CREATE A MODERN WREATH WITH FLORIST ANGELA MAYNARD

Angela Maynard is the creative director of Botany, a plant and floral design studio in London. An advocate of the benefits that nature, creativity and mindfulness have on mental health, she runs workshops on houseplants and dried florals and seasonal wild flower walks. Here, she shares how to create a Christmas wreath that can be used year after year.

With a few carefully chosen stems and a little inspiration, you can create an elegant wreath that will last beyond the festive season. These techniques can be used for a variety of different wreaths.

Very few materials are needed to make something beautiful that can be added to year after year. The stems can be adapted, too, and you can add or swap out any foraged items you’ve gathered to personalise your wreath.

YOU WILL NEED

130cm wire wreath frame

100cm of 2mm aluminium wire

Wire cutters

Floristry scissors

Floristry wire or thin floristry tape 50cm of a 5mm thick ribbon

1 large stem of fresh Eucalyptus gunnii or 3-5 smaller stems

1 stem of fresh Eucalyptus parvifolia

1 stem of fresh Eucalyptus globulus

1 stem of dried phalaris grass

1 stem of dried rice grass

1 stem of dried pampas grass (split) 1 stem of dried Banksia hookeriana

1 stem of dried broom

Small sprig of seasonal berries

Dried millet fruit flowers

1 stem of dried lagurus

1 stem of dried honesty 1 Secure the wire to the metal frame by wrapping it round the upright closest to the top at the left-hand side. Gradually wrap the wire around the frame over the inner circle and under the outer circle, creating zigzags or triangles from the left upright all the way around the frame to the upright at the top on the righthand side. Secure the wire at the upright by wrapping it around 4 or 5 times and snip with cutters. You now have a framework for the foliage.

2 Build a base of the mixed fresh eucalyptus. Position the different types into the pockets you have created on the frame working left to right. Stems should be roughly 15cm long. Leave foliage at the top one-third of the stem and strip lower leaves to allow enough stem to position into the frame. Secure into place with floristry wire where necessary. When you reach the centre of the frame, stop and start working from the right-hand side upright down to the centre of the frame.

3 Now add the accents, starting with phalaris, rice and pampas grass on the left-hand side. Then add the banksia on top of the grass ensuring that the bases of stems are hidden. Final touches will be the broom, berries, millet and lagurus on the right-hand side. Lastly, position the honesty at the central bottom half of the frame. Secure this with floristry wire if needed, but be careful not to damage the fragile heads.

4 Tie ribbon to the upright of the frame at the left-hand side. Then wrap around 8 times and tie again or use glue to stick into place. Leave a length 15-20cm loose (for hanging) and again tie to secure and wrap around 8 times on the right-hand side and secure by tying at the upright on the top right-hand side.

5 Note: dried flowers are extremely delicate. To extend the wreath’s life, it should be kept out of reach of children and pets and kept boxed in tissue when not displayed.