The sun is shining and we're all spending more time at home than ever.
With garden centres one of the first retailers to open to the public everyone seems to have caught the gardening bug.
So, here are ten easy gardening projects you can undertake over the next couple of weeks:
Plant herbs & vegetables
There are lots of herbs and vegetables that grow comfortably in an Irish climate.
You could try asparagus, beetroot, garlic, basil, mint and so many more!
And next time you need an ingredient for a recipe you can just pop out to your garden.
Make a mini meadow
Growing wildflowers is more important than ever.
It encourages natural wildlife like bees and butterflies to visit your garden and will give you an instant burst of colour.
Most wildflowers need very little attention, just grab some seeds, keep them watered and wait for them to bloom!
Get upcycling
All our downtime at the moment is perfect for an upcycling project.
An old bike or a pair of wellies will make a perfect home for your new flowers.
You could also try using empty food jars, old drawers, guitar cases, bath tubs and painted tyres!
Invite the birds to visit
You don't have to run to the garden centre and buy the most expensive bird feeder, you can encourage birds to visit with some seeds and a bit of DIY.
Bird feeders and houses can be made from lots of stuff you'll have lying around.
Check out some suggestions here.
Get the kids planting
If you're at home with kids, gardening is a great way to entertain all the family and get everyone playing outdoors.
There are lots of way the little ones can get involved, while you make sure your garden plans aren't ruined.
Check out this Beginners Guide to Gardening With Kids via blog Messy Motherhood here.
Make a wigwam
This is another project the whole family will love!
You'll need willow sticks, string, garden twine and a few other bits.
Find instructions here.
Photo credit: countryfile.com
Paint pots
If you've got a load of ceramic or even plastic pots lying around the back garden, it's time to get painting.
If you don't have pots yet, lots of supermarkets and garden centres sell plastic containers for reasonable prices.
Then you just need to find some outdoor-friendly paint and get creative!
Plant Irish
While it's very easy to get distracted by all the flowers on offer in garden shops, planting native Irish flowers will have a really positive impact on our ecosystem.
There are hundreds of beautiful flowers that grow in Ireland naturally - plants that are flowering now include Forget-Me-Not, Knapweed and Violets.
Find out more about Irish wildflowers here.
Knapweed
Vertical planting
If you don't have a lot of space in your garden or you're looking to decorate a wall you can always plant vertically.
There are lots of ways to do this like using palettes, hanging plant pots and more.
Find some vertical planting inspiration here.
Photo credit: modernfarmer.com
Collect rainwater
We've been very lucky with the weather lately however, we all know we get a lot of rain in Ireland.
While you might not be in the garden on these wet days, you can certainly plan a project around them now.
Why not set up a container to collect rainwater? You can then use this water for the garden without wasting any extra.
Handy!
And for those rainy days there's a new flower competition show on Netflix this month.
You can read more about that here.
