From home-made decorations to keeping wildlife happy, here's how to ease your gardening load and bring on the festive feels. By Hannah Stephenson.
In the run-up to the festive season, why not create your gardening to-do list in an advent calendar over 25 days, rather than make it a last-minute rush?
Dobbies Garden Centres (dobbies.com) has come up with this horticultural advent calendar to give you a head start:
1. Plant a beautiful winter hanging basket
Get your garden celebration-ready by brightening up a drab wall or fence with a colourful basket, or hang one by your front door to welcome festive visitors. The basket will last until spring, so it isn't just for Christmas.
2. Plant an amaryllis for Christmas Day blooms
Little beats the exotic extravagance of amaryllis - their beautiful blooms make a bold statement and create a real focal point in any Christmas scene.
3. Be prepared for the New Year
Look ahead to 2020 before the chaos sets in to make plans for seed-sowing. Buy your seeds early, and you may find the chance to get things underway before you've even taken the tree down.
4. Take care of garden birds
Cold weather makes food and water scarce. Make sure feeders and tables are filled regularly, and ensure you have a constant supply of fresh water.
5. Get the most from winter pots
Keep your winter containers in good shape with regular maintenance. Snip off blooms as they fade, and water regularly so compost doesn't dry out in winter winds.
6. Plant a Christmas container
Brighten your doorstep or even just a window box for the festive season with a container filled with Christmas cheer. A festive pot is easy to create - just choose seasonal plants, include lots of berries and finish off with festive trimmings.
7. Give wildlife a home for winter
Support garden wildlife by supplying man-made houses for creatures to shelter in. They're easy to install and attractive to look at.
8. Grow windowsill crops for a festive feast
It's possible to grow tasty crops on a windowsill to enjoy a festive harvest, even if you don't have much outdoor space. Microgreen seeds are fast-growing, so try pea shoots, mizuna, coriander, rocket and pak choi.
9. Make a Christmas door wreath
Give your front door the wow factor by creating a traditional Christmas wreath. Gather as much from the garden as possible, looking for evergreens, rosehips and berries.
10. Create a festive houseplant display
Given the right location, and regular care and attention, houseplants can be used to create a beautiful Christmas display that will continue to look great well into the new year.
11. Dress your Christmas mantelpiece
A roaring fire forms the heart of a Christmas scene, but why not add to the festive feel by decorating your mantelpiece? Combine fresh pickings from the garden with bought decorations to create a beautiful homespun feel.
12. Make garden-foraged Christmas decorations
Seed pods from poppies, iris and crocosmia work particularly well, as do the glistening mother of pearl seed cases of honesty. Glossy red rose hips, cones foraged from alder, and flower heads from common ivy all combine to create a warm seasonal display with natural Scandi vibes.
13. Add sparkle to your doorstep
Thread battery-operated fairy lights through the berries and foliage of your door wreath or, if you have small conifers on your porch, add them to that for a festive effect.
14. Set up your Christmas tree
Choose carefully and make sure the tree you select isn't too wide or tall for the spot. If you have very limited space, you might choose an alternative such as smaller pot-grown trees or long dogwood-style twigs or other branches which you could put in a vase and decorate with baubles to give the room a festive air.
15. Brighten a room with poinsettias
As well as red, you can also get them in shades of pink and white. Position in a warm, bright spot and don't let compost dry out. If you're careful, it should last well into the New Year.
16. Create a nature-inspired Christmas display
Homemade Christmas decorations don't have to be fiddly and time-consuming to create. Make a rustic display by filling a simple glass vase with greenery and berries foraged from the garden - top up the water regularly to keep everything looking fresh for the entire festive period.
17. Make edible Christmas baubles for birds
Create homespun Christmas decorations that garden birds can enjoy too.
Mix warmed suet or lard into a mixture of high energy foods such as peanuts, raisins, grated cheese, sunflower hearts and oats. Mould by hand into balls or fill paper muffin cases, each threaded with garden twine. Once cool remove the paper case before hanging for birds to enjoy.
18. Pot up kitchen herbs
Transplant pot-grown herbs into decorative containers for your kitchen windowsill or worktop. They'll be handy for festive meals. Water regularly although make sure compost doesn't become saturated.
19. Make the most of your windowsills
Decorate window ledges with candle-filled lanterns, surrounded by strands of ivy and holly gathered from the garden, treating passers-by to a twinkly scene. Replace the holly and ivy as it passes its best. Just make sure you keep the flame away from the foliage and that you blow out the candles before bedtime.
20. Add the finishing touches with cut flowers
Place vases of cut flowers around the house to complement the festive scene. Choose flowers that match the colour theme of your decorations for a coordinated look.
21. Make candle decorations
Cut short stems of holly, popping into pretty glass jars with cones, cinnamon sticks and glossy red hips. Top up with water to just cover foraged treasures. Float tea light on the surface, finishing with a festive ribbon. Always supervise children with candles.
22. Make a Christmas table centre
Get your Christmas dinner off to a great start, by creating a stylish table centre. Use things picked from the garden to give it a rustic, homespun look and to keep down costs. Insert foraged evergreen foliage, winter stems, seeds heads and berries into wetted oasis, adding baubles, ribbon and battery micro lights for sparkle.
23. Harvest for the main event
Pick any last crops the veg patch has to offer. Brussels sprouts and parsnips make a tasty addition, as do new potatoes planted in the summer and grown in bags. Keep your veg in a cool, dry and frost-free place until you're ready to prepare them.
24. Dress your Christmas dinner table
Personalise your Christmas table with homemade finishing touches, using berries and greenery picked from the garden, combined with bought decorations, to create a sophisticated look full of rustic charm.
25. Welcome friends and family
Create personalised wine glasses with glass charms to make Christmas visitors feel special. Create small rings from wire, and thread them with foraged berries and hips.
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