Take a walk around your garden for inspiration Nature’s holiday DECORATIONS

By Pam Baytos

OSU Extension master gardener

1• Make ice luminaries. A flexible plastic container such as a recycled 2-liter bottle, a large plastic cup, and plastic ice-cream bucket are inexpensive and unbreakable molds. Pour water into the container to fill it one-third full. For the clearest ice use distilled water. A second smaller container in the center weighed down with rocks creates a hollow center. Arrange your natural material between container walls, top off with water if needed to hold them in place. Some ideas include twigs, cranberries, poinsettia petals, evergreen cuttings and holly sprigs. Freeze outside until solid. Bring into the garage to thaw ice slightly to unmold both containers and place votive candle inside. This is a beautiful way to welcome guests to your door.

• Choose a few urns or large planters with the soil still inside or filled with sand, to flank your door or line your walkway. This method also works in your window boxes. Remember to use the same formula as you would to plant flower containers: Use a thriller, a spiller and filler. Start with branches — this is an excellent time to raid your pruned limbs pile. Now you can spray them with a color of your choice, white and silver are bright colors that go well with fresh greenery. Place the branches in the center of your container, now it’s time to layer natural material around them. You can lay pine, spruce, cedar, juniper or any combination of greens. Make sure you spill these greens over the edge of container. Top off with pine cones, branches of berries, dried gourds, stalks of dried grass seed heads, dried hydrangea flowers, an old birdhouse, large tree ornaments. You can even add lights.

• Make fresh greenery wreaths. I like to layer different types of greenery to have contrasting color and texture. Once again, pine, spruce and juniper are good choices. Make bundles and wire them onto a wreath form. You can add a bow and leave the wreath plain or add embellishments. I like to wire on clusters of pine cones, holly berries, children’s ice skates, mittens with a scarf-bow, dried flowers, or ornaments. The choices are as endless as your imagination. I also “decorate” an old wood sled and snow skis. My motto: If it’s standing still, it’s fair game.

Many of the ideas we used on our outside projects can be applied to our Christmas trees. Just use clusters of dried material inserted in the branches. To make your tree appear it’s covered with snowflakes just dry Queen Anne’s lace, give it a shot of spray adhesive and sprinkle on a little glitter. A great place to visit and get inspiration for a natural decorated tree is Fellows Riverside Gardens’ holiday tree display. OSU Extension, OSU master gardeners and Ohio certified naturalists will have trees on display.

Now sit back, enjoy a hot toddy and wait for a dusting of snow to highlight your masterpieces. For more ideas and information, go to: go.osu.edu/naturalholiday