A WOMAN has issued an urgent warning to other homeowners after she “buggered up” her decking for good by painting it.
Caz admitted that she’d made the “number one mistake” a few years ago when she covered her wooden decking with dark grey paint.
And in a video on her TikTok page, she showed herself stripping down the wood, as she explained: “I made the number one mistake couple of years back and painted my decking.
“Please, please, please, please, please, if you’re thinking of doing it this year and you’ve never done it before and you’ve got fresh decking, don’t do it.
“Take my advice, please don’t do it.
“I’m stuck with it now because once you painted, you’ve buggered your decking, quite frankly.”
As she used her wood stripper, she explained that this was the process she’d have to go through every year since painting the decking.
“The only thing that I can do, yep you guessed it, is paint back over it,” she sighed.
“Now I’m I gonna have to do this year, on year, on year.”
Caz added that the mess was “ridiculous”, as she continued: “So if you’re thinking of painting your decking, don’t do it, just don’t do it.”
“Number 1 decking mistake!!!” she captioned her TikTok video.
“Do NOT paint your decking!
“Come along on the journey of getting my garden summer ready.”
“Stain it instead of using paint” one person commented on the video.
To which Caz replied: “Yes that’s exactly what we should have done in the beginning!”
“Mine is exactly the same… every year,” another said.
The Sun's Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine, has shared the tasks you need to crack on with in May.
GARDEN growth can go from nought to ninety in May, depending on the weather. The last UK frosts are generally seen at the beginning of the month, so all of a sudden there’s so much more to do and grow.
Plant out dahlia tubers
It’s a joy to finally plant out your dahlia tubers. Remember how big they can get – and space accordingly – anything up to half a metre apart.
It’s a good idea to put your support stakes in now instead of trying to work around them.
And make sure you include lots of well rotted manure or decent compost to feed it and then mulch to keep it moist and suppress weeds. They generally start blooming in July.
Final feed to Spring flowers
You can give a cheeky feed to all your remaining tulips and daffodils.
Although the majority of bulbs aren’t guaranteed to come back year after year any more, as long as you’ve left them to die back naturally there’s a good chance they’ll have stored enough energy to come back again. Tomato feed is fine.
Tie up climbers
Your clematis, honeysuckle and rambling roses should be well on their way by now – try to use plastic free string to tie them back into their support, or tuck them round each other to make sure they don’t sprout off in crazy directions.
Feed the lawn
It’s not too late to give your lawn a good feed.
Whether you use granular or liquid, it can give it a good boost to see it through the harsher summer months.
While mowing, don’t go too low with your cut length yet and never take more than a third off the grass height.
Get creative
It’s also time to get creative with hanging baskets and pots.
Trailing pelargoniums, which a lot of people call geraniums, and Begonias are a good, low cost way of getting lovely returning blooms throughout the summer in your baskets.
And pots can be planted with spring bulbs.
Don’t forget the greenhouse!
Give your greenhouse a good tidy and clean the glass inside and out.
The improved light will help plants grow quicker inside and tidying is good for the soul.
You can just use a household white wine vinegar and water solution – or even neat if you’re feeling spendy – which gives a really good shine.
“Worst decision I ever made,” Caz sighed.
“Just repainted mine as winter was cruel,used a cleaning spray which got rid of the green algae stuff and painted it again, got another level to do yet!” someone else commented.
“I’ve had the same!” another wrote.
“So I jet wash it every year and got 2 large outdoor rugs to cover it so I don’t have to see it!”
As Caz laughed: “Just ordered a big one myself!”
