Surrey Homes | SH26 | December 2016 | Interiors supplement inside

Garden
Foliage, berries and seed-heads
foraged from the garden
are very effective tied loosely together with a few baubles or
fairy lights hung from them, especially those with coloured or
dramatic stems, like birch, willow or dogwood.
Seed-heads from poppies, alliums, honesty, physalis and
teasel make brilliant decorations, either lightly sprayed with
metallic paint, or left looking beautiful and natural.
practicalities
Don’t pick too early – lush and glossy evergreens should
be picked as close to Christmas as possible. To prolong the
display, or if you’re incorporating lots of fresh material, wet
florists’ foam can be used. A quick spray twice a day with a
mister is often all that’s needed to keep leaves perky.
Cut stems of plants with berries and store them in a bucket
of water in a cool shed or garage.
Be considerate – when cutting foliage, especially from
garden shrubs. Try not to hack great chunks
out of them – cut from the back and thin the
stems out carefully so that you don’t leave obvious holes
and gaps that will look odd for months.
Pick delicate seed-heads and stem tracery in advance if you
can, before they’re battered by the weather.
Compensate wildlife – birds and small mammals depend on
berries and winter fruits for their survival over the winter, so
don’t pick too many and put out some extra food on the bird
table in recompense.
Equipment – you won’t need much: a pair of secateurs and
gardening gloves (if you’re rummaging through the hedgerows
and pi cking prickly bits), some florists’ wire and ribbon for
hanging things. A glue gun is useful if spherical fruits and
seed-heads can’t be wired on.
Once you start looking in the garden it’s amazing to
discover how many plants are naturally decorative in winter
and it’s creatively satisfying (in a hunter-gatherer sort of
way) that so much of the garden can come inside to cheer
us through the dark days. The other great thing about using
evergreens and natural decorations is that after Christmas they
don’t go into the loft, but onto the compost heap (woodland
spirits and all). Hooray.
For information on next year’s gardening courses contact
Jo on 01233 861149 hornbrookmanor.co.uk
Patios and Drives • Fencing • Turfing • Decking • Water Features • Planting • Hedging • Brick and Dry Stone Walls
Andrews Landscaping
Specialists in Garden Design and Construction
Contact: Andy Stuttard BA (Hons) 01483 546228 | 07736 804961
Free Initial Consultation and Advice
www.andrewslandscaping.co.uk
wealdentimes.co.uk
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