You’ve got the summer guests lined up, and you’re already planning the party. You know that it needs to be outside. What can you do to make sure that your garden space is up for the challenge? It’s time to spring up and garden! You’re probably already spring cleaning your indoor spaces, and it’s time to give your garden a cleanup as well.

Create Open Space

When you’re getting ready for summer entertaining, you need to create space for your guests in your garden. Clean off patio and deck spaces that have not been used or have been used for storage. Prune vines and other plants. Clear out overgrown plantings that are dangling over the sides of the patio.

Direct Traffic

If you’re hosting a large party such as a graduation or a wedding in your yard, you want to think about how your yard will stand up to the foot traffic. One way to do this is to direct people to stand in certain areas. Install tough stone or brick pathways or add a patio area where people can eat, drink, and dance. Use small fences, rocks, or bricks to make garden areas distinct from the rest of the yard.

Add Movable Parts

When you’re entertaining on a patio, you may need to shift items around to make space for tables and guests. Create container gardens in easily-movable pots so that you can add color to the garden. Move the containers into new arrangements depending on where you need to place tables or create spaces for guests.

Plan for Flowers and Foliage

When you’re planning your summer parties, plan to entertain your guests with flowers and foliage as well as sparkling conversation. If you’re hosting a single large party, look at the flowers and shrubs that bloom at that time and place them in the garden in the springtime. If you like to entertain all summer, plan for continuous blooms by planting different flowers that bloom in early summer, mid summer, and late summer.

Think About Scent

With the smells of food and the sounds of people, a party is a multi-sensory experience. If you’re holding a party in the day time, think about the sights, sounds, and smells that your garden will provide. Add fragrant but not overpowering flowers and shrubs. If you like to entertain in the evening, look to night-blooming flowers such as evening primrose, night phlox, Nottingham catchfly, or fairy lily.

Create a Landscape That Lasts

If you love entertaining in your garden and plan to do it every summer, create your landscaping structures around your entertaining plans. Invest in pathways where guests can wander, siding and gutters that make the house look tidy, containers and windowboxes that spice up your entertaining area, and shade trees that provide a comfortable seating area for your guests.

Do you want to install gutters that will reduce your long term maintenance and make your summer in the garden so much easier? Talk with Harry Helmet. Because our gutter covers prevent leaves from accumulating in your gutters they help make garden maintenance easy.

Written by Del Thebaud