6 Summer Prep Tips To Make The Season Perfect
Summer is, without a doubt, the most popular of the four seasons. While it’s not uncommon to find people who have a fondness for fall, always welcome winter, and smile at the first signs of spring, summer will always hold a special place in most people’s hearts. Summer is, after all, a time of year when the possibilities seem endless. Our gardens become alive with wildlife and growth; the days seem to go on forever, and the warmth and heat almost seem to form a protective shield around us. It’s no surprise the season is so popular. What’s more, it’s also no surprise that every family wants to do all they can to ensure they have the best summer ever – but ensuring a fantastic summer is not something that necessarily happens automatically. Instead, the best summers tend to be a result of a huge amount of planning, so if you’re hoping summer 2020 will be your best summer yet, here’s a look at some summer prep tips you might want to start thinking about…
Making the most of your garden
There’s no doubt about it: summer is the season when your garden will be at its very best. As flowers bloom and the air hums with the careful work of honeybees and the colorful flit of butterflies as they zip on their way, your garden will likely call your name and subsequently play host to dozens of wonderful memories snoozing in the shade or watching your kids play on the lawn – so taking steps now to ensure that your outdoor space is as good as it can be is a gift that will keep on giving.
Start by checking on the items you rely on through the summer; furniture, a hosepipe or sprinkler system, and so on. Remember to check on that barbeque grill that you haven’t used since last summer. Hopefully, everything will be functioning exactly as expected, but if you find any issues, start researching replacements for these items in time for the warmer weather to arrive. A hardware store should prove helpful for things like hosepipes and sprinklers, if you’re looking to invest in a shiny new grill however, you’ll likely want to use a reputable vendor such as bedsbbq.co.uk so that it performs great when you need it to. When you’re confident you have all the key essential equipment, you can think about the flowers you’d like to grow and how you’d like to grow them, as well as whether you’d like to install decorative features – such as a fountain – this year.
After the above considerations, you should then have a clear idea of the tasks you’ll need to complete to get your garden ready for summer. You can then proceed to work through these tasks or summer prep tips over the next two to three months, so by the time summer finally begins, everything will already be in place – so you can just enjoy the season spent outdoors.
Day trip arrangements and ideas
Spending time at home during the summer months is always wonderful, but it can be lovely to spend some time away from home enjoying a day trip too. Day trips provide a chance to do and experience something different, learn something new, try a new experience, or all of the above!
There are a huge number of different day trips to consider. You could, for example, head to a theme park or choose a public park in another city that you and your family have never visited before. You could also consider museums and galleries; many will start to publish their summer itineraries around this point, so you can identify which you’d like to see and make plans accordingly. You could also consider what is perhaps the ultimate summer day trip: a day at the beach (whether it’s a natural beach or the man-made beaches that can often be found in cities during the summer months). All of these ideas, and the numerous other options that are available, all benefit from foreplanning and research, so setting plans in motion at this point is worth doing – especially as it’s sometimes possible to secure lower-cost tickets for attractions or transport if you’re willing to buy a few months in advance.
Protection from the sun
An abundance of sunshine helps to make summer so enjoyable, but in anticipation of beautiful bright days and clear skies, it’s easy to forget that the sun can be rather punishing. Sunburn is a surefire way to reduce anyone’s enjoyment of the season, and spending too much time in sunlight to the point of overheating can result in headaches, fatigue, and general discomfort. This is probably one of the most important summer prep tips.
The effort to protect yourself, and your family, from the adverse effects of sunshine, should be multipronged. First, focus on protecting your skin using a sunscreen that offers the benefits of the best ingredients; you can learn more about this by finding out what is zinc oxide and the crucial role this component has to play in protecting you from the sun. Furthermore, loose clothing and hats also help to protect from the ferocity of the sun’s rays, so it could be helpful to go through the family closets and ensure everyone has suitable attire – a task that is especially useful if you have young children who might have grown out of last summer’s clothes.
On a final note regarding sun protection, there’s your garden to consider. We’ve talked about planning your summer garden in terms of flowers and gardening-focused equipment above, but it’s also advisable to make sure you have enough shade, either via the use of trees, fixtures such as pergolas, or parasols.
Social plans with loved ones
It’s quite amazing how quickly summer schedules can become full – weddings, vacations, domestic parties, and much more besides can quickly lead to an overly full calendar. As a result, starting to make plans with your friends and family as soon as possible can help ensure you and your family will be able to find the time to see everyone you want to see throughout the summer.
There’s no particular need to finalize your plans immediately, not least because doing so can be prohibitively expensive as a raft of different costs (particularly related to travel) suddenly come due at the same time. You can, however, agree on dates on which you’d like to see your loved ones, and then fill in the rest of the details a little closer to the time.
Keeping your pets cool and comfortable
For the most part, cats and dogs are very good at regulating their temperature during the hottest (and the coldest) months of the year. However, if the mercury does spike, or your beloved pet has a health condition, then a little extra assistance may be required – so preparing now will ensure your pet’s optimal comfort right through the warmest months of the year.
The primary focus for pet care during the summer is ensuring access to water; ideally, any room that your pet spends time in (including exterior “rooms”, such as a conservatory) should have its water bowl, which is refreshed several times per day. You could also make sure you can create ice, either via trays or a designated machine on your fridge, which you can add to your pet’s bowls. Another aspect to consider is your pet’s coat; a haircut can help make pets with long hair, especially comfortable, so finding a groomer (or scheduling an appointment with your existing groomer for the start of summer) is also worth doing.
Finally, if you are a dog owner, then plan to switch the time of day you go for a walk with them – early mornings and late evenings are cooler, and are therefore preferable. It’s helpful to think about this change of habit when scheduling other activities – as we have discussed above – so you can be sure you’re available at the optimal time of day for “walkies”.
Focusing on the everyday
Our final of the summer prep tips as to what you should consider when looking ahead to the summer is very basic: the everyday. Summer is absolutely about the memories that can be made and the special experiences you can look forward to, but life will also continue on as normal throughout the season – except with the temperature far higher than it usually is.
Thinking about your average day, and then taking steps to mitigate the impact of high temperatures on everything you do during that day, is an incredibly important component of summer planning. Small changes such as buying and then planning to use a windshield protector to ensure your car doesn’t become overly warm and investing in small USB fans to keep your laptop cool can make all the difference to your comfort and convenience throughout the summer. In a similar vein, also think about the impact of longer hours of daylight on your family’s ability to sleep; as lovely as longer days are, bright mornings and evenings can make it difficult to sleep. Blackout curtains, window film, or even planting trees or bushes near windows to block sunlight can all be useful steps.
In conclusion
By starting to look at all of the summer prep tips now, and taking action wherever necessary, you should be able to pave the way for a truly fantastic summer that your whole family will thoroughly enjoy!
