My top ten garden plants to forage for making unique Christmas wreaths

Autumn provides an abundance of colour and textures in the garden, arguably the best and most stunning season, many plants, shrubs and trees provide perfect materials for diy festive wreath making!

If you don’t have the following plants in your garden, you might recognise them from friends and neighbours gardens, local parks or hedgerows.

It is polite to ask permission before you go chopping away in other people’s gardens however most of the plants mentioned, once established are plentiful and I have found that people are usually more than happy to share. Sometimes overgrown plants or those used as hedges will benefit from an annual trim anyway!

Material and tools

To create a strong and sturdy base, use a metal wreath ring, floristry wire for tying in moss and bunches of foliage, stub wires for attaching decorations and a pair of sharp secateurs.

A basic metal wreath ring and floristry wire for attaching moss

We generally go for a medium size base of 14inches as this is a good fit for the average door, and the weight doesn’t warp the shape of the wreath when damp and heavy.

Natural moss

An important part of a making a long lasting wreath is a fresh base, and we always opt for sphagnum moss as it holds moisture and can be rehydrated later on if needed. It looks nice and is a soft base against your door.

Collecting moss takes a bit of time but our lawn is absolutely covered in Autumn and Winter, so much so that it has a natural bounce to it when walking on, and after harvesting crates of the stuff, it looks barely any different. It is of course infiltrated with bugs, rabbit droppings, tufts of grass, clumps of mud and weeds, so it needs rinsing and then leaving out to drain so it no longer drips water when squeezed.

It is placed handful at a time around the metal base and secured with the floristry wire until we have created a compact, sturdy wreath with none of the metal base exposed.

If you can’t forage your own moss, it can be found at your local wholesale florist or ordered online, and just needs rehydrating before use.

If you want to skip this step entirely and get straight to the decorating process, you can also purchase them ready made from your local florist wholesaler or order one online.

Gathering foliage

Crates if different foliage used to make the bunches

1. Conifers

Feathers make a wonderful addition to any wreath and I like to use Pheasant as they are something we come across regularly, being in the countryside with neighbours who are defeathering birds anyway, I don’t suggest you go chasing birds now or sifting through roadkill! Beautiful, prewashed feathers from all kinds of birds can be purchased online if you’re looking to add an elegant touch to your wreath.

Yew is native here on the chalk of the South Downs, with gorgeous, dark green, glossy needles it is a nice alternative to spruce.

A variety with a tall and narrow growth habit, it has smaller bunches that are best harvested from the top to avoid creating unattractive holes in the side,

2. Pines

Although there is only one native pine here in the UK (Scots Pine) there are many other decorative pines that offer a classic festive look and of course provide pine cones too!

This variety of pine has thick stems with a pompom style cluster of needles at the end making it perfect for tying into bunches

This variett of pine has smaller clusters of bright green foliage with adorable mini cones

3. Junipers

This variety of Juniper grows low to the ground and outwards rather than upwards, and although it bears prickly needles, it has a beautiful blue hue. Use gloves for this one!

4. Eucalyptus

The Eucalyptus is a very fast growing tree. The young stems have small, rounded, grey/blue leaves, and the older stems have leaves that are elongated and are more green/grey. Both are wonderfully fragrant!

Our Eucalyptus tree looking magnificent during frost, every year is getting bigger and becoming harder work to harvest from!

5. Holly (Ilex)

This variegated silver edge holly has wonderful dark green centre with contrasting outline. There are many varieties used in ornamental hedges.

Wild holly is abundant but is extremely prickly. It has a stunning deep green foliage and can sometimes be found with berries on. The cultivated types are alot less fiesty!

6. Sweet Box (Sarcococca)

A low growing, evergreen shrub with dark green, glossy foliage and almost black berries that will really bring a unique look to your wreath.

7. Bottlebrush (Callistemon)

Bottlebrush have clusters of small, woody seed pods that line the stems, followed by foliage resembling Rosemary, making this a very ornamental addition to a wreath.

In mid summer it has beautiful, spiky flowers that resemble a bottle cleaning brush, hence the common name!

8. Mahonia

Mahonia Japonica is one of my absolute favourite foliage plants for wreath making as an established shrub will give you a huge range of different coloured leaves from green to blood red, and everything in between!

The oldest stems turn a deep red in Autumn, lighting up the garden and providing a very unique addition to wreaths and other festive decorations.

Each leaf of this Mahonia has a different colouring making your wreaths truly unique

9. Winter Clematis

Winter Clematis foliage is a lushious, shade of green and has a slightly matt, leather like texture upon closer inspection

A vigorous climbing plant, this Clematis has white, beautifully fragrant flowers in late winter when not much else is in flower, it is seen growing across our chicken coop here

10. Rose Hip Berries

One of my favourite combinations which features rose hips alongside mahonia, pine, eucalyptus and one of my favourite conifers **‘Chamaecyparis Pisifera Boulevard**‘ with its gorgeous silver tipped, fluffy blue foliage.

Different roses have different hips but my personal favourite type to use for wreaths are from rambling roses. The plants are vigorous climbers and once established they produce masses of flowers, in tight clusters which then turn into lovely, neat and tidy bunches of red berries, perfect for that traditional festive look.

Two stunning varieties of rambling roses we use are Kiftsgate and francis e. Lester which provide plenty of hips for us and the birds!

Extra decorations

Pine Cones come in all shapes and sizes and are fun to go and hunt for (if you know where some pine trees grow locally!) We love the traditional feel that pine cones offer and they tend to make it onto most of my Christmas decorations every year!

A wreath made with conifers, holly, eucalyptus, pine, rose hips and decorated with dehydrated red chillies and pine cones

Dried Chilli Peppers make an unusually vibrant alternative to other dried goods commonly used by florists such as apple and orange slices, and cinnamon sticks. If you’ve read our blog you’ll know we grow a lot of chillies and dehydrating is one of the methods we use to preserve them and have available all year round.

Feathers can give a creative and elegant touch to your wreath, and there are many types available to buy, sterilised and ready to use as I don’t recommend chasing birds around or sifting through roadkill! Below we have uses Pheasant as they become available from our neighbours as a waste product but we are also able to collect feathers from our poultry as they are naturally moulting in Autumn and feathers can be collected from their housing.