Make a natural wreath

Create a wreath from moss, conifer stems and berries – with seedheads and feathers for a stylish contemporary look

2019-12-01 -

Front doors look a little undressed without a festive wreath at Christmas, but many shopbought ones use floral foam as a base, which can’t be recycled. For a greener option, it’s easy to make your own eco-friendly design using either a preformed wire frame (that you can reuse next Christmas), a readymade willow frame, or a homemade DIY frame from bendy branches such as willow, hazel, cornus or birch.

CONIFER SPRIGS

Try spruce (picea), fir (abies) and pine (pinus)

TWIGGY STEMS Birch (betula), cornus (dogwood), hazel (corylus), willow (salix) CONES & SEEDHEADS Tiny larch cones, miscanthus, eryngium and poppy seedheads, dried hydrangea flower heads COLOURFUL BERRIES Holly, sorbus, pyracantha, gaultheria, rose hips, haws FLOWERS Early snowdrops, hellebores, daphne, winter jasmine

HOW TO DO IT

1 A ready-made wire frame gives you a head start, but to make your own, choose five bendy willow or similar stems about 1m (3ft 3in) long. Bend the first into a circle, overlap the ends and secure with florists’ wire. Repeat, weaving the stems around the frame each time. Now cover with moss.

2 Secure handfuls of damp moss in place with florists’ wire; this will help keep the foliage moist. Ensure the circular frame is thickly covered. Fix a loop of twine at the top so you can hang the wreath. Consider the orientation of the wreath when positioning the bow and trailing items.

3 Fix short sprigs or bunches of evergreen foliage in groups of three onto your moss circle using florists’ wire. Continue to add bunches of spruce, fir, pine, eucalyptus and/or ivy, overlapping the previous addition each time, until the moss wreath is completely hidden.

4 Now add a few colourful accent decorations. Use short lengths of wire to attach sprigs of holly, rose hips, cotoneaster berries and cones. Push the wire right through and twist at the back of the wreath to secure. For a more contemporary look, wire in some hardy succulents such as houseleeks.

5 Finish with the delicate seedheads of hydrangea, eryngiums and miscanthus. Eyecatching pheasant feathers provide a flamboyant touch but will need glueing in place. Add a ribbon, hessian or natural dyed silk bow, held in place with florists’ wire. Carefully hang on your door.