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Fun and easy patio parties allow you to showcase your patio for friends and family to enjoy. A wonderful patio party that can be enjoyed by everyone attending does not have to require tons of preparation or tons of money to be a huge success. After all, you want to be able to enjoy the event rather than slaving away or using all your energy in preparations.

There are six key steps to creating fun and easy patio parties which will ensure success. Follow these steps as you plan you patio party and you'll find the party so much fun, you'll want to host another party very, very soon.

Invitations

You must let the people know exactly when and where you patio party is being held. If you have a computer, creating inexpensive invitations is very easy. If you do not have a computer, you can purchase ready-made invitations and simply fill in the information.

Include in your invitation the time the party is to begin and, to ensure that everyone leaves in time for you to be ready for the next day, establish a time for the party to end. For example, you might want to host an afternoon patio barbeque from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. or an evening party from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. By establishing an ending time, guests will know what to expect and will plan accordingly.

If you are inviting guests who are not familiar with where your home is located, it is a good idea to include directions and a contact phone number. It is very easy to use one of the mapping applications available online to print out a small map for inclusion in the invitation.

Seating:

You'll know the maximum number of guests to expect from the invitations extended. You'll want to plan to have seating available for as many guests as possible. Your patio table and chairs will provide some of this seating, but probably not nearly enough. You can bring out the dining room chairs, folding metal or plastic chairs, and collect lawn chairs from other parts of your lawn and garden to place around the patio and backyard area for seating. Stools, sturdy benches, and other seating arrangements can be used as well. If you host a large [party], you may wish to borrow or rent some chairs to supplement those you own. Fall parties can feature extra seating by placing bales of hay in the backyard and along the edges of the patio.

Decorations:

An inexpensive, beautiful decoration for evening patio parties that are fun and easy may be right in your holiday decorations. Small twinkling Christmas lights make great decorations when installed along the patio or deck railing, wrapped around support posts, or strung in large plants. Japanese lanterns also add to the atmosphere for evening parties on the patio.

Depending on the date of your party, you may have a party theme such as 4th of July, a birthday, or an anniversary. In these cases, choose simple decorations based on the theme. For 4th of July decorating you can tape red, white and blue streamers around the patio. For a birthday or anniversary, choose colors from the cake for streamers and balloons.

Use your potted plants for decorations. Simply move them to locations which are out of the traffic pattern yet can be seen by guests. Group smaller plants around larger specimens and you will create real impact. Groom your plants a few days before the party so you aren't rushing at the last minute.

Food:

Select food that is fun and easy to prepare for your . Everyone loves finger food such as chips and dip, vegetable trays, fruit trays, and put-it-together-yourself sandwich trays with cold cuts and cheeses. You can buy ready-made food from your nearby deli or grocer or prepare trays yourself to save money.

You can choose to grill beef, pork, chicken, or seafood if you wish, but be sure to really get organized in advance so you do not spend all your time grilling instead of enjoying the party. Ask a friend or two to help with the grilling chores.

Drinks:

There is no need to serve fancy drinks at a patio party. You can simply place a wide selection of popular soft drinks on ice in a large chest cooler and let everyone choose their own drink. Be sure to include diet drinks as well as those with sugar since some of your guests may be on restricted diets. You can also place large pitchers or dispensers of water, lemonade, and ice tea in easy-to-access locations beside a cooler of ice and a supply of paper cups so guests can serve themselves.

Clean-up:

Place trash receptacles in key spots so guests can dispose of their paper plates, cups, and other refuse themselves. Use paper tablecloths so you can simply bundle these up and dispose of them quickly at the end of your fun and easy patio party.

If you live in a townhouse, you may think you can’t really enjoy gardening and landscaping. This is not true at all! You can have fun with a townhouse patio garden that is lush and beautiful. You’ll be the envy of your neighbors as you sit on your patio and enjoy your landscaping efforts.

Planning a Townhouse Patio Garden

The first consideration you must keep in mind when planning your [patio garden] is whether you own the townhouse and associated property or whether you rent the property. Also, if you own your townhouse but it is part of a neighborhood association or is a condominium townhouse, you must determine what rules must be followed when changing the landscape. Even if your townhouse association has the strictest rules about planting shrubs or removing existing plants, you can still create a beautiful patio garden by container gardening. Just be sure to know what you can plan to include before you begin.

Because the patio space of your townhouse is limited and you may well have a balcony that extends over the patio, creating a “roof”, you must consider what size the plants you include in your landscaping and gardening, whether planted in the ground or in containers, will be once they reach maturity. You will need to select plants that will fit into the space limitations, allowing the plant to thrive while not growing to the point it knocks down a fence or grows through the balcony!

Watering your townhouse patio is another consideration. Is there easy access to water or will you need to carry cans of water from inside the townhouse? While many townhouses have outdoor water spigots, not all of them have them located where you want to place your plants. You can, however, use an attachment that connects to a nearby sink or wet bar that allows a self-recoiling hose to be used for watering patio container plants if an outdoor water source is not available.

Plants to Consider

Crotons make beautiful low-maintenance shrubbery that can be planted or grown in containers along the edge of a patio garden. These plants are perfect for sun-filled areas as their leaves reach the height of color in full sun, but they also do very well in partial or even full shade. They are easy enough the novice can enjoy lush plants. When kept in containers or pruned, they will never reach a size that is a problem for the patio gardener. Crotons also can survive all but the very harshest winters very nicely.

If you live in a sunny area, or if you want a lush, tropical atmosphere, palms are perfect for container gardening on your patio. Plant a large palm in a suitable container and place the container on a plant dolly with wheels so you can move it easily and move it indoor during freezing weather.

Depending on your how far south you live, patio gardens can be perfect for growing orchids. The orchid pots can easily be attached to the privacy fencing commonly seen around townhouse patios. Orchids like partial shade and lots of humidity. If you can provide these needs, you can have a fantastic show of blooms for a large portion of the year. Many townhouses have patios that include privacy fencing to separate one patio from another. If you love humming birds, this fence is a wonderful place to grow vines that humming birds love. The cypress vine, butterfly vine or any flowering vine that has pink or red blossoms can make a great attractant for hummingbirds and make a lovely landscape feature for your townhouse patio garden.

Townhouse patio gardens can be fun and just because you do not live in a free-standing residential house, you do not have to miss the joy of gardening. These are just a few ideas you can use to make your townhouse patio appealing and a place to enjoy.