Christmas Garden Ideas to Spruce up Your Outdoor Space

If you’re looking to go all out this festive season, you might be looking for some fantastic Christmas garden ideas to spruce up your outdoor areas. Decorating inside the home can really help you feel festive, but decorating your garden can spread the cheer – whether you want it to look merry to passers-by, you want to improve the view from your windows, or you are planning on entertaining outside. 

Regardless of the reason, we’ll give you some inspiration with six great Christmas garden decoration ideas that will wow Santa and whoever else comes to call!

Why You Should Decorate Your Garden This Christmas

There are a number of reasons why you might want to decorate your garden this Christmas. If you have kids, it can extend the festive feel right to the bottom of the garden, helping get them excited for Christmas. Maybe the Elf can even leave the Shelf and make an outdoor excursion!

You might need a little help getting in the festive spirit yourself, or you might be planning to entertain outside. A garden party can be a wonderful way to celebrate, though for these types of Christmas garden ideas, the UK weather also has to be taken into consideration. Outdoor heating, overhead cover, and indoor alternatives if the weather does turn can all help.

Decorating your garden can also just be a nice way to brighten up your home and outdoor spaces for the holiday period, spreading good cheer through your neighbourhood.

If you are planning on decorating your garden this Christmas, a little forward planning can go a long way. Creating a decor plan, with a list of decorations and their locations, can help you to make your outdoor space a real festive success.

What are the Christmas Trends for 2025?

Christmas trends for 2025 include a mix of traditional and modern styles. Popular themes such as ‘Country Christmas’ and ‘Woodland’ are very popular, harking back to a more traditional and rustic style. Some commentators have coined the term ‘Kitschmas’, and this trend also features whimsical and playful elements such as gingerbread figures and mushrooms. Unexpected elements with bright bursts of colour also feature, with pastels and bright shades of pink and blue being particularly popular.

There’s also a trend for ‘Sophisticated Cosiness’, using subtle lighting and colour schemes such as deep jewel tones and classic Christmas reds and greens. Elegant and minimalist black and white colour schemes are also popular with some people.

Of course, you don’t have to follow trends. Some Christmas classics remain perennial favourites, and your own personal tastes should also guide how you decorate.

Our 6 Christmas Garden Ideas

1. Christmas Lighting

One of the most popular garden Christmas decoration ideas is to use lighting. Fairy lights are an all-time classic, of course, but there are plenty of other ways to add a Christmasy feel to an outdoor space. 

Some lighting options include:

• String lights
• Lanterns
• Fairy lights
• Festoon lights

Lights can be hung or wrapped around structures such as pergolas, around trees, on fences, or strung above and around doors. You should ensure that you use lights that are suitable for outdoors. Decking lights can also be incorporated, and you can check out our decking lighting ideas for more inspiration.

2. Set up a Christmas Tree

Christmas trees aren’t just for indoors. You can also set up one or more outside to extend the festive vibes. 

Choices include: 

• Actual pine or fir trees
• Fake trees
• Fake trees that are pre-decorated

You could also decorate any kind of existing trees in the garden with lighting and Christmas decorations, to make less traditional Christmas trees. 

Outdoor Christmas trees can be decorated in a variety of ways depending on the look, theme or feel you’re going for – from bright, loud and fun to more subtle and restrained. Again, you should ensure that the lights and decorations are suitable for outside use.

The placement of your trees can be important to the overall look, which is why it can be useful to make a decor plan. 

3. Create a Festive Screen

A festive garden screen is a unique idea that can act as a stand-out feature in a festive garden.

Decorative trellis garden screens are always designed to be attractive and interesting features, but they can also be decorated with lights and decorations to add a more festive feel. Placing plants such as holly and ivy at the base, or having them climb the screens, can also add a natural feel to your Christmas garden ideas.

4. Decorate With Festive Plants

Festive plants can also be used throughout the garden. Holly, ivy and mistletoe are classic choices, but there are plenty of other options such as Christmas roses, amaryllis, poinsettia, winter-blooming cyclamen, and the Christmas cactus – a low-maintenance succulent that blooms with vibrant flowers in winter. Some plants will be fine exposed to the elements, while others will need a little more shelter.

If it’s too late to grow or establish live plants, you could also try fake plants, or make existing greenery, plants and trees more Christmassy by adding ornaments and lights.

5. Incorporate Cosy Seating

Seating can be one of the most important parts of a Christmas garden, especially if you are hosting a garden party or otherwise entertaining outdoors. If you already have a seating area on a deck, for example, this can be the perfect opportunity to jazz it up for Christmas. 

You could consider options such as: 

• Christmas-themed cushions
• Planters
• String lights
• Hanging decorations from a pergola or gazebo

6. Create a Festive Display

A full festival display is not for everyone, but it can be a lot of festive fun, especially if you have kids or are planning on hosting a Christmas party.

A festive display could include a makeshift Santa’s grotto, light-up figures including Santa, reindeers and a snowman, or a Nativity scene. You can also incorporate string lights or fairy lights, while lanterns can add a softer glow.

Christmas Garden FAQs