GRAB YOUR PRUNERS AND TAKE A BOUGH!

‘Tis the season to make some evergreen statements, be it bud vases…..

©Linda Nelson 2015

fresh bouquets……

©Linda Nelson 2015

or front porch arrangements!

©Linda Nelson 2015

A pair of hand pruners, a few vessels or containers and some fresh cut greenery are all you’ll need. There’s no need to wait for December, either. Feathery boughs of cedar, juniper, arborvitae, microbiota, chamaecyperus, fir and spruce fit right in with and nicely complement all those decorative Thanksgiving trimmings.

©Linda Nelson 2015

Two of my favorite trees to snip from are Japanese umbrella pine(Sciadopitys verticillata) for it’s leathery-like whorled needles…..

©Linda Nelson 2015

and white fir(Abies concolor) for it’s clean, citrusy scent.

©Linda Nelson 2015

Both were ones I bought live and that served as my Christmas trees many years ago. My, how they’ve grown! The Japanese umbrella pine was a very pricey purchase. I slapped down a hundred bucks for what resembled a three-foot Charlie Brown tree; I just had to have it. My kids were very young at that time, and were absolutely mortified. “Mom….. this is not a Christmas tree!”

Assemble your outdoor arrangements in containers filled with damp soil or old potting mix. Make use of decorative plastic nursery pots if you live in an area where freezing weather is a concern. If you hate that idea and absolutely must use your cherished glazed pots, simply make your arrangement in an old plastic pot then insert it inside the nice one. I also use that approach when choosing to work with metal pails, as frozen soil expands and could bust open the pail’s seam.