The silly season is upon us and we all know what that means – it’s time for barbecues, picnics and festive gatherings in the great outdoors. But before everyone piles into your backyard for Christmas celebrations, give it a quick spruce up so it’s looking its best!

You don’t have to give it an extreme makeover, just a few subtle touches here and there will make all the difference on the big day.

1. Keep it tidy

Summer garden maintenance

Trim up hedges, trees and small shrubs by cutting them back into shape and removing any overhanging or dead branches. This will instantly refresh the look of your garden and make it a nicer place to relax.

2. Deadhead

Summer garden maintenance

There’s nothing very nice about looking at shrivelled up dead flowers, so get out the secateurs and cut off the deadheads. Cutting off these dead blooms will also promote new flower growth which is great news.

3. Get colourful

Summer garden maintenance

You can easily liven up your backyard by planting a selection of potted colour. Choose a range of seasonal flowers in store and replant them into larger decorative containers, or straight into your garden bed. Mix and match colours to get that Christmassy look – try red geraniums and white petunias.

4. Cover it up

Summer garden maintenance

If you have bare patches of soil in your garden, cover them up by masses planting colourful flowers and mulching with lucerne hay. This will pretty up the garden beds and give the garden a polished look.

5. The grass is greener

Summer garden maintenance

Tidy up your lawn edges by giving them a trim. Then give the lawn a mow, but keep the blade on high. You do not want the grass to be too short as the sun will burn the roots. Tidy up any dead or bare patches of lawn with a sprinkling of lawn seed and some TLC.