Using Weeds To Make Holiday Decorations

This time of year we decorate inside and out for the holidays. Using nature’s bounty can give you unique and creative decorations that will set you commercial apart in a very distinctive way. Here are some ideas to consider. Natural Christmas decorations spice up the outdoors during a time of year when, in the North, there’s just not a lot of color otherwise, many of our plants having deserted us till spring.

Examples abound of plants that don’t bail out on us as winter arrives. There are many shrubs and trees that provide evergreen foliage and/or berries that will liven up your winter yard, either while still alive or after their boughs have been harvested (for use in crafts).

Christmas Tumbleweed

Tumbleweeds make a great Christmas time decoration tradition. Line your walkway with some of these wonderful western plants. All you need is a battery powered tea light for each of your holiday tumbleweeds. Just stake them down if they try to get away. Best if painted white, silver, or flocked.

Size: Large Tumbleweed
Diameter: 12-18 inches
Type: Natural Tumbleweed
Colors: Natural, Flocked, White, Silver

Size and thickness may vary with each tumbleweed as they are a natural product.

Evergreen Holly Shrubs

A neatly trimmed hedge of evergreen boxwood shrubs offers much-needed landscape structure and greenery in winter, while evoking images of colonial Williamsburg. The cut sprigs of boxwood are used in door wreaths, garlands and kissing balls. For indoors, arrangements called “boxwood trees” are popular.

Boxwood Shrubs

Like holly and boxwood, mountain laurel shrubs are broadleaf evergreens. Used to frame an entryway, laurel shrubs will welcome guests to your door all winter with their inviting glossy-green foliage. The cut stems of laurel are fashioned into the “laurel roping” (a type of garland) popular in outdoor Christmas decorations. Florists use cut laurel in winter window boxes and cemetery logs, in which cases the laurel is commonly sprayed gold or silver (since the leaf structure will hold up on the cut sprigs, but not the natural color). For more, please consult the following article:

Mountain Laurel

There’s another holly that is not evergreen, called “winterberry” holly. Winterberry loses its leaves in fall, but displays masses of attractive red berries in their place. If your winter lawn is graced by a winterberry holly bush, its berry-laden branches will be the talk of the neighborhood! The cut branches of winterberry holly are prized by arts and crafts enthusiasts for use as accents in door wreaths, kissing balls and winter window boxes. The berries will shrivel in the extreme cold, so cut winterberry branches are best used in late fall and early winter décor.

It doesn’t matter to us whether you want desert landscaping, lush lawns or some type of landscaping in between, we can help.  We serve businesses like yours all over the Phoenix Metro Area. To find out how give us a call at 623-848-8277.

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