Watering — give your garden some thorough, deep waterings in the weeks leading up to Christmas. This moistens the soil down into the root zone, encourages plant roots to grow deeper and helps freshen up the garden.
Mowing — don’t be tempted to give your lawn a harsh low mowing just before Christmas. This can scalp the lawn and create bare patches, which are unattractive and will invite in weeds. It’s better to mow little and often, removing no more than a third of the grass foliage each time.
Add pops of colour — a simple way to bring festive pizzazz into outdoor entertaining areas is to plant up a few pots with floral colour. Red and white flowering petunias look very Christmassy, geraniums add vibrant splashes of flowers and hanging baskets of cascading calibrachoas add a lovely vertical dimension to a patio, veranda or deck.
Your guests (and Santa) will love it!
