Every year, although we await it eagerly, spring seems to leap upon us. We seem to spend the winter waiting for warmer weather then, before we know it, the garden is growing and the weeds are the ones growing the fastest.
We’re all familiar with the time when we step outside to peruse the damage done by the harsh winter weather. As the sun beams down, we try to make the most of the days by dragging the children away from the TV and out into the garden to play.
This year we had a deadline for this, an impossible deadline to have all barns, orchards, and the entire farm child and camera crew friendly for a big birthday party. I’d taken on the mammoth task of organising a Frozen inspired get together for the entire village and my children’s friends. I manipulated time so it was on my side, what wasn’t was the weather. Despite having days to clear rubbish away, the weather seemed to mock me and more than once I returned to a log fire drenched and colder than ever.
The event was a 4th birthday party for my youngest Percy. It was being covered by many digital magazines and filmed by a production company for Channel 4. This meant all the jobs we had planned to do during the summer needed to be completed by early April. Along with a lot of aesthetic tweaking, which we found in the form of bedding plants in flower and vibrant wood paints from Ronseal.
This year, preparing the garden for outdoor fun seemed hectic and exhausting but well worth it.
This is how the area looked before we started:
In fact that’s how it looked the summer before we started. A winter of disarray, pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs and ducks made it look more like a huge muddy puddle.
This was going to need some powerful equipment and we started with:
- Petrol Pressure Washer – Thank You Aldi Special Buys
- A Petrol Lawnmower – Thank You Lawnmaster
- A Lot of Paint – Thank You Ronseal, Rustoleum and Sandtex
On top of this we needed accessories to brighten it up. What better way to do this than with planters and plants.
This time we searched high and low for unusual planters that would really capture the imagination of children. This wasn’t an easy feat. Unless we wanted wicker or plastic hanging baskets it seemed we were out of luck. We made some of our own drilling holes in old tin buckets and using the Ronseal paint to spruce them up (that paint will adhere to anything) and then, just when we thought we wouldn’t find anything a company got in touch.
These make colourful, durable, space age, self watering planters that are incredible. We couldn’t wait to try them. Coincidentally they also matched our colour scheme, which was basically Balamory/ Teletubbies/ Frozen inspired.
Visit www.lechuza.co.uk for an exciting array of self-watering planters to suit any space, taste or budget which are perfect for gardening with children.
You can see their other post they wrote for The Young Gardener here.
As we prepared the area after winter, a production team filmed our every move. We were being followed for a documentary for Channel 4. Here’s our DIY and maintenance man being filmed used the Lawnmaster Petrol Lawnmower as he prepares the children’s play area.
Justin is also the owner of Decorators Devon and it’s his skills we used to create the perfect look using the Ronseal garden paints. Nothing escaped the paintbrush and for just £100 we transformed the whole area ready for a huge Frozen party.
Are you ready?
Remember the before picture?
Now, take a look at the After!
We also had a little help from Sutton’s seeds who made our hanging baskets come to life with incredible flowering bedding plants. Before this we assumed they only sold seeds but now, online, they sell a wide range of flowers, plugs, vegetables and trees. We will be back! Highly recommended!
Living in a conservation area we did receive a few concerned comments about the vibrant colours, however most agreed they added welcome vibrancy to the forest we lived in. The party went without a hitch and I became quite addicted to Ronseal paints, covering everything from the wooden planters to our picnic bench.
Check back soon for news of the documentary on Channel 4 that will feature this party, the brands we used and much, much more.
Now, there’s only one question left to ask.
Do you wanna build a snowman?