JOBS for the week
hedge, a holly bush or branches from a pine tree.
Other suitable candidates are Sarcococca, ivy, moss, skimmia, rosemary, bay laurels and viburnum.
When you’re gathering material it is a good idea to condition it first – steep it in a bucket of water after cutting for a few hours so that the cuttings will remain fresher for longer.
Next, you will need to look for some decorative materials – these could be berries, pine cones or interesting seed heads, such as poppies, teasels, eryngiums and globe thistles.
Dried hydrangea flowers look glamorous sprayed in gold, and this year I’m eyeing up the large agapanthus heads with their spiky globe shapes.
Fatsia flower heads could make pretty silvery baubles, and you could also gather fluffy material, such as miscanthus flowers, old man’s beard (clematis) or the lovely tassels of Garrya elliptica.
If you want to be bang on trend, succulents such as echeverias will give your wreath a contemporary look.
If you’re going for the classic traditional wreath, you will need either a circular florist’s ring or, failing that, you can twist a wire coat hanger into a circular shape. If you do use a coat hanger, cut off the hook as you will be using ribbon to hang the wreath. Bulk up the circular shape with the green foliage that you have gathered up.
Using florist’s wire, wind tightly around the foliage to secure it to the wire base. Make sure to overlap each piece so that you have a continuous circle shape when you are finished.
You can also make simple curved wreaths by bending pliable stems into hoops and finish with a red bow. So if you have any red or green cornus or some orangey willow, they will do the trick nicely.
Then add your decorative bits – these can be foraged or else use little trinkets that you have collected, such as cinnamon swirls, small ornaments and artificial berries.
Ordinary cones can be transformed with gold spray or get some sticky glitter to bling them up. Evenly spread your decorations to highlight the circular nature of the wreath.
Finally, tie some red ribbon to hang the wreath from your door – then stand back and admire your handiwork!
■ Hit by snow and frost this week? Avoid walking on frozen lawns as this will cause damage. Brush excess snow off branches, hedges and greenhouses. Frost may have blackened some plants – you can remove the damage in spring. Newly planted shrubs can lift during hard frosts so gently firm them back in.
■ You might be too busy with Christmas preparations to do any gardening this week but if the sun does come out, it can be great to get a bit of time outdoors. There’s always plenty of clearing up to do around this time of year, tidying up leaves, weeding and cutting back any dead perennials. Do what you can.
■ Pinch out the tops of autumn planted wallflowers. This will result in bushier, stronger flowering plants.
■ Force rhubarb that’s well established using pots or upturned buckets, block any drainage holes on pots with black polythene to exclude light. Only force every other year and allow the plant to grow naturally on alternate years.
■ Peaches and apricots grown against a fence or wall can be given some protection against peach leaf curl by erecting a rain shelter or plastic shelter. It should cover the top of the tree but allow access for pollination through the open side ends. Keep the shelter in place until mid-may.
■ Put out fresh water for birds when ponds are frozen.
■ December is pruning time if you have any outdoor grape vines.