture.

Stolen from deco, the bobbin shape turned our heads with furniture, and is still bobbing along this season in home and garden design. Add glamour and iconic seasoning to your indoor/outdoor dining with these Addison Ross bobbin salt and pepper grinders in gem-like acrylic; from €46, Eu.addisonross.com.

With real timber or other vulnerable materials, gather up your mirrors at the end of the season and bring them indoors.