Christmas will soon be upon us once again, and before long, we’ll be adorning our homes with festive decorations. But what about the outside of our homes? Decorating the garden for Christmas can add a bit of extra sparkle to our lives. And that’s something we can all appreciate.
Tidy Up The Garden
Before you start stringing up the fairy lights, though, it’s a good idea to get the garden into shape first. Winter is the best time to get some important annual jobs done.
One of the best ways to instantly give your garden a boost is to add more plants. Planting beautiful flowers and trees can make a real difference, so why not consider wrought iron window box cages for the front of your house? These look great with cascading foliage, giving lots of color and life to an otherwise dull facade.
Mulching borders, pruning tree and shrub branches and removing algae from patios are essential tasks to maintain the health and looks of the garden. Of course, with busy family life getting in the way, it’s hard to find time to do all of these things. So, you may want to think about hiring a professional to maintain your garden for you, leaving you time to do the fun stuff.
Light Up Your Garden
If this is the first time you’ve considered decorating your garden for Christmas, then you may be thinking of buying some new lights. However, you will need to think carefully about this. They’ll need to be suitable for outdoor use, and they’ll need some power.
Unless you’ve already installed an outdoor socket, this could mean trailing an extension lead indoors. This isn’t always a good solution, so you may want to consider solar-powered lights or lights that can be charged via a USB port. Some outdoor lights use a combination of these, which means you don’t have to worry about the lack of daylight or using too much electricity.
If you’ve got a tree in your garden, you may fancy popping lights on it to create an outdoor Christmas tree. And paths can be lit with staked lights or outdoor lanterns to illuminate the way. However, lights aren’t the only way to decorate the garden for Christmas. You could make a seasonal wreath for your door and give window boxes a festive makeover with lots of evergreens decorated with red baubles and pinecones.
Paint Your Pots
If your garden currently has lots of terracotta pots gathering moss, then why not give them a clean and paint them in festive colours and patterns? You could use a spray or acrylic paint for this, or a standard emulsion will work if you seal it afterwards. If your pots are empty, then pop in a candy cane, turn them into a Whoville Christmas Tree or make a seasonal arrangement of foraged holly to perk them up even more.
Enhance Your Entrances
Most of us are expecting guests over the Christmas period, so making our front entrances and gardens look magical and welcoming is quite important. Aside from a wreath and a lit pathway, what can we do to decorate?
Well, you could make a festive display to entertain visitors. A simple wooden sledge topped with presents is one easy idea. Don’t worry; these do not need to be actual presents! Just wrap a few empty boxes with paper and bows. If your display is going to be exposed to the elements, then use patterned oilcloth material instead of paper to make it weatherproof.
