Deck the Halls with Holiday Decorations from the Garden

Bring the beauty of the outdoors into your home this holiday season by making your own centerpieces, wreaths, and swags from natural elements in your own landscape. Southerners have been decorating with garden materials since Colonial times. Simple evergreen garlands, bowls of fresh fruit studded with cloves, and containers of fragrant herbs and flowers, have long been traditional holiday decorations. You will be amazed at the amount of material you can collect just by taking a simple walk through your yard. 

After that last turkey leg is devoured at Thanksgiving, our energy turns toward Christmas decorating. You can create a professional look by following a few simple tips. Let’s look at how you can create a beautiful and inexpensive centerpiece.

Gather your supplies.

All these items can be purchased inexpensively at any local craft or floral supply store.

• Container (choose one you already own or purchase a simple green plastic container made specifically for centerpieces)
• Wet Foam oasis
• Floral tape and wire
• Ribbon and other embellishments
• Hot glue gun
• Plastic candle holders (optional)
• Floral glitter spray (optional)

Select your materials from the garden.

There is a wonderful variety of greenery appropriate for holiday decorations. Some of my favorites include holly, magnolia, rosemary, Leyland cypress, ivy, pine, camellia, mountain laurel, viburnum and nandina. When choosing greenery, look for sprays with berries and buds. Don’t forget to add other natural elements to give your arrangement color, texture and interest. Consider corkscrew or twisted branches, acorns, pine cones, berries, faded hydrangea blooms, magnolia pods, pecans, rose hips, sweet gum balls, moss and fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, apples and pears.

Create your centerpiece.

• Keep your greenery fresh by immediately placing the cut ends in water mixed with a floral preservative until you are ready to use it in the arrangement.
• Allow the wet foam to float on top of a container of water and sink to the bottom as it fills with water. This keeps the foam from developing air pockets.
• Place the wet foam in your container and secure with floral tape.
• Begin building your arrangement from the bottom, with larger sprays inserted into the foam. Keep adding greenery with an eye toward balance and symmetry.
• Add other natural elements, embellishments and bows. Secure by wire or glue gun. 
• Mist the finished arrangement.
• Keep it in a cool place. 

Keep Safety in Mind.

Check your centerpiece regularly for freshness and replace any greenery that becomes dry and brittle. Place your arrangement away from heat sources. If you use candles in your centerpiece, position the candles inside a glass lantern. Keep your arrangement out of reach of small children and pets since some plant materials can be poisonous.

Get Inspired! 

Don’t miss the Art of Landscaping’s Annual Holiday Wreath and Centerpiece Decorating workshop, Saturday, December 6, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church, 101 N. Peachtree Pkwy., Peachtree City. Join the design team at Art of Landscaping garden center for a fun day of creating beautiful wreaths, centerpieces, swags and other decorations from a plethora of natural materials from the garden. The cost is $65 and you can make as many things as you want, as long as supplies hold out. Everything will be available for you to use, including ribbon, bows, ornaments and other embellishments, and a variety of evergreen materials from the garden. Just bring your own pruners and/or scissors and any vases you want to use. For more information, and to preregister, call the garden center at: 770-461-4860.