Image from Christmas Stock Images
It's less than a week until Christmas, and you've probably had your decorations up for at least a couple of weeks now. Sparkly tinsel wrapped around the banister; festive shapes hanging from the ceiling; the colourful cards from old friends; and, of course, a beautiful Christmas tree, decked out with dazzling decorations.
But while every home in the country is currently glowing with festive cheer, the gardens of Britain look decidedly less merry. Very few people bother with the garden when they're doing their Christmas decorating, and since December is a pretty cruel month for outdoor spaces anyway, your back yard probably doesn't look all that inviting right now.
So why not give it a makeover? A little decorative elbow grease will do wonders for your barren winter garden, turning into a cosy Christmas wonderland in no time.
Don't worry - you don't have to go to such topiarific lengths as this!
The festive period is very much in full swing, and there's still plenty of time left for you to decorate the garden and enjoy the results. Here are a few tips for the perfect Yuletide outdoor space...
Use tinsel, and lots of it!
Tinsel is perhaps the ultimate Christmas decoration, and its versatility makes it ideal for doing up the garden. Strew it anywhere it will stay - on branches, in between poles, wrapped around tree trunks, in amongst flowers...
Any tree can be a Christmas tree!
Very few UK gardens will contain a genuine pine or fir, but who says that they're the only trees that can be Christmas trees? If you've got a little sapling in your back garden, there's no reason why you can't decorate it with baubles and other ornaments.
Light it up!
Nothing will give your garden that warm glow like a set of fairy lights. If you can't find anywhere to plug them in, you can get battery-powered fairy lights that are much more versatile.
No matter how you decorate your home and garden this December, we hope you have a very merry Christmas indeed!
