Creating Christmas Outdoor Designs from Plants in Your Garden

Decided this year I'd make a set of outdoor Christmas planters from evergreen plants we have in the garden. Having made so many designs over the years, it's time to reuse  the accents and items I have saved and come up with a way to make inexpensive, lovely planters for this holiday season.

If you're like me, you probably have a box just like this....stashed away in the garage.

Given I live in Ontario, we don't have the same plants like the imported boughs (oregonea, princess pine, douglas fir or western cedar) and floral grade materials (eucalyptus, salal, magnolia). But there are so many other choices we can use to have a similar effect.

In this sample, I reused all our accents from the past 3 years. I added cuttings from plants such as:

1:  Boxwood

2: Yews

3: Junipers

4: Ivy

5: Euonymus

6: Birch (also reused from past years)

7: Dogwood

Other selections you can use too:

• Holly
• Ilex
• Spruce
• Sumac
• Hydrangea
• Alder
• Cedar
• Rose-hips
• Pussywillow

I pruned all the cuttings in ways to promote a balanced habit. Do not butcher the best parts of the plant in order to fill your planter. Think of thinning and adjusting shape. Just layer and remember your accents can hide blunt ends.

Don't forget:  the bottom branches off your live Christmas tree work great too!

Follow the directions on how to layer and place within your planter on one of my previous blog DIY posts and here...have fun designing.

Reuse and add anything that you have saved.

Use what works for you and you'll be able to make beautiful arrangements that are welcoming for this Christmas season!

Here I just added some artificial dyed magnolia stems for a punch of red!

Apart from buying these 3 red accents, designing these 3 outdoor creations didn't cost me one penny. All reused materials from years past and a few cuttings from the garden, these planters still look great!

Enjoy this Christmas season and perhaps plan for 2017's garden, by adding some plants which can carry you through designing Christmas planters for next season.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Natural Outdoor Winter (Container) Urn Design

Frosty nights and cold days damage what ever is left of fall planters. Right now, garden centres and florists are fully stocked with evergreen boughs and accents. Time to get designing, and get your planters ready before the soil is too frozen solid to work. Selection is usually best by the end of November, so don't miss out. If you're worried it's too early, don't - you can always store the boughs in a garage or shed until you design closer to Christmas. However, be forewarned regarding your soil. It may be too frozen to work or empty.

Here are two natural winter urn inserts:

Here I used a mixture of birch stems, dogwood, white pine, western cedar, douglas fir, oregonia, magnolia, seeded eucalyptus, glittered rattan balls, glittered seed pods, birch lollies, and pine cones.

I enjoy using white tipped pine cones with birch stems. It blends in nicely with each other and looks even better with snow.

The container here is a 10" fibre pot filled with sand. Sturdy, easy to pop into any existing decorative container.

Please check out my other designs!