Once just the domain of the Queen, the garden party is set to make a resurgence in Summer 2005. Over the next few months, it is estimated that 15 million Britons will give pubs and restaurants the cold shoulder in favour of heading to their gardens to entertain friends.

Standard Life Bank, which is predicting the trend, found that more than one in three garden owners (37%) are planning to spruce up their gardens for entertaining this summer.

These garden party hubs will be beautifully designed, with Brits taking inspiration from TV gardeners such as Diarmuid Gavin and Matt James. More than a third (38%) of garden owners are planning a full re-landscape, with one in five (22%) planning to add lighting and music features.

While the majority of garden party hosts (84%) will roll up their sleeves and get on with the work themselves, half (51%) will rope in friends and family and make the whole event a socialising exercise. The average spend on the garden will be up to £1,000 but one in 10 will spend between £1,000 and £4,000.

Andrew Boddie, Head of Marketing at Standard Life Bank, said: "The garden is becoming increasingly important for homeowners and is being treated as an extra room."

"The benefits of garden parties aren't just social; as people invest in their gardens they increase the value of their property. Homeowners planning big changes to their gardens could consider releasing equity from their mortgage to fund the transformation, borrowing at low rates over a timeframe that suits them."

Overall, Britons will spend an average of eight days a month gardening in 2005, with a third of garden owners (35%) pledging to spend more time gardening than they did last year.