Nine Ways To Get A Garden Guest-Ready This Summer

The weather is beginning to hot up, and it means that you need to start dragging out the garden furniture and set up for garden guests. The barbecues are making an appearance, and the paddling pool needs to be blown up again. Soaking up the sun in a little piece of the world that is yours is one of life’s small pleasures, but another of those is being able to entertain your guests when they come to visit you.

Taking the time to get your garden up to scratch in terms of furniture and games for the summer is one thing, but ensuring that you have anti-slip decking and safe places in the shade to sit is quite another. One thing about your garden all these long, cold months, is that it may not be in the best condition. Taking the time to maintain your space and get it ready enough so that your guests will be in awe is the thing to do. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at ten ways that you can get your garden ready for guests this summer.

1. Give your garden furniture a new lease of life. If yours has been stored in the garage or the shed, it’s bound to have got a little musty over the winter months. You can buy new cushions for the seats, give rattan furniture a pressure wash or even just give the entire set to charity and go ahead and buy a new one! Garden furniture needs to be safe to sit on, so make sure yours isn’t rusted or sagging.
2. Tidying the garden is a must to get it ready for guests, so whether you do it yourself or you hire an experienced gardener, you need to think about the necessary jobs. Mow and feed your lawn, pull the weeds and mulch the flower beds. Strimming the edges of the garden to ensure that you have a tidy one to look at is an excellent way to impress your guests. No one can relax in long and overgrown grass, and you want your garden to breathe a little.
3. There’s something about those long summer evenings that draw us all outdoors with friends, and if you want to ensure that your evenings delight the senses, think about the scents you plant. Phlox and Honeysuckle are two of the best scents you could have in the garden, add in bushes of Jasmine and you will have a garden that smells amazing when you are relaxing.
4. Lighting up your garden is easy when the moon is large and high in the sky, but when the moon wanes, you need other ways to light it up. String fairy lights through the bushes and uses solar lights to power them with the sunshine in the day. Not only will you have a space you can see while you’re socialising, but you can have a lit garden that is easy to navigate during those lazy summer evenings.
5. You may not have the luxury of overhanging trees in your garden, which means that you need to provide shade. Not just for guests but for you! You can incorporate awnings or a large parasol, but you could also buy a gazebo to ensure that you get enough shade from the sun throughout the garden. Having somewhere to sit and enjoy the outdoors is an absolute must, and you can relax knowing you’ve protected yourself from the sun while sitting in total comfort.

The barbecue is a must for the garden, especially if you plan to socialise with people and have them over for the weekends. Alongside a top of the range barbecue in the corner of the garden, you should plant a herb wall right next to it. Not only will it smell amazing, but you’ll be able to use the herbs as you cook. How authentic would that taste?! Think about thyme and coriander, basil and oregano and how those smells would carry down the garden. Delightful doesn’t entirely cover it!

1. A firepit is ultimate luxury for the everyday garden, but having one can really make those cooler summer evenings a little more bearable. Add some low seating around it, and you could start your own cookout with roasting marshmallows and making ‘smores. A firepit is the best way to gather your friends around the fire and enjoy the night, so light up that fire and enjoy telling a few ghost stories – you’re never too old!
2. If you want to go for a more significant luxury in the garden, installing an outdoor kitchen is a step up from a barbecue. You could pay a builder to help you to install a full kitchen with an oven and a seating area – if your garden is big enough.
3. Planters in the garden may not be filled with flowers right now, but a trip to the garden centre to pick up some new options for your garden can change that in a moment. If you want to be a little fancy about it, you could choose flowers that are perfect for the season. Having planters line the garden fences – especially if you don’t have a lawn area – is going to make you have a garden that pops with colour.
4. The decking has hopefully been maintained through the colder months, but if yours has remained a little neglected, it will need a clean. Get out the power washer and clear away any mildew and built up algae that have gathered across your deck and make sure it’s completely dry before you enjoy it. No one wants to be slipping over a deck while trying to make their way to the garden.

Your garden needs to be ready for guests, but also for you to enjoy. It doesn’t have to take much cash or take long; it all depends on what you want your garden to look like for this season. Make it count and fall in love with your backyard all over again.