Making a circular wreath

1 To make a round wreath you’ll need a frame. Hans uses a straw base, which has a flat base for the back, but you can use a metal ring and fill it with sphagnum moss. Sharp secateurs, a reel of binding wire, lengths of florist’s wire, wire for a hook, and wire cu ers will also be needed.

2 Start by making a hook. Create a loop with your piece of wire, and twist the two ends together three times to leave two ‘legs’.

3 Push these ‘legs’ into the ring, pull tight and wrap them around the ring again. Twist the two wires together, cut and push the cut ends into the wreath so there’s no chance of scratching your door.

4 Lay on a flat surface and fix one end of your binding wire by wrapping it over the ring. Twist the two pieces together and push the short, cut end into the ring. Start to cover it with sheet moss. Lay a section over the ring, ensuring it covers both the outside and inside of the ring. Cut it to fit.

5 Tightly bind each section of moss with binding wire, looping from the outside into the centre of the ring every 2cm (¾in). Repeat until the ring is covered. The wire will disappear into the moss. You can unravel the wire and moss if you’re not happy at any point.

6 When you have secured the last piece of moss, wind the wire around until it’s level with your hook. Wrap the binding wire around the base of the hook a few times, cut it and push the cut end into the ring.

7 Start to fix your decorations. Make a ‘hairpin’ from florist’s wire to either push through the decoration into the ring, or to pin it to the ring. Twist the ends around on the rear of the ring, cut and push any sharp ends into the ring. Don’t be afraid to cut things to the size you want.

8 You can fill as much or as li le of the ring as you want – or none at all if you prefer a simple moss ring. Make sure you use contrasting colours and textures and don’t worry if some of the moss is still visible through your decorations. Give the wreath depth by layering pieces of foliage on top of each other to give a full effect. Leaving the cut ends showing produces a natural look but be careful not to completely fill the centre.

9 For the foraged ring, Hans has used pieces of bark from a fallen branch (drill a hole to put the wire through), maple leaves and stems of fruit from a crab apple. Foliage comes from pieces of blue spruce, a lime-green fir, variegated holly, rosemary and eucalyptus, which give the wreath some fragrance. He has finished it with fir cones and coconut stars. A moss-covered wreath will look really good for up to six weeks.