For those who are preparing for a spring garden event to be held in their own garden, follow these simple steps to remove the stress of getting the garden perfect for the special day.

Be realistic with what you hope to achieve. Many changes can be completed with a minimal budget; all they need is a little extra time.
If all your garden requires is extra colour to add the finishing touches, head down to your local garden centre and find out what is available for planting so it looks fabulous at the time of the event. Seedlings should be planted between 3 and 4 months before the event, depending upon the time of the year. This gives them time to mature enough and develop strong sturdy root system before the flowers appear. Garden owners sometimes find this difficult as seedling planting is very seasonal and often the varieties on the shelf at the time of the visit are not the varieties that will be available at the time of planting.
If planning to plant advanced pots, (referred to as a ‘potted colour’) you have some time up your sleeve. These instant flowering plants can go in the ground up to a day before the event, but it’s better to let them settle in for about 3 weeks before the onslaught of visitors.
Pre-order ‘potted colour’ about 4-6 weeks before planting, as this will give their suppliers enough time to put your order aside and select the best quality plants for you.
Mass plant areas, by jamming the plants in close together. This will create an overall effect and an illusion of plants in full flower. This way, it’s not so critical if individual plants are on the small side. Remember to water in with Seasol (30mL per 9 litres of water – standard watering can) as this will kick start your plants.
Timing existing plants in the garden to flower brilliantly on the exact day is a little tricky and everyone who is having a garden event wants their roses to be perfect on the day. While we can’t predict weather, pruning at a different time can change main flowering time by a couple of weeks either side of the main flowering flush. For roses to flower exactly on a special day is very much weather related so the trick is to have many repeat flowering varieties to give an overall illusion of abundant colour.
A week before the event fill every container, pot or basket with plants in flower or varieties that have stunning foliage colour. These can be used as backups or move around to fill any bare spots as needed.
Apply an organic based fertiliser, such as PowerFeed over the complete garden in the lead up to the event for 3 or 4 months. Put a sprayer aside for fertiliser only and apply over the foliage every fortnight. Foliar fertilisers are absorbed very readily and there is no wastage, leaching or runoff.

Before you know it the whole garden will be looking fabulous in no time and remember a garden full of healthy plants is a joy to be in.