[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading][vc_single_image image=”295″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
d a festive touch to your home by livening up your holiday décor with a wreath from the garden. Composed of items like evergreen cuttings and berries, such eye-catching wreaths are easy and inexpensive to make, and they allow you to express your creativity, says James Farmer, author of five books, including Wreaths for All Seasons.
“Wreaths are your chance to make an artistic expression of the season,” says Farmer, who is also editor-at-large for Southern Living. He offers his top tips for creating your own holiday wreaths from the landscape.
Materials. A wide variety of items from the garden make good additions to your wreath. Foliage from evergreen trees and shrubs works well, such as pine, cypress, juniper, fir, cedar, boxwood, holly, pittosporum, and rosemary. For embellishment, choose from a wide variety of garden items, including pine cones, berries, flowers and fruits. Farmer suggests incorporating as wide a variety of garden items as possible in order to “wow the senses.”
Base. Use a wire wreath base or fashion one out of trimmings from plants such as magnolia, pine, boxwood, holly, cedar, cypress, fir, grape vine, or eucalyptus. The latter choice emits a pleasant scent and lends an attractive blue-green color to the wreath.
Create the circular base when the plant cuttings are fresh and malleable. Once you have the desired size and shape, secure it with craft or florist wire. The plant material will dry into the form you’ve created.
Construction. Within the metal or stem base, start by weaving in foliage from the garden and securing it to the base with wire. As you work, Farmer suggests thinking of the wreath “as a compass. Make sure that each ‘direction’ is well placed and arranged,” he says. “Think about what you’re putting on the ‘north, south, east, and west’ coordinates or the top, bottom, right and left, and then fill in with more materials and accents, such as the pine cones, berries, flowers, and fruits.”
Placement. Be inspired when it comes to decorating your home with your garden wreaths, says Farmer. “Don’t just limit them to doors or windows. They’re wonderful as accents over your mantle, affixed onto a mirror, hanging on an armoire or on the back of a chair.”
Maintenance. Since they are made from living items, garden wreaths require some extra care to keep them looking fresh. Avoid placing them near drying heat sources. If hanging wreaths outside, mist on a daily basis to keep them fresher longer. Farmer also advises ensuring that your materials are freshly cut and not drying out before crafting your wreath. And he suggests soaking the entire wreath in water for five minutes before dripping dry and hanging.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
