Clippings: how to give your garden a festive face-lift

No matter how delicious your Christmas dinner is, the outdoor setting matters, too. Jackie French shows you how to make your garden blooming lovely.

7 STEPS TO A STUNNING CHRISTMAS GARDEN Step 1. Trim

You will be amazed at how much difference this makes. Trimming the edges of paths and garden beds makes a garden look professionally stunning. Specialised trimmers can be bought, but a sharp spade does the job just as well. Line it up with the edge of the paving, push down, repeat.

Step 2. Mow

Put the mower on a high setting three or four days before Christmas. A low setting makes the grass grow faster and may leave bigger, balder patches than Uncle Henry’s. Don’t water … yet.

Step 3. Water

Water the lawn deeply the night before everyone arrives, when it is cool. The grass will green up extra brightly overnight.

Water flowers and vegies at least every couple of days in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so they look lush and grow new buds.

Step 4. Prune

Cut off dead flowers the month before Christmas Day to promote new buds, especially on roses.

Step 5. Feed

Feed flowers and lawn lavishly all month, according to the packet instructions. Well-fed plants put out more flowers, which last longer, and grass is thicker and richer in colour.

Step 6. Mulch

Mulch vegies, flowers and trees, not just to cover the weeds, but because mulch also makes it look as if you have spent all month tending the garden instead of one weekend. Use a coarse mulch, such as sugar cane, so it doesn’t wash away in summer storms, and fertilise on top of the mulch, so the fertiliser doesn’t burn tender roots.

Step 7. Be tempted

To add the final layer of glory to your garden, consider six tall pots filled with hardy flax to make a boring wall look elegant, flower-filled baskets across the patio, or planter pots of cumquats or apple trees decorated with tinsel or small solar lights to show off your garden in the evening.

PS If all that is too daunting, buy an extra large Santa, sleigh and reindeer to distract everyone’s attention.