Christmas is right around the corner and my wife is already starting to get the boxes of Christmas decorations from the garage. With just 2 weeks until Thanksgiving, I am beginning to gather materials for our annual Holiday Creations – setting up outdoor décor for businesses and some homeowners. I try to use primarily locally sourced materials for all of our décor.
These are just some of the materials I like to use. Most are growing either in the nursery or arboretum here at Grimm’s Gardens or in my own backyard. Many times I can forage for the sumac or bushclover in the ditches or at state parks. I also cut and use dried hydrangea blooms, red and gold twig dogwood, willow, crabapple branches, hawthorn branches, teasel, beautyberry, and grasses. I do not typically use holly or winterberry because they do not grow around here naturally. And I never use fake materials.
Below is my foraged materials from a few years ago: coralberries from my yard, arborvitae from the nursery, red and yellow twig dogwood branches, painted hydrangea and teasel seedheads. I like to use white pine pinecones wired together and painted red or silver.
Here is a step by step picture of how easy it is to make these containers. The hardest part is making the bow, but YouTube helps with that.
Here is a finished container I did last year for a commercial customer. Sometimes the more variety of materials you have the better it looks, especially if using locally sourced products.
Another thing you can do is decorate objects, such as a wagon, old sled, or this rusty well pulley. It is easy to tuck some greens and berries into these things and add a few bells or ornaments. This was at my house last year.
Happy planting!