When spring rolls around, there’s nothing quite like getting outside, enjoying the nice weather, and celebrating with friends and family. In short, when spring arrives, it’s time to throw a garden party.

Think about it: cold drinks, good food, fun lawn games, and your favorite people celebrating the warm weather. Is there anything better?

It’s true that many people enjoy a good garden party and good weather and fun is great for everyone’s health. But pulling off a good garden party takes a little bit of time and more than a little planning. Here’s what you need to know to pull off the perfect garden party in your backyard.

Making Everyone Comfortable

Whether you’re a party planning expert or a novice, there are plenty of benefits to hosting a garden party in your own backyard:

  • You have more control over the event
  • You can save money on the cost of the party venue
  • Your backyard is an intimate setting for the perfect party
  • You can serve whatever food and drink you want

One of the most important parts of a good garden party is making sure your guests are comfortable. These days there are a slew of party rental companies who can get you anything you need. From tables to decorations to tents, it’s easy to find exactly what you need. What’s even better is that there are 15.5 million trucks operating in the United States and millions of them can ship all the goods you need for your perfect garden party.

There’s no doubt garden parties can be a boon for everyone’s health, but making guests comfortable also includes providing shade and sunscreen on hot, sunny days. If the party is during the evening, make sure you’ve got citronella candles and bug spray on hand; swarms of mosquitoes aren’t exactly going to make your guests comfortable or relaxed.

Don’t Forget the Games

It’s estimated that American sporting goods stores brought in $45.19 billion in 2019. You can bet that outdoor activities are essential at a good garden party.

This can be as simple as investing in a net for playing badminton or volleyball. If you’re fine with simpler games, purchase a few footballs for guests to play games of catch. A fancier garden party can always benefit from a croquet set or some lawn darts or even a corn hole set.

If you’re going to have a mixed crowd with kids on hand, don’t fret. You can have some kid-friendly activities on hand. Think bubbles, hula hoops, or even some sidewalk chalk. Who knows, maybe the adults will join in on these activities.

Keep Control

Every garden party can be a great time, but it’s essential that the host keeps things under control. That means keeping music at levels that are in line with local sound ordinances. It also means cleaning up as the party is going on rather than waiting until the end of the night to clean up. Put trash cans in easy-to-find places to save some effort on your part. When it does come time for the party to end, get some folks to help you tidy up and make clean up a lot easier and faster.

Plan to Serve Seasonal Food

There are any number of options when it comes to serving food at a garden party. You can serve a health-conscious homemade menu or you can bring in catered food. If you really want to knock it out of the park, you can’t go wrong with serving a seasonal menu. You can kick things off with a cold glass of delicious lemonade or a seasonal fruit drink. Depending on the demographic of the party (i.e. if it’s adults-only), you can also serve seasonal craft beer.

If you’re looking to serve a healthy, filling meal, you don’t have to break the bank to do it. You can shop at your local markets for fresh seasonal ingredients and finding recipes that use those ingredients. Anyone can have catered food at a party, but fresh, homemade food can really impress guests and have them asking for your recipes, especially if it’s healthy.

Establish a Cheerful Atmosphere

You can have professional decorators come in and set up lavish decor for your party or you can rent the things you need from party rental companies. Even then, you can add some nice personal touches with some simple DIY hacks. DIYing your decorations gives you total control over the final look for your event; alternatively, if you’re short on time then investing in ready-made decorations may be the best option.

Deciding on a theme will narrow down the decorating options. The decorations will help bring your party vision to life and will brighten up the mood of your guests. For example, if Easter is your chosen theme, then balloons, plastic eggs, and Easter-themed inflatables will undoubtedly create a vibrant and festive atmosphere.  Inflatable Easter decorations give you unique advantages that many other decorative options don’t offer, as they can be customized into Easter-related characters or shapes of your choice!

You can really bring out the greenery in your backyard by making some paper (or tissue-paper) flowers or you can add new coats of paint to things like fold-out chairs. You can establish a cheery atmosphere further by adding some lighting when it starts to get dark. By adding some romantic, soft lighting, like string lights or battery-powered lanterns, you can really add some texture, color, and excitement to your party.

Maintain Your Lawn

If you’re going to host the perfect garden party, you’re going to think about your lawn health. Maintaining a healthy lawn is important and it takes a little more work than you may think, whether you’re mowing or pruning or even preventing crabgrass. Here’s what you need to do to look after the health of your lawn.

The first thing you need to do is some simple pruning. Go around the yard and be sure to cut off any disfigured or broken branches that have been warped by the snow and ice of winter. You’ll need to remove any unwanted branches on all shrubs and trees too. If you’ve got flowering shrubs, they need to be pruned in early spring depending on when they bloom.

You’re also going to need to clean up the leaves from your yard. You might be thinking, “I already cleaned up leaves in the fall.” Chances are pretty good however that your yard has some leaves on it from the winter months. If you’re going to clean up leaves, don’t go crazy. You absolutely don’t have to pick up every single leaf — in fact, a few leaves in the yard here and there add some character to the yard. But you do want to make sure you don’t rake leaves into a wet ground, which creates conditions for decay and disease.

You can get spring lawn care tips at Gilmour, but one of the biggest things you’re going to need when it comes to monitoring lawn health is to deal with weeds as quickly as possible. It’s no secret that aggressive and invasive weed problems can get worse and worse with each summer day. As the days pass, the roots get stronger and ultimately can get more difficult to pull out. If you’re looking to minimize the spread of weeds on your lawn, there’s a lot of simple steps to take:

  • Don’t over and underwater your lawn. Most lawns require one inch of water weekly.
  • When you mow the lawn, don’t mow it too short.
  • Leave your mower clippings on the lawn.
  • Plant some wildflowers.

If you’re mowing the lawn, you need to wait until the grass is roughly 2-3 inches tall. This is especially true after the winter because your lawn needs some time to recover. If you live in an area with consistent rainfall, however, you might be surprised at how fast your lawn grows and you may have to mow it a few times to find the perfect length before you host your party.

With perfect lawn health, you’ll have the perfect area to host the perfect garden party to ring in spring. By taking time to work out the logistics and then adding your own personal touches, you’ll create a wonderful party your guests will enjoy and remember.