Christmas Decorations: Right from Your Own Garden!

Do you enjoy getting creative, and do you see December as the perfect opportunity to decorate your home and garden?

Then making a Christmas wreath, a Christmas branch, a Christmas arrangement, or an autumn (or winter) table display is definitely for you!

The materials you need are often sold at steep prices in garden and flower shops. But of course, you can also simply gather much of the greenery you need for such a green Christmas decoration right from your own garden… Even in a small garden!

With these plants in your own garden, you'll be able to enjoy them for the rest of the year, too!

These plants are perfect for Christmas decorations

Pine and conifer branches

Do you still have a conifer or pine tree in your garden? Unfortunately, you see these plants less and less in gardens these days. Yet they quickly grow into beautiful plants or hedges, and birds love them! Pines and conifers are also, of course, ideal for use in Christmas decorations and greenery for the winter months. They instantly create the right atmosphere (and they smell great, too). Even at this time of year, you can easily cut a few branches to use as decorations. Just avoid doing this when it’s freezing, and be sure to put the branches in water right away to keep them looking their best for as long as possible.

Leaves of Evergreen Plants

Cut some shoots with leaves from evergreen groundcovers or climbing plants, such as ivy (variegated ivy is especially decorative), Tuscan jasmine (also known as star jasmine), or periwinkle (Vinca minor). In fact, you can use just about any evergreen plant for this. Think of Skimmia, Mahonia (mahonia bush), Ilex (holly), Rhododendron, Viburnum tinus, or evergreen hedge plants like cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), olive willow (Elaeagnus ebbingei), or Portuguese laurel (Prunus lusitanica).

Plants with either berries or buds

Perhaps the best-known plant for winter decoration is Skimmia. It has beautiful green foliage and gracefully shaped flower buds that last all winter—in shades ranging from brownish-red to dark red, or even white. After winter, you’ll also be rewarded with beautiful, wonderfully fragrant white blooms.

Other plants with buds or berries that you can use include Viburnum tinus (evergreen snowball), Gaultheria (mountain tea), Pernettya (pearlberry), Pyracantha (firethorn), and Nandina (heavenly bamboo). You could even use apples from, for example, a crabapple tree, quinces, or other fruits that stay firm for a long time.

Acorns, nuts, and pinecones

Don’t forget the decorative value of acorns, beech nuts, chestnuts, walnuts, pine cones, and (conifer) cones. You can easily create beautiful winter scenes with them, and if you store them in a dry place, they’ll last a long time. However, you probably won’t be able to find these in your own yard, since these are, of course, mainly found on very large trees. It’s better to spend a day in the woods to gather them…

Ornamental branches or colored branches

The most well-known branches used for winter decorations are undoubtedly dogwoods. Primarily white dogwood (which, incidentally, is called “white” because of its flowers—the branches themselves are a gorgeous red!). Cornus alba (‘Sibirica’) is widely used, but there’s also the greener hue of Cornus sanguinea (red dogwood) and Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ and ‘Winter Beauty,’ with orange-yellow branches. Cornus a. Kesselringi has dark red to nearly black branches.

If you can bring yourself to use the branches of a slow-growing Acer, you could also use Sangokaku. Be careful, though, because winter isn’t really a good time to prune for this purpose. It’s better to use prunings from willows. Salix alba (‘Chermesina’) is very suitable for this purpose. However, such a tree can quickly become too large for a small garden.

In addition to colorful branches, there are also various plants with graceful branches. Just think of the branches of a curly hazel or twisted hazel. Twisted willow (Salix b. ‘Tortuosa’) and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Twisty Baby’) also have beautiful twisted branches. However, these trees do grow quite large. Perhaps you have some friendly neighbors on your street who have a tree like this?

Ornamental grasses, spent flowers, and seed heads

If you want to make your Christmas decorations a little more exciting, or create more of an autumn or winter table setting, it’s also fun to use spent flowers, dried stems, and seed pods. Ornamental grasses (or whatever’s left of them in winter) also create a beautiful effect. If you’d still prefer a more traditional decoration, consider evergreen ornamental grasses as well.

Ferns and moss

To really complete your green decoration, ferns are also a lovely addition. Ferns have a beautiful leaf structure, and if you’re creating outdoor decorations, you’ll quickly notice the lovely effect of a light dusting of frost on the ferns in winter. You can also fill out the arrangement with moss, for example, so you can make use of every bit and give everything a beautiful, natural look. Luckily, there’s plenty of moss to be found in our shady front yard!