Winter Planters Add Colour to a Snowy Landscape

Saturday, December 04, 2010 03:51 AM

Reusing your summer outdoor planters and urns over the winter months is a great way to add some glamour, and glitz to what can be an otherwise white outdoor landscape. It is quickly becoming a fashionable trend and is something different than hanging a wreath on the door.

You can use urns, frost resistant pots or, for another dimension, hanging baskets. Let your imagination go!

You can put the arrangement in a grower pot and then place the made up grower pot inside the decorative container.

Fresh greens such as cedar, pine, and spruce can be used or you can use deciduous branches and curly willow to mix in with them or on their own.

Ribbon, balls, berries, cones, and other Christmas decorations can be added to the fresh greens, as well as spraying glitter or snow on them to make it sparkle!

To make fresh arrangements, place an oasis which is used in fresh floral arrangements in the container. To keep the water from draining out of the container, use a container with no holes or place a liner in the container before putting the oasis in. To stop the oasis from moving around in the container, tape the oasis to the container. Soak the oasis is water for an hour before placing the greens in.

Once you have the container ready it is time to begin placing the greens in the oasis. Greens can be purchased from a garden centre or taken from your own landscape. If you are using greens from your own trees, use caution when pruning them off. Use sharp clean pruners and only snip a few small branches from a tree and do it when the temperatures are above freezing so that no damage is done to the tree. Trees become brittle in cold temperatures and can break easily.

If you are purchasing greens make sure that they are as fresh as possible so that they will last the season. They should be supple, and soft, not dry or brittle. Before placing the greens in the oasis cut the bottom of the stem on a slight angle and strip the first few centimetres of needles before placing the stem into the oasis, so that the end is clean and stays in the oasis better. Once all the greens are in place you can spray it with sparkle and then add berries, balls, ribbon etc. Give it a good drink of water and then it is ready to be placed outdoors.

These beautiful outdoor festive containers will last for weeks if looked after properly. When temperatures are below freezing the containers should be left alone but when temperatures warm up to above freezing the greens can be misted with water to keep them fresh and hydrated.

If you don't want to make your own festive container they are also available already made and make a great gift!

-Jos

Jos Van Hage owns and operates two Art Knapp Garden Centres in Prince George: