A Joyful Update for your Holiday Containers

Transform your fall containers into handsome holiday containers in 5 easy steps!  Al’s Custom Container expert Andrea Pellumbi shows us it’s easy to customize your existing containers for the holidays.  Give your porch, patio or entryway a joyful update and some holiday sparkle by following these simple steps:

 

Step 1:  Remove your summer and spring annuals or other plants that aren’t hardy through the winter.  Clean up the top of the container, adding an inch or so of nice fresh potting soil if possible.

 

Step 2:  Shake off any dead leaves or unsightly branches of your remaining plants.  Remember to clean up the shape of the plants and clean the leaves so they are clean and glossy.  Deadhead any spent blossoms, and snip off any leggy growth.

 

Step 3:  Gather fresh cut greens. At Al’s Garden Center you’ll find a wide selection of fragrant cut greens such as incense cedar, juniper, white pine and holly available by Thanksgiving. Strip foliage from the bottom 3 inches of each stem.  By stripping away the bottom growth, you’ll have a nice branch to anchor your greens into your pot.  Give the cut greens a fresh cut at a steep angle so the branch can soak up water while in the container. Another trick to keep your cut greens looking fresh all holiday season is to spray them with WILT-STOP a all natural product designed to keep your cut greens from drying out. 

 

Step 4:  Layer your cut greens into your container by poking the fresh-cut branch into the soil of the container.  Many of the cut greens, such as cedars look great draping over the sides of the container.  Andrea likes to use different textures, junipers, firs and cedars to create an interesting look.  Be sure to poke your cut greens in at different locations, for example place branches both near to the trunk of your center plant, and close to the edge of the container.  Add the fresh cut greens around the entire container for an even look. 

 

Step 5:  Add ornaments, preferably plastic ones, and shimmering picks or garland to your container.  Here are three great examples from Andrea: 

 

•   Picks with natural looking pecans and ornaments in silver metallic to create a simple, elegant holiday look to this container. 

 

•   Silver ornaments, picks of blue colored berries and picks of sparkly green glittered fir branches.

 

•    For a more traditional holiday container, decorate the container with picks of red berries, ornaments made from red jingle bells, and garland of red felt. 

 

Note:  Keep your container watered.  Cut greens will remain fresher if they get a little water. 

 

Finally, stand back, invite a few friends over and admire your new holiday containers!