Tell Homebase how you prepare your garden for summer visits from DGC - £300 Homebase voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

Sweep up the patio, jet wash it, get the chairs and table out of the hut, pick poop off the garden and lastly cut the grass.

Hide all the fragile ornaments

No special prep or plans, other than having simple games to hand for taking outside when they arrive

Actually, nothing. Our garden is large with plenty of hiding places and a patio area with a BBQ. No pond and no pets so no safety/hygiene issues with those.

Favourite games are crazy croquet (the lawn is very uneven)and 'finding Daddy in the dark'. Hide and seek in the garden after dark. Best hiding places were when Daddy curled up in the plastic chest we keep chair cushions in in the summer. It is in a hidden alcove. It took ages to find him. It took even longer to find DD who climbed our big tree and got higher than anyone had ever got before.

We plant up strawberries in a container so that our 3 year old grandson can help himself - container is at just the right height.

We also have two oversized outdoor floor cushions (lugged them back from a holiday in Turkey, they're made from carpeting) and he loves to laze on those in the garden, sometimes nodding off over a book like a little old man.

But mostly, he loves to help his grandpa water the plants using the hosepipe and ... Mum's face is usually a picture because it ends in him getting soaked and full of mud.

Evict any spiders from the play sand and water table
Clean and disinfect the swing of any bird droppings.
Cover the pond so that the very inquisitive ten month old can't get into it accidentally
Retreat to lounge and put on earmuffs and let darling daughter supervise her little angels!

firstly owning 3 dogs we start with a poo pick. make sure the grass and flowers are watered, set out a plan of what we will do ei food drinks, games and the all important indoor strategy should the weather change.