Category: Holiday News

Martin”s Garden Notes

Here are a few tips for using greens for your holiday decorating. Greens used for outdoors last through the season until you are ready to plant your containers for the spring. Balsam fir branches are inexpensive and take up a lot of room. Add some greens from Oregon like silver and noble fir, blueberry juniper or holly which can be used in  small quantities for variety. Winterberry branches are nice too. When using greens indoors, most things will hold their color for several weeks.

We have found that laurel and princess pine roping hold their color for at least a month but will dry out quite fast. Just use it where the traffic that can brush against it is limited. Needled evergreens like pine and fir need to be fresh and be in water to keep. Holly, even if it is in water will keep about a week, so keep a few branches in water in a cool but not freezing place to replenish the holly in your arrangements.

Boxwood is one of the best keeping greens for the holidays. One of our specialties is a holiday arrangements and wreaths made of boxwood which last many weeks. Stop by, Island Garden Shop Portsmouth RI.,to select one of our designer’s creations for your table

www.rhodeislandhomedesign.com

Martin’s Garden Notes

For containers that will stand up in the winter, choose wood, plastic, stoneware or cement. These will not fail from the frost. Terra-cotta is quite porous and will fracture after getting wet then freezing. Stoneware containers are fired at a much higher temperature and are so hard that they will not absorb moisture and therefore will not crack. Make sure your containers are enough off the ground so the drain hole is not plugged up.

You can rely on needled evergreens to be hardy enough to survive the winter cold. These include pine, spruce, hinoki cypress, juniper, yew, arborvite, and fir.

Broad -leaved evergreens like boxwood or holly have tender roots and will not likely survive the winter if not planted in the ground.

Soon we will have cut greens that will stay nice and green right through the winter. We will have lots of types to choose from to create wonderfully festive containers and window boxes.

Island Garden Shop, Inc. 54 Bristol Ferry Rd. Portsmouth, RI 02871