CHRISTMAS IN THE GARDEN
DECORATING A MANTEL
• Even if you start with a store bought wreath, you can add
in more elements with unusual textures and contrasting
evergreens.
• To create a custom look, look around your yard and try to
find contrasting textures; use a spiky white pine with blue
spruce and magnolia leaves.
• When you buy garlands, they tend to have only one form of
greenery; what makes garlands lush and special is when you
add a variety of evergreens.
• Use floral wire to string evergreens together.
• Spray the boughs with “Wilt-Pruf” (available at Home Depot
and garden stores) to help the greenery last. Make sure to
spray it on before you bring the boughs inside because it’s
messy and the smell is strong.
• Add kumquats, nuts and berries. Paint nuts gold and silver
using spray paint and use artificial berries instead of real ones
to avoid wilting.
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MILLBURN • SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE HOLIDAY 2016
“One of the things I learned from the garden club is to look
carefully at shapes and colors in your garden,” says Pamela. “Look at
the plants when they’re past bloom or even before they bloom; they
often have attractive seed pods and textures and it’s easy to trim these
elements and use them in your decorating.” Pamela notes that sweet
gum tree fruit pods have an interesting prickly round shell. Magnolia
leaves are fabulous for their velvet brown texture on the underside of
the leaf. Once you’ve selected your treasures, dry them out and spray
paint them with silver or gold.
The tree is trimmed with birds and pinecones. “I love long plumage
and vibrant colors, especially red and orange. They look fabulous on the
Christmas tree,” she says. You can buy artificial birds and other interesting
decorations online, as well as from J&M Landscapers in Madison.
Pinecones are available seasonally from Michaels, Marshall’s, Crate &
Barrel and other decorating stores, or of course, from your own garden.
The “organic presents” look exotic, and difficult to make, but are
actually made of simple stuff: acorns, artificial moss and pinecones,
all of which Pamela hot glued to a foam tub and tied with a bow. She’s
inspired by her fellow garden club members and by speakers the club
hosts, including a landscaper from New York’s Highline and the landscape architect for the memorial garden at the World Trade Center.
To make an interesting poinsettia arrangement, Pamela used three
large plants and several smaller ones around it. “The smaller plants
disguise the pots of the larger ones,” says Pamela who wove battery
operated light sticks into the arrangement.
On the mantel (left)are her grandmother’s antique vases; the wreath
is homemade and dotted with berries to add a pop of color and
complement the painting above it.