As Christmas approaches, most of us focus on decorating our interiors to mark the festive season. While the garden tends to be overlooked at this time of year, devoting some time to creating a seasonal display outdoors can make both your inside and outside spaces visually appealing. Here are some tips to take on board.
Let there be light
Stringing up lights on the outside of your house makes it pretty and festive for passersby, but you can’t enjoy them yourself from the comfort of your window. Therefore, why not also hang up some fairy lights across your garden fencing or around a tree outside, so that you can relish them, too?
Make a wreath
Wreaths offer much more scope than just being hung on your front door. Why not make your own and hang it in the garden to create an attractive festive display outdoors? Twist soft, pliable twigs and branches together to form the circular shape, and then add red berries, holly, pine cones and other foliage of seasonal interest. You might even want to add lights to it. Hang on the side of your garage, fence, gate or other prime location that you can easily view from indoors.
Colourful pots
The garden might be devoid of colour at this time of year, but you can still plant up some pots of flowers and plants that can add seasonal interest to the garden. Cyclamen come into their own at this time of year, with their vibrant hues, but for eye-catching texture and form, fill pots with plants such as heuchera, grasses, hellebores, winter-flowering pansies and trailing ivy. For bare patches in the borders, add low-growing heather for a splash of colour, or dogwood for its vibrant red branches that take centre stage on a frosty day.
Wildlife display
While we’re busy feasting on turkey and all the trimmings, spare a thought for garden wildlife that will need sustenance and shelter over the winter months. Stack piles of logs, twigs and pine cones together to make a home for wildlife. Not only will this provide an important function, but it can make a visually appealing feature for your garden this Christmas and beyond.
