EDGERTON: Getting your garden looking good for Christmas

By Anna Hitchcock

Are you having the family for Christmas lunch at your place this year? Are you wondering where you should start to get your outdoor areas looking their absolute best before they all arrive? Here are some easy tips.

Anna said if you're hosting an outdoor lunch make sure your outdoor area is looking its best.

Firstly start on your lawn. Make sure it is looking green and healthy. Your lawn is a great place for the family to lounge and play on Christmas day so hit it with some fertiliser, a hose-on will give it a quick boost, keep the water up to the lawn between now and Christmas day and get cracking on those edges and keep them under control.

Tidy up your rubbish. You might have stuff lying around and it's probably been lying there for so long that you don't even notice it anymore (yes I sound like I know about this exact thing don't I?) So have a good hard look at your area and put stuff away and if it's just junk, toss it!

Give your outdoor furniture a good clean-up. There could be 'man-eating' critters lurking under those chairs and who wants to spend Christmas day in a hospital waiting room? Maybe it could do with a lick of paint or re-staining. Timber furniture usually comes up a treat if you freshen it up. Why not shout yourself some new pretty outdoor cushions to really impress the family and give them something soft to sit on so that they stay longer....maybe not! Now for the plants. You need to dead-head everything that is rain or heat affected so that the garden is flowering freshly. If there is anything dead, get rid of it. If plants are just looking daggy, give them a haircut. Now operate on your pots. Get yourself to your local nursery and buy some instant potted colour and plant it anywhere that needs a lift. Petunias in red and white, impatiens, begonias, vinca....anything with lots of buds that will open just in time for Christmas. Liven up dull spots with pots of gardenia, hydrangea, agapanthus, geraniums, kangaroo paws, Christmas bush, crepe myrtle, anything that looks amazing this month. You can buy ready-to-hang hanging baskets overflowing with amazing flowers that you can hang or use as table centres.

Spread some decorative mulch on the bare bits in the garden. You should have mulched in preparation for the summer heat anyway but mulch will cover up ugly spots and highlight your new plantings. So grab a few bags of decorative bark to use as a finishing touch. That should do it but don't forget to fill the gas bottle, stock up on mozzie coils and citronella candles and last but not least, don't forget to invite the family.