Top tips for a successful open day
Decide well in advance on what you want to offer - be creative. As well as showing people your garden, do you want to:
- sell refreshments - in which case what, and how will you organise it?
- offer plants or flowers/vegetables for sale? You'll need to get started on growing them well in advance and maybe get others to help.
- be more ambitious and make hanging baskets or small patio containers to sell?
- if you are artistic, paint or decorate flower pots to sell?
- put up a cake or garden produce, or second hand book stall on the patio with a collecting box for donations?
- hold a competition - eg a prize for the xth person to go though the gate/ guess the weight of the pumpkin?
- display some information from the MS Trust?
Planning in the garden
- Decide which areas of your garden people will be able to access and mark them clearly.
- Do you want to guide people round a set route or let them wander freely?
- Think about health and safety issues - for instance: draw attention to any potential hazards, eg: "Mind your head here" - "Slippery path" - "Deep water" - "Poisonous berries: don't eat" and block off any particularly awkward areas
- Maybe prepare a small explanatory leaflet or plant list and/or label unusual plants.
- Sort out a suitable place to sell your refreshments.
- What will you do about toilet access, if visitors need it?
- What will you do if it rains?
Ideas for getting support
- Contact any local gardening clubs/allotment societies to see if they can help or if their members would like to visit.
- Ask local garden centres or nurseries to donate plants or seeds for you to sell.
- Invite a local gardening expert to do a practical demonstration for visitors, for instance how to plant up hanging baskets.
- Get local schools involved - many of them are very keen on gardening and might do a project related to your garden or spread the word to parents.
...and publicity
- Tailor your publicity to how many people you think you can manage.
- Get your family and friends to pass the word around.
- Ask local shops, libraries, garden centres etc to display posters.
- Get the local media involved - they love local interest stories. Click here for advice on how to write and issue a press release.
After the event...
- Collect in all donations and send them to the MS Trust. We will write to thank you as soon as we have received your donation.
- Please send us a few photographs - we'd love to have some for our website.
- If you'd like us to write and thank anyone who was particularly generous, or any local people or companies that supported your event, we would be very happy to do so.
- How did it go? Any tips to share? We'd love to hear how your open garden event went and if you have any tips that you think might benefit other people, please let us know.
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