Wealden Times | WT178 | December 2016 | Interiors supplement inside

Garden
Deck the halls
Jo Arnell celebrates the Yuletide tradition – and fun – of decorating your house with evergreens
Traditions surrounding mid-winter celebrations have
been wreathed in evergreen foliage down through
the ages. The Romans decorated their villas with
evergreens to mark the winter festival of Saturnalia, the Pagans
celebrated the winter solstice with holly and ivy and the
Vikings decorated evergreen trees at Yuletide.
It seems that the ancients knew a thing or two about winter
and how to get through it with greenery. Long-lasting green
leaves were linked to immortality; they kept the essence of
warmer days alive and symbolised the hope of spring’s return.
Indoor evergreens were even thought to be safe places for
friendly woodland spirits to hibernate.
So decorating our interiors with fresh and fragrant foliage
is a natural thing to do (except for the hibernating spirits, I’m
thinking – there are enough woodland creatures in my house
already). It’s also ecological, economical – and healthy.
Gathering is good for you
The amount of daylight we directly experience affects the
levels of serotonin, which drop when natural light levels are
low. This can cause depression, suppress our immune system
and affect our appetite and metabolism – so called SAD
(Seasonal Affective Disorder).
This month can be full of tensions and too much indoor
activity as it is, so it’s vital to try to get outside and into
natural light as much as possible. Going out for a walk in
winter is cheek-warmingly good for you and if there’s a
purpose to the walk – as in festive foraging – so much the
better. Added to this is the dopamine effect of picking and
gathering (dopamine is a mood-lifting chemical released in the
brain’s reward centre).
Also, if you want to get the children outside and exhausted,
they might be more willing if the walk is a quest for Christmas
decorations (I only said might). The gathering process can take
hours and hours if needed and can be cunningly spread out
over several expeditions.
Long-lasting leaves
Many evergreens are suitable for bringing into the house and
some will stay looking fresh long past Christmas Day. Some
useful garden evergreens:
Holly – very traditional, but can be a bit prickly and hard on
the fingers, so wear gloves when handling.
Ivy – is still one of the best Christmas evergreens, as it has
Viburnum davidii
pliable stems, attractive leaves, flowers and fruits (small clusters
of black berries). The variegated forms add a touch of white or
gold and look good against other dark leaves.
Spotted Laurel (Aucuba japonica) – can be used as a wreath
base, or to line a plain bowl piled with nuts or clementines.
Conifer foliage is wonderful as a wreath or swag base and
many varieties are scented. (Christmas is about the only time
of the year when I don’t curse the huge conifers that tower
behind our house.)
Viburnum tinus – is completely overlooked in the garden
for much of the year, a dark green blob that blends into the
background, but it lasts very well inside and often has flowers
too which look effective on wreaths and in table decorations.
Herbs – are lovely fragrant additions and the leaves of bay and
rosemary dry well.
Other long-lasting leaves to try: Ruscus, Pittosporum,
Osmanthus and Euonymus – these have small leaves and are
useful as fillers in table decorations and on wreaths or swags.
Natural decorations
While you’re out on your foraging trip, look around at some
of the other plants. You’ll find that there are plenty of other
living (and dead) things to make decorations with: berries,
seed-heads and interesting twigs (just watch out for anything
sharp or poisonous).
Skeletal forms and the tracery of stems and seed-heads
make delicate and understated decorations that last really
well. Look out for the faded bracts of Hydrangeas, which can
look impressive on wreaths or just in a vase. The flowers of
ornamental grasses can be used to good effect too.
Husks and cones are particularly effective: beechnuts and
alder cones can be left on the twigs and added to vases of
flowers or paperwhite narcissi. Some twigs and branches
137 wealdentimes.co.uk