Time to Prepare for Garden Gatherings with Friends and Family
As winter turns into spring, it’s a great time to start to plan your garden gatherings for friends and family. Your first event of the season is a great way to motivate yourself to get your garden in order after the winter season.
Planning your garden event or gathering should not be left until the last moment. Over the summer the GardenAdvice team plan lots of events for our MyGardenTeam members and have created the following checklist.
Food and barbecues – The golden rule with barbecues is to start them early in the day and have plenty of fuel at hand so that by the time you come to cook your food you are cooking on hot embers or coals rather than smoking and burning your food which can create a health risk.
With food preparation allow lots of time and ideally prepare food the night before such as marinating steaks and mincing to create homemade burgers.
Drinks – estimating the number of drinks required for your gathering or event is easy but often people underestimate the glasses needed so it’s a good idea to have some standby glasses at hand just in case you run out.
In addition, where you have drinks you need ice, lots of ice and ice can be expensive to buy at the last minute so think ahead and start making your own in the freezer with some cheap ice cube trays. If you want to get creative, then you can freeze some herbs such as mint or lemon balm into the cubes. The freezing breaks the cells in the plant structure and as the ice melts in the drink it releases the herbs flavour into the drink
Seating – If you require seating and tables etc. your local hire centre is a good source to hire them with collection and delivery at a reasonable price.
Lighting – if your gathering or event is in the evening often additional light in your garden is a good idea. A cost-effective way to light your garden is to use solar lighting or an oil-fuelled garden flair light generally positioned on a stake to gain some height.
Plant protection – most gardeners have prize plants and these plants can gain additional protection by cutting some long willow or hazel canes and bedding them over your plant and pushing the ends into the ground to create a type of open wigwam effect.
Steps and paths – Check your steps and paths making sure you have no slippery areas in wet weather and no trip points on steps. If you have areas that could cause problems planting some temperature pots with some colourful plants on these areas can restrict the use of these spaces until your gathering or event is over.
Planning for the weather – rain, and Sun, the weather is never going to be perfect its either going to be too sunny, too hot or too cold or just too breezy! Gazebos from Garden Camping are a great addition to a gathering or event providing you with some additional shelter and protection against the wind, rain and sun.
