For the gardener in any zone, the holiday season is a great time to experiment. Relieved from the pressure of maintenance, and upkeep, it’s a great season to enjoy your landscape, and exercise the creative, right-side brain.
We are fortunate in the high plains of Denver to experience mostly mild winter temps in December. I think the golfers I drove past the other day would agree. We can experience terrible freezes, and we are ringing in the New Year with below zero temps. But, by and large, we can extend the gardening season almost 9 months annually, from March to December, depending on Mother Nature.
I appreciate and like to share sustainability tips for home use. So, to make your outdoor holiday decorations beautiful, affordable, and sustainable, here are my best suggestions and tips to create a holiday look to love all through the non-gardening seasons.
1. Fresh greens are available in the discard bin, if you ask nicely, at the big box stores that sell Christmas trees. Often these are the bottom branches of a tree that have been removed, because they won’t fit into the Christmas tree stand. These free items make a perfect base structure for the winter container garden ideas to follow.
2. Search your own garden, or offer to prune some unsightly shrubs at your neighbor’s home. Groundcover junipers that are encroaching on the driveway or sidewalk are great sustainable sources for your display. Here in Colorado, we have juniper varieties ranging from silver to gray-green, as wells a s the bright green variety. A mixed bundle of nature’s colors always looks most pleasing.
3. Find plants with berries or fruits. Any plant provides interesting texture to the arrangement. Add pyracantha, holly, and especially rose hips from your yard. Currently, I’m in love with the Readleaf Rose, a Plant Select item, because of its beautiful winter fruit structure.
4. Ornamental grasses, and other dried plant material – dried hydrangea blossoms, sturdy Rudbeckia, or coneflower can help elevate your container or other exterior design from the mundane green and red. Save a few great specimens from your fall clean-up chores. (When I can, I prefer to leave the fall perennials standing in the garden to benefit wildlife)
5. A trip to your local, independent garden center can yield the finishing touch for your designs. A few sprigs of the unusual will provide the final pop your décor needs. Eucalyptus, magnolia, winterberry, and birch are great options.
6. Extend your holiday decorations throughout the winter season by removing the obvious holiday accessories, (glass balls, bows, candy canes, etc.) and create a pleasing container garden to enjoy until it’s time to work the soil in the spring. An anti-dessicant product applied to the greens will help keep them fresh for longer periods of time.