Channel 7: Using Your Landscape for Outdoor Holiday Decoration

There are many materials available in most of our landscapes that you can use to decorate for the holiday season.  By now, your flower pots that had nice summer flowers in them are empty and waiting to be filled.  Why not take the opportunity to add to your holiday decorations?

These cuttings or plants can be used as layering in pots or in accents to your decor (Phil displays an example of holiday decorating with plants & branch cuttings).

For example:

• Red Twig Dogwoods – their red branches make for excellent center pieces for height and dramatic natural color
• Evergreens – junipers, arborvitae, spruce and pine branches provide excellent green foliage
• Mahonia repens – evergreen, holly-like texture and appearance
• Ornamental grasses – still have green aesthetic appeal right now
• Hawthorns – great branching
• Holly – traditional piece

There are products such as “wilt-proof” that help keep natural moisture in and prolong the drying of the evergreen branches.

You can buy the plants at your local nursery or garden center and add from your landscape.  You can also accent with pinecones, nuts, and berries.