4 top tips for a fun garden-friendly Bonfire Night
Nicky Roeber is an Online Horticultural Expert with Wyevale Garden Centres. Here, he shares his insider tips for hosting a Bonfire Night display in your garden.
Stock up on sparklers, get out your cosiest gloves and mull the cider: Bonfire Night is nearly here. But while a stunning fireworks display and a roaring fire can be great fun for family and friends, it can take a lot of work to get your garden ready and looking great. So, if you’ll be celebrating this November 5th, then you’ll need to know how to prepare and protect your outside space.
Here, we’ll share four ways to host a Bonfire Night bash in your garden that’s fun for the whole family, including tips on protecting wildlife, making your garden look the part, and keeping it safe from damage.
Protect garden wildlife
On this dark, chilly November night, we all love gathering around a blazing bonfire with a hot drink. But, when building your fire, you’ll want to spare a thought for the little critters you share your garden with. Unlit bonfires are a haven for small wildlife, including hedgehogs, frogs, toads, and newts, who like nothing better than taking shelter in a pile of logs, leaves and twigs. These small animals and amphibians play a vital role in your garden’s ecosystem, so it’s only right we do our best to protect them.
To keep wildlife safe, it’s best to build your bonfire on the same day that you plan to light it, as this will give curious creatures less time to sneak in. You’ll also need to check over your bonfire very carefully using a torch to make sure that nothing has taken up residence before you set it alight. It will also help to build small piles of sticks, logs, and leaves a safe distance away from your bonfire, as this will give wildlife somewhere else to hide — you could even get the kids involved in building their own small creature dens, too.
Swap your bonfire for a brazier
While building a bonfire the old-fashioned way can be great fun, it’s not the best idea if you don’t have a very spacious garden, and they take quite a while to build and light. Braziers and fire pits will allow you to stoke up a roaring fire in a smaller space, and you won’t need to worry about building a bonfire or checking for sleepy hedgehogs, either. And, you can enjoy your brazier whenever you use your garden on an evening throughout the rest of the year, too.
Whatever you choose, both bonfires and fire pits can be very beneficial for your garden. They’re a great way to burn up used garden waste, and the ash from wood fires is alkaline heavy and nutrient-rich, which makes it an excellent soil additive, especially if your soil is naturally acidic. So, once your celebration is over, and the ashes have sufficiently cooled, rake them into your beds or add them to your compost heap to improve the soil.
Be smart with Catherine wheels
With their colourful spinning sparks, Catherine wheels always put on a great display. But, as fireworks go, they’re one of the worst types for your garden, because they have an unfortunate habit of setting alight to the surfaces they’re mounted on. If possible, it’s best to stick to more traditional fireworks, but if you (or the kids) have your heart set on a Catherine wheel, you’ll want to make sure you set it up correctly.
Whatever you do, don’t mount your wheel to a tree, fence, or shed, as this is a sure way to cause damage. You can help to prevent any damage by setting up a separate wooden post for it, well away from trees and fences. Make sure the post is sufficiently high off the ground, and put some sand around the base of your post to protect your lawn from sparks.
Set the atmosphere
Good lighting is essential at a Bonfire Night gathering: not only will it set the atmosphere for your evening, but it will ensure there’s enough light for everyone to move, socialise, and play safely. So, you’ll want to deck your garden out in some ambient lighting.
Hurricane lanterns add a beautiful soft glow, and they look great lining a path or clustered together on a patio. If you’re worried that candles will be unsafe for your younger guests, then swap them for some LED battery-powered versions, instead. Fairy lights will help to set the atmosphere and provide extra lighting, and you can re-use them again at Christmas, too. Try winding them around a tree trunk for an eye-catching display of light.
Simply follow my tips, and you can look forward to a garden-friendly celebration that really goes off with a bang. Finally, while Bonfire Night can be an exciting time, you’ll need to make sure everyone stays safe, so remember to follow ROSPA’s firework code during your display.
Written by Nicky Roeber from Wyevale Garden Centres
