DO-IT-YOURSELF CHRISTMAS CONTAINER
Creating an outdoor arrangement of fresh greens in an urn or other container is a wonderful way to add holiday cheer and life to your front steps, porch or walk. Even if you’re not using other outdoor holiday decorations, a festive container arrangement at your entryway is a beautiful way to greet guests. Red and green are traditional Christmas colors, and they look fantastic together to convey that festive spirit. Best of all, those colors can be found right in nature, maybe svn in your own backyard.
To create the basic container, we used evergreens and annuals. Evergreens add the thriller to a container and can be kept and maintained through all seasons. Annuals add seasonal color and can be swapped out each season.
To decorate the container, we incorporated seasonal greens to give it that Christmas feel. We like starting with fresh greens like Fraser Fir for the first layer. Then search around your yard to find other fresh items that will work such as juniper, magnolia, nandina, holly, spruce, boxwood and berries.
What You'll Need:
- Large Container
- Ornamental Kale - this low grower, offers a unique texture
- Pansies - these tough little flowers are availabe in tons of colors and are some of the longest blooming flowers of the cool season/li>
- Sky Pencil Holly - with dark green foliage, this evergreen grows in a narrow, columnar shape -- a perfect thriller for your container
- fresh-cut greens such as firs, juniper, magnolia, nandina, holly, spruce, boxwood and berries
- Fill the container with soil and plant the evergreens and the annuals. Be sure to add an all-purpose fertilizer like McDonald GreenLeaf.
- Then add the first layer of greens. The fraser fir greens can just be stuck in the container to make for easy removal after the holiday season.
- Continue adding additional greens and berries to the container.
- Add ribbon, picks or shatterproof ornaments for extra pizazz.