Make Your Own Winter Basket (or pot)

 

It's quick, it's festive, and it's so easy to make a personalized Winter basket or pot for your front door!

All you need is:

• Container - any shape or size will do, but pots that are short and fat have less chance of falling over in the wind.

• Soil - you can reuse soil that is in the pot already or replace it with new, moist soil mix or sand.  The main thing is that it needs to be thaw and easy to stick evergreens into.

• Mixed greens - we find a mixture of Spruce tips (look like little trees), White pine and Fraser fir boughs, with a few sprigs of Cedar or Juniper look the best.

• Decorations - this is where you make it personal.  You can use traditional Dogwood twigs, pine cones, waterproof berries, twinkly lights, etc. or use Christmas tree ornaments or other items around your house.  Just keep in mind that whatever you use it needs to withstand getting wet, freezing and most likely being in the sun most of the day.

How it's done:

• Fill the container with soil mix. 

• Start with the Spruce tips to create the height and structure of the container.  Tip: just like flower arranging, you want the container to be around 1/2 to 1/3 of the finished height, so the evergreens should stick up no more than twice the height of the container (example: pot is 12" tall, evergreens should be 18-22" tall once stuck in soil).  Depending on width of pot, you may need only 1 tall central Spruce tip (such as in 10" pot) or 3 Spruce tips (placed in triangle pattern at center of 12-14" pot). 

• Then you fill in around the Spruce tips with shorter Spruce tips or Boughs of mixed greens.  White pine, Cedar and Juniper typically have a more curved shape and work great around the edge of the container to create a trailing effect.  You'll know you're done when you don't see any soil showing.

• The last step is to add the finishing touches.  Just like a Christmas tree, if you want lights, add them know before placing ornaments.  You can either attach items to the Spruce tips with wire or plastic ribbon, or wire them to sticks that you can then place anywhere in the container.

• Money saving suggestion: if you want a little glitz without spending a lot of money, look at purchasing metallic paint that you can spray pine cones, sticks, or leaves from your backyard.

• Once you're finished, place the container where you can enjoy it the most.  We often will water the soil, so that it freezes and holds the evergreens and sticks in place.  Also, you'll find that the greens last best if they are in a spot that stays cold and only gets sun part of the day.  Needles can fall off if they get too warm and decorations and greens can fade in full sun all day.

Enjoy making your container, as well as seeing it during the snowy Winter months ahead!

If you have any projects of your own to share, please send them to maria@porkandplants.com.