One of my favorite pre-Christmas traditions is cutting greenery from the various evergreen trees on my parents’ property. My Dad takes great care maintaining his trees all year and he likes to tag along to help me forage with his black lab in tow. After, my Mom and I get together to arrange her outdoor planters with the boughs we’ve collected. Of course, we cut extra to sell in bundles at The Pocket Lady. My Dad builds a fire while we gather around to enjoy the crisp fall air and tie the bundles for you to take home.

I would like to share a step-by-step guide on how to “spruce” up your outdoor pots for the holiday season.

Step One: Gather your Materials

1-3 bundles of evergreen cuttings The Pocket Lady Shop is a great source! How much greenery depends on the size of your pots and how full you want them to be.

An outdoor planter or two Anything you have on hand, really. I’ve had these half-barrel planters for years and they work great.

Extras Rosehips, holly, dogwood or anything from your yard that would compliment the greenery nicely. Get creative with it! For a touch of red, I cut some rose hips that grow near the spring behind the shop. We also had to cut down a birch tree that wasn’t doing so well, but it still had some great branches on it — perfect for this project. I also have some garden stake votive holders (which can be found at The Pocket Lady Shop) and some large sugar pinecones.

Garden Shears & Work Gloves Be sure to wear gloves while working with greenery, it can be pokey and itchy and sticky with sap.

Step Two: Add Your Greenery

Start with your base layer. These should be a few fuller, longer pieces like Austrian Pine and Giant Sequoia. Place the cut end in the middle of the pot so it’s laying nearly flat and extends out over the edge. Be sure to stick them in the soil about an inch or so so they stay put.

Continue adding in greenery, with shorter pieces towards the top. You’ll likely need to cut them so be sure to have your clippers handy. Layering and placing contrasting colors and textures together is key.

Making arrangements is not all that different from making art. It requires lots of layers, using contrasting colors and textures and moving things around until it looks just right. Don’t be afraid to play. There’s really no right or wrong, if you like it that’s all that matters.

Step Three: Add your extras

Now you’re ready to add the extras. I have a couple of different versions to show you.

Here I have added some birch twigs and sugar pinecones. Place the twigs in here and there at varying angles and lengths, make sure they stay put by sticking them into the soil.

At this point, feel free to add more pieces of greenery if you like the fuller look. I’ve added some cedar to brighten it up a bit.

With this one, I added some rosehips and replaced the pinecones with three garden stakes. You really don’t need to add much to make it look interesting.

If you’d like to try this yourself, we sell bundles of greenery and rosehips here at The Pocket Lady Shop. We also have plenty of other accessories that can be used in your arrangements such as the garden stakes that I used.

Happy Decorating!

Denise - The Pocket Lady