Preparing Your Lawn For A Garden Party

With summer now in full swing, and a surprising streak of fantastic weather which last week saw temperatures across the UK reach as a high as 34°C, it’s the perfect time to be inviting friends over and having a few drinks in the garden. Whether it be a simple BBQ with friends, a raucous birthday celebration or even a wedding reception, it’s important to remember that after these kind of events there may be some damage to your lawn, particularly from the extra feet and furniture. The good news is that there are a few steps you can follow in order to prepare your garden for this.

CREATE A LEVEL SURFACE

This is one of the most important things to think about – the last thing that you want is a twisted ankle and possible trip to A and E to put a dampener on your celebrations. It can take between 3 and 4 weeks to fully prepare and fill any holes/ hollows in your lawn, so this is a definite ‘think ahead’ situation. All you need to do is fill and level the holes with topsoil, sprinkle on some grass seeds and water as normal. You should start to see your grass growing within a few weeks. Once the new grass has strongly established, no one will be able to tell the difference. You may also need to use this method post party – for example, holes may have been created as a result of high heels in the grass.

WEEDS, WEEDS, WEEDS

Again, the presence of weeds is something that will need to be thought about and dealt with a few weeks in advance. The last thing you want is to invite everyone over and have weeds spread around your lawn. Depending on how much time you have, you may want to think about using a chemical weed killer in order to remove these pesky plants. This could cause some bare patches, so you would need to leave enough time to repair these if they did appear. However, it may not actually be necessary to remove all weeds that appear, especially if you’re on a bit of tight time schedule. For example, I wouldn’t be rushing to get rid of daisies or clovers as these could add a little summertime feel to your garden anyway.

CREEPY CRAWLIES

At this time of year, your garden is full of little critters  that become even more of a strong presence when you’re putting out nice food and jugs of sweet Pimms. There are a few things that you can do in order to try and keep these pesky bugs at bay. For example, lighting Citronella scented candles can be great for keeping both midges and mosquitoes away from your guests, as well as adding great ambience to the evening. Ants can also be rife in gardens during the summer months, and you definitely don’t want these crawling through any food/ drink (or on your guests!) There are many old wives tales out there that promise to rid you of an ant problem, but one recommended course of action is to mix a few drops of peppermint oil into a little bit of vodka. You should then liberally spray this over any visible ants nests and they will disperse. If they inhabit another area of your garden, go on spraying until they leave entirely. It’s a very simple home remedy that has proven to be wildly effective.

One of the best tips we can give you is to remove all furniture, blankets, dropped food and any other debris from your lawn as soon as possible once you have finished celebrating. It’s important that you keep up with a regular lawn care routine, including watering, aerating and mowing. This will ensure that your lawn is always in the best possible condition that you can show off to your friends. The amazing weather we have been experiencing recently is the perfect excuse for throwing garden parties and spending time outside with friends, but it will take its toll on your lawn. As always, we want you to be equipped with the correct knowledge in order to best prepare your lawn beforehand and be able to administer the correct care afterwards. 

– Isabelle