A winter container garden is a simple, low-maintenance way to add uplifting color to your doorstep for the holidays. Mix, match and combine the fresh plant materials from the three categories below to create a personalized decoration for your home in less than an hour.
If you don’t already have some of these plants and materials on hand, then consider planting them so you’ll always have supplies to redo your winter-interest containers every year.
The key elements needed to create your winter container garden are quite simple: a pot, plant material, and your choice of decorative elements.
1. Selecting Feature Plants for a Winter Container Garden
To start, select a large plant pot and decide if you prefer a living plant or a grouping of branches as the upright, central feature. Your feature plant or branches should be up to four times the height of the pot.
Whether the feature plant is live or fresh-cut materials, keep in mind that a variety of heights, textures and colors will help your arrangement stand out. We’ve provided suggestions for different fillers and finishing plant selections to give you creative ideas.
Living Dwarf Plant
If a live plant is used as the feature plant, it should be planted in the container using potting soil, which is best done in fall. Top the soil with bark mulch for an attractive finish and to help protect roots from the cold. All of the following plants grow well in containers and would make good focal points for a living arrangement:
- Winter Heath (Erica carnea)
- Dwarf English Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
- False Cypress ‘Kings Gold’ (Chamaecyparis pisifera filifera aurea)
- Dwarf Globe Arbovitae ‘Hetz Midget’ or ‘Little Giant’ (Thuja occidentalis)
- Blue Star Juniper (Juniperus squamata)
- Sweet Box (Sarcococca species)
- Dwarf Norway Spruce ‘Pumila’ (Picea abies)
- Dwarf Japanese Euonymus ‘Microphyllus’ (Euonymus japonicus)
Branches or LimbsFeature branches should be firmly zip-tied or wired together and stuck securely into the pot. Since branches don’t require water or nourishment you can repurpose the leftover soil of a previously used planter to fill your pot. If the soil is frozen, drench it with boiling water to insert bundled stems easily. You can use a hammer to tamp down the bundle if you are using larger, sawed branches. Here is a list of shrubs with branches that add color and interest to your winter container garden:
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2. Filler Plants Give a Winter Container Garden a Lush Look
Next, decide on which fillers are best to spill over the edge of the container and disguise the base of your central, upright feature. Push the stems of each filler a few inches into the soil to secure them in place. Fresh cut holiday greenery will look the most natural for your filler. It holds up well with minimal care, and adds a lovely forest fragrance to the arrangement. All of the following plants are good sources for gathering evergreen boughs to use for filler:
- Holly (Ilex species)
- Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens glauca)
- Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
- Juniper (Juniperus species)
- Smooth Cypress (Cupressus glabra)
- Golden False Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera)
- Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
- Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri)
- Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
- Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica)
- Silver Dollar (Eucalyptus species)
3. Decorative Finishes Add Color and Style
Lastly, select materials from this list for a decorative finishing touch. Arrange berries, pinecones, fruits and non-plant items in groups atop your bed of fillers.
Berries
The following is a list of shrubs that produce branches with colorful berries:
- Holly (Ilex species)
- Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum)
- Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)
- Juniper (Juniperus species)
- Firethorn (Pyracantha species)
- European Cranberry Viburnum (Viburnum opulus)
- Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Sources of Pine Cones for Winter Arrangements
You may have access to pine cones from trees in your own backyard or nearby parks or woodlands. If not, there are many sources of pine cones to purchase.
Garden centers that sell fresh cut holiday greens may stock other natural decorative items such as pine cones. Craft stores often stock pine cones already attached to sticks for use in floral arrangements. Finally, there are many online sources to purchase pine cones in a variety of sizes and from different species of trees. A browser search for “purchase pine cones” should bring up many results.
For a custom color scheme, consider painting your pine cones to match your style and décor color.
Here is a list of trees that produce pine cones in sizes that are useful for winter container gardens:
- Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
- Serbian Spruce (Picea omorika)
- Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri)
- Black Hills Spruce (Picea glauca)
- Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Fruits for Decorating a Winter Container Garden
Using fruits in your arrangement is a way to add instant color and interest. Attaching larger fresh fruit to a wooden skewer makes it easier to arrange in the container. Some fruits that will hold up the longest in an outdoor container are:
Add Other Decorative Items to Your Winter Container Garden
There are lots more ways to spruce up your winter container garden such as strings of small lights, festive ribbons, bows, Christmas ornaments, and artificial flowers and berry picks. You can use these additional elements to coordinate a specific color scheme that will brighten up your porch, patio, or deck all winter long.
Keep Your Fresh Cut Holiday Greens Looking Their Best
Like cut flowers, cut greenery requires some care to keep it looking good. See our guide on Caring for Fresh Cut Holiday Greens for tips on keeping your fresh wreaths, garland, and evergreen boughs looking their best.
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