We have now been living in our new house for a whole month. There is still a lot to do, but with summer around the corner, I have turned my thoughts to the garden. One of the best things about having more space is that we can entertain more. Who doesn't love a summer BBQ with friends? Homebase have challenged me to create a space for entertaining by gifting me £100 voucher and using their online hints and tips.

We are lucky in that our garden was very well looked after by the previous owners. They enjoyed entertaining and there are a number of solar lights dotted around the garden, which look beautiful as dusk falls. The main patio is at the end of the garden as this is where the sun ends up late in the day.


The Homebase website is full of ideas on how to create a welcoming space for your guests. Some taking an hour, some much longer. Having the website there to give me ideas really helped with my planning. I am usually pretty rubbish at this. I will, on the spur of the moment, go shopping, get half the things I need and then take numerous trips back to get things that I have forgotten. Homebase have sorted this problem with their shopping lists. There are also ideas which don't cost a penny. Like using jam jars as candle holders and table decorations using wild flowers. The short video really is worth a watch.

So here is a before picture of the area of my garden I have decided to work on.


I have chosen 3 main tasks to focus on:

1. To dress my garden with solar fairy lights
2. Plant a container with herbs
3. Create a chill zone with fire pit/create the perfect patio

Before heading to the shop, I decided that I would purchase some fairy lights with the idea of putting them in the trellis behind the stone bench. I would create a planter of herbs to be placed by the BBQ ready for adding to dishes and cocktails. Lastly, I would paint the existing archway as much as I could (this will probably need more work in the autumn) and buy some cushions to go on the bench. If there was enough money left I would look at purchasing a fire pit.

Arriving at Homebase I was mainly shocked at the prices. I know I shouldn't have been as I had seen them online, but until last weekend I would have classed Homebase as somewhere pretty expensive to shop. It appears that a change of ownership has driven prices down and I ended up buying some pansies for our old hanging basket as an impulse buy. They were such a good deal!

Luckily with my list I was able to purchase everything I wanted. I had a bit of trouble finding the seat cushions but after I could check they were in stock (only 6 left) I found someone that located them on a high up shelf. We decided on a small fire basket at the amazing price of £15.91. We felt this was a good way of seeing how much we used one before forking out a large amount. The boys are excited at the thought of toasting marshmallows on it! So here is everything I purchased for just under £100.



But now comes the hard work! Will my haul transform my garden? Join me in a couple of weeks time where I will share my garden makeover with you. Fingers crossed that the weather brightens up a bit. Then it will be time to arrange some housewarming BBQ's.

How do you get your garden ready for entertaining? What are your garden goals?