How to Make your Garden Christmassy this Year

Your house is probably adorned in the best sparkly decorations and is feeling the seasonal spirit. But what about your outside space. Is it time to decorate your garden for Christmas? It has to be one of the best things about the festive season. Driving around your local neighbourhood to see the houses and gardens lit up and sparkling is fantastic. You might not want to go so far as to get yourself an animatronic nativity scene and a snow machine – but you could bring a little holiday cheer to the outside of your home.

Choosing your lights

Step one is to choose your Christmas lights. This is the ‘oo’ factor for your garden decorations. They will give a glow to your home and help you to frame your windows, doorways, eaves and lawn edges. It doesn’t have to be like Blackpool illuminations, but some string lighting and a few decorative shapes will make it look a lot lovelier.
If you want some simple tips, try these:

• Wrap hedges in flashing lights – as if they are a Christmas tree. If you have trees, decorate these with lights too. Low cost but highly effective.
• Line the paths with lights – this gives the impression that you want to guide people into the warmth of your home. Posts sunk into your borders are easy to set out and remove after the season ends.
• Fill baskets and jars with strings of light – these create a sense of wonder, like a pocket of fairies in your garden.
• Use timers and make sure the lights come on (and switch off) when you want them to be on show. There is nothing less festive than a house covered in a glow in the darkness.

The classic wreath

When you want to give the garden a little touch of Christmas the wreath might be just enough to avoid the label of Scrooge. The wreath was traditionally used to represent victory in Roman times – but became associated with the Advent season in Germany in the 16th Century.

You can make your wreath or you can buy one from the local garden centre – the wreath on the door will be a lovely welcome to all your guests. If you choose to make your wreath, you could:

• Be different with the shape you select. Traditionally, wreaths are circles – but there is no reason why you can’t use a star or a square, just to be different.
• Green and red are traditional – but you can through in some silver and gold glitter to add a little bling. Metallic blue is also a festive colour for your wreath.
• Go beyond just evergreen boughs and look to bring in some colour – with some holly and pine cones and maybe even some berries along with the holly.

Decorate the porch and beyond

There are lots of ways to bring your garden alive this winter. Many of us take great care with the interior, so why not the garden? You could decorate your bench – filling it up with glitter, nice ornaments and jewels and making it a place where you could take some family snaps.. It is a time when you should celebrate your love for one another – so why not create a place to sit where your family can be brought together.

You could plant a Christmas tree in your garden. A tree planting rather than a tree cutting down is a great message to send to your kids. It is a sustainable option and will offer an evergreen presence throughout the year. It could be the centrepiece of your decorations too – with the best lights and baubles on show.

If you don’t want to go full tree – try getting some poinsettias to line your windows and steps. The green and red always look so festive! You can also fill window boxes with candy canes, fake snowballs and your “Santa: stop here!” sign.

Continue your sustainability theme by using upcycled holiday decorations from the past. You can take old boxes and wrap them up like gifts and pile them up against a wall. Old wellies are also a perfect holder for your seasonal candy canes.

Get even more festive

You may have had your house decorated since mid-November. You may want to up the joyful feelings. Your kids will start the Christmas holiday and you will want to have those special moments. There can be nothing more evocative of the Christmas spirit that bringing cheer to a drab, grey space. It is time to have fun and scatter your garden with glitter. Enjoy!