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A Holiday Garland

A holiday garland over the front door or mantel is undoubtedly a special yet familiar expression of the joy marking the turning of the season from fall to winter. Representing equal parts pageantry, goodwill, and a love of nature and natural materials, a garland is a hand worked expression of the garden appropriate to display for the winter season. I will leave mine up all winter, and be all the happier for having it to look at. Friends and family who view and pass under that garland have been invited to celebrate the beauty of nature and what that adds to everyone’s life before they step inside the door. I find this activity is satisfying for the gardener in me who has had to put their gardening ways away for the winter. These ideas are what energize the design and fabrication of every garland I make.

Our garland always begin with a collection of evergreen boughs that have been wired together in a long flexible length. I have also seen garlands made from boughs attached one after another to a stout rope. We hand make the garland if it is fairly short and manageable, but I usually purchase them premade from a mix of fir boughs at my local farmer’s market. Concolor fir, Douglas fir, Nordmann fir, noble fir and fraser fir will maintain their fresh appearance inside and out for a long time. Magnolia garlands have a sumptuous look that dries beautifully if used indoors. The first order of business is to determine the direction of the boughs. We arrange the boughs in an upward position from the bottom left, and up and over to the top/center. In a traditional garland, the right hand overhead portion and drop needs to mirror the left hand side. A traditional garland is bilaterally symmetrical. If the garland purchased is a long one, it will need to be cut in the center, and flipped end to end, and reattached at the top/center. For this reason, I order my garlands in 15′ lengths. A pair of this shorter length garlands can be easily be attached at the center point with the boughs running in opposite directions. I always run the boughs upwards, so gravity fans them out as the branches dry. Branches hung in a downward position close up and shrink in width as they dry. 15 footers are easy to handle, and any excess greens can be cut off the bottoms. The 30′ foot garland under construction was perfect for 2 15′ garlands overlapped and attached in the middle. We usually add more of our cut greens over the top of the garlands we buy, so the garland is thick and substantial.

What gets added to that branchy base is a matter of personal preference. Dried and preserved natural bits, branches and seed heads look great attached to a garland. Dry hydrangea flowers shrug off winter in a way that surprises me.  Faux berries and picks can provide both color and drama. I do not value one material over the other, nor do I value one style over another. What is of great value is the process of creating and making. There are so many things that contribute to that moment when a thought or idea takes on a life, and the making begins. That transition from an idea to the making is a perfect moment. My advice? Make something.

Positioning the work to make it convenient to work on is crucially important.  We set this garland on a collection of cardboard boxes set end to end. They are not really tall enough for me, although Natasha did not seem to mind hovering over the work. Her back is 50 years younger than mine, so there you have it.  If I work on a garland, an old office chair on casters puts me at exactly the right height to work. I can roll from one end to the other. The box tops holds all of the necessary tools and materials. It supports the work in a way that makes it easy to work.

This particular garland is traditional in its materials, so it features a secondary garland of grapevine. We buy grapevine garland in rolls 35′ long. Grapevine garlands are notoriously hard to handle, but properly arranged and secured around the evergreen garland, they add a reference to nature as much as they add volume and air.

I would be remiss if I did not say that winding a grapevine garland around an evergreen garland is hard. It takes at least two people to handle the under and over. In the aftermath, my hands look like I have scrubbed them with a cheese grater. Ha. The work of it is worth it. We attach the lighting for the garland to the grapevine. That light that stands proud of that evergreen garland will endow it’s night view with a warm glow. Of course we light our garlands.

My treasured staffer Natasha took the lead on the construction of this garland. She did a great job of insuring a solid construction. She went on to make sure that every gesture she made was beautiful. I was so pleased to see her taking ownership, and seeing both the art and the construction through to the finish. She has great hands, a great heart, and a will to be that I admire.

loading the garland

loading the garland 2

loaded up


We had already installed the holiday container arrangements. The garland would be a roof over all.

My membership in that group that nature organizes over the the garden and landscape means I have plenty of perfect moments. This was one of them.

A perfect moment in the garden may come at any time. And not necessarily when we expect it.

Beautiful, this. Best regards, Natasha.

Posted on: November 23, 2019 40 Comments
Filed Under: Deborah Silver and Co Inc, Winter, Holiday

The Winter Pots: A Visual Tutorial

To follow is a visual tutorial, from start to finish, of how we construct winter and holiday arrangements. We do rely on the armature for both fresh, dried, and faux stems and branches provided by dry floral foam. Once we create forms for a client, those forms are used for a good number of years. The forms you see in the upper left of the picture above are 4 years old. Yes, we patch them, when the forms get elderly.

the first gesture, for a new client.

later

The lines scribed in the forms indicate how wide the centerpiece will be.

These centerpieces under construction include a mix of faux berry and ball picks, and fresh cut magnolia stems.

An outer layer of fresh cut red bud pussy willow stems follows all around the centerpiece.

As David is doing here, always look up to determine where you want any element to land.

Karen took over the greening of these centerpieces.

Every fresh cut evergreen stem has been sharpened. The idea is to insure a tight fit between the wood and the foam. We have winter weather ahead of us. This means that whatever we fabricate needs to be winter hardy.Karen is gifted. She can assess the volume and mass of a centerpiece, and give that centerpiece a green place to be of proper proportion.

finished centerpieces ready for the installation

the centerpiece was constructed around a light burst. Lots of LED lights on a twig like structure with stakes in the bottom is such an easy way of lighting the vertical elements in a winter arrangement.   LED Lightburst

The right hand pot, installed.

The left hand pot, installed.

Start to finish, I could not be more pleased with the work my group turns out.

 

Posted on: November 16, 2019 38 Comments
Filed Under: Deborah Silver and Co Inc, Winter, container planting, Holiday Tagged With: , ,

The Winter Pots: Constructing A Centerpiece

A customer in the shop yesterday remarked that the beauty of a winter or holiday container begins and ends with gorgeous fresh cut branches. I am inclined to agree. Our first delivery of fresh cut branches arrived just in time for our winter open house weekend. The tall sized second year red twig dogwood that came in has plenty of lateral branching, and astonishing height. It is clear our grower had plenty of rain this season. All of our branches are farm grown, and harvested when they are at their peak of size and color. Graded by height, they are tied off in bunches of 10 stems each. Every brightly colored and glossy surfaced branch bunch is our call to set up and begin constructing centerpieces for our winter pots.

Do all of our winter and holiday pots have a tall branchy element we would call a centerpiece? No. But there are plenty of reasons that a tall twiggy element makes visual sense in a container. Shrubs are readily identifiable in the landscape. Post the fall leaf drop, they are a tall and multi-branched presence in the winter landscape. A branch centerpiece repeats that shape and texture. Many of our tall branches have astonishing color. Red, cardinal,  black and yellow twig dogwood,  and flame and curly copper willow endow containers with a strong dose of vibrant and natural color. A vertical centerpiece is a pleasing contrast to the lower and more horizontal elements. A robust centerpiece can provide great scale and proper proportion to the container to be filled. Some height in a container can provide plenty of visual action at eye level, or from a distance. Last, but certainly not least, my zone is very hard on live plants in containers. Few can survive our harsh winters with their roots in a contained area above ground. The cut branches are especially welcome in containers on properties too small to grow large shrubs specifically for winter color. They are equally welcome in commercial settings where the landscape is sparse.

Any vertical element in a winter pot of ours needs to be constructed such that it shrugs off the gale force winds, snow, and ice prevalent in my zone. A centerpiece gone over in 6″ of snow will be very difficult to make right. Anyone who has tried to stake Annabelle hydrangeas in full bloom that have gone over in a heavy rain knows exactly how providing structure after the fact is very difficult to make work. The anticipation of trouble is not the most creative or interesting part of the job, but it does enable every gesture to come.  Very large centerpieces required for very large pots need the the most in the way of thoughtful construction. Thoughtful does not imply difficult. Preparing just takes a little time. This centerpiece of red twig dogwood will be placed in the center of a pot 36″ in diameter, and 36″ tall. This calls for an armature, or metal frame that will provide support to a host of very tall branches. Every gardener knows how much living wood can weigh. Shrubs and trees have an extensive network of roots that keep them upright. Cut branches need another scheme that can provide strong support. A pot of this size will need a bold centerpiece of considerable volume and height in order to appear proportional to the size of the pot. There is no need for a centerpiece to be under scaled. An armature does not need to be custom welded. The armature for this centerpiece is a tomato cage, repurposed for the winter season.

Each branch of this red twig, every bit of 8 feet tall, is zip tied with 8″ zip ties to every horizontal ring the tomato cage. This tight profile makes it easier to handle the centerpiece while it is under construction. We have spaced the branches as you see, as there are other elements yet to come.

A round of faux red berries are zip tied in to the spaces between the red twig dogwood. The top layer of zip ties have been clipped off, so the dogwood branches are free to arch out more gracefully. We have left plenty of open space between as we plan to light the interior of the centerpiece.

The long legs of the tomato cage will be pushed down as far as possible into the soil in the container. The bottoms of the twigs will also be below ground. Once that soil freezes, those steel rods and the bottoms of those branches will not move. But we will add 2′ long steel rebar in 4 or 5 spots that is secured to the tomato cage both above and below ground. This will provide that last and most serious measure of security.

Smaller centerpieces do not require but a single armature. All of the elements in these centerpieces have been arranged around a stout bamboo pole. It is essential that the centerpiece be zip tied in 2 spots, so the twigs do not shift. In the left centerpiece pictured above, the top of that pole is visible half way up the centerpiece. Once we center this in the pot, we will pound that bamboo stake down into the soil of the pot.

The bamboo stake is an essential element of our centerpiece construction.   A 1″ pole requires a saw to make it shorter. That pole is rarely more than 3′ tall. It is light weight, and astonishingly strong. Every element we plan to add to a centerpiece gets arranged around this pole.  Once that pole is driven down into the soil in a pot, it will provide all the ballast that centerpiece needs to stay upright.

A number of bunches of tall pussy willow, and a generous number of faux berry picks will be kept perfectly vertical all winter long – courtesy of the pole.

Constructing the the winter pots in our garage was an innovation that took quite a few years to perfect. I would suggest that a warm place is the best place to fabricate a centerpiece, and all else intended to go in a winter pot. The best work gets done when your fingers are warm.

These centerpieces have the bamboo pole pushed up so it is flush with the bottom of the twigs. But it is in there. A tree stand is a great way to keep a centerpiece upright while it is being worked on. Positioning the materials at a proper height to work on makes for a better quality outcome.

Once this centerpiece is truly centered in the pot, it will take one person to separate the branches so another person can drive the bamboo down into the soil with a hammer. A centerpiece of this size will need some steel rebar pounded down around it. A number of rotations of concrete wire tightened with pliers will bind the rebar to the centerpiece.

Sometimes we insert the twigs one stem at a time into the dry floral foam that secures the greens. As the weight of the branches is spread out, there is no need for an armature.

steel topiary form acting as an armature for tall pussy willow stems

steel armature with twigs and berries inside

a winter container without a centerpiece.

3 identical centerpieces installed side by side for a rectangular container

one stick at a time

The steel topiary form in this winter pot is strictly ornamental, and not structural. It does provide a framework for lighting. The structural armature holding the centerpiece aloft is not visible once the container is finished.

Whatever will be the centerpiece of your winter pots, a method to construct and secure it is an essential element of the process.

 

Posted on: November 11, 2019 16 Comments
Filed Under: Winter, Deborah Silver and Co Inc, container planting, Holiday Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hoop It Up: Lighting The Winter Landscape

The benchmark of our winter and holiday season is the seasonal lighting made available at Detroit Garden Works. Any current year’s collection becomes available towards the end of October. We measure all else we offer for winter gardens to clients by the effort we make to have something of value available to light the landscape. Providing for some light is never more urgent than it is in the winter months. The daylight hours are few, and mostly gray. That night that starts in the afternoon, and persists late into the following morning asks for intervention.

Rob Yedinak is entirely responsible for anything lighted we have to offer the winter landscape. He not only buys a variety of lighting materials, but he imagines and fabricates light sculptures from those materials. What he manages, to the delight of any gardener facing the dark days to come, is an engaging answer. His best known effort is a collection of steel circles wound round with LED string lighting. These light rings come in two versions. One style of hoop can be hung from a stout tree branch or pergola. It can be laid flat in a birdbath or pot. It could be hung against a wall or a garden gate. The hanging hoops come with multi strand jute rope. That jute helps to disguise the wire at the end of the light strand. It is a very simple and beautifully made lighted sculpture.

A later incarnation provided a four pronged steel base which enabled the ring to be securely installed in a pot, or in the ground. A free standing lighted sculpture, if you will. The above picture illustrates a 3 foot diameter ring installed as an integral part of a winter window box at the shop. Every element of that arrangement is stuffed into a dry floral foam base. I was interested that the lighted hoop be an integral part of the arrangement. A hoop on four legs made it easy to evenly sink those legs into to the foam base, and stuff branches, magnolia and evergreen boughs all around it. The very best part of this process is the ability to construct the arrangement in a warm and dry space.

Though we glue several layers of foam sheets together, that foam has no strength. It can hold hundreds of stems, and the spiked legs of the light ring securely. But unsupported, that foam will break. During the construction phase, it sits on top of a piece of plywood. We slide the arrangement off the plywood into the container just like a cookie coming off a baking sheet. This process does require very careful measuring to insure a good fit.

But the big story here is how Rob’s spiked and lighted hoops look at night. They appear to float over the arrangement. Thought we covered the foam with light strings before we stuck the branches into the foam, those circles of light are as distinctive as they are satisfying. They stand out from the glow.

This picture clearly illustrates the standing mechanism. The base is securely welded to the ring. This is a very large ring, so the spikes that go into the soil are wired to 4 pieces of rebar that go deep in to the container.

This lighted hoop is 5 feet in diameter. It does a terrific job of highlighting the centerpiece During the day, that steel hoop is very sculptural. The light rings add a whole other dimension to a winter container arrangement. The LED lights draw very little in the way of electricity. We have clients who run them in their garden all year round. To follow are as collection of pictures of winter arrangements featuring the hoops. If I had a mind to make just one winter gesture in the garden, I would hang or spike one in a spot where I could see all winter. It is a lot of look in a small and durable package.

Why am I writing about lighted hoops for winter containers in October? Jackie has been steadily shipping them out all over the country for the past 3 weeks. Whether you are local or far away from the Works, if you have a mind to hoop it up this winter, you may want to contact her now.  Jackie@detroitgardenworks.com.  Further interested in sizing and pricing?  Lighted hoops from Detroit Garden Works

Posted on: October 24, 2019 13 Comments
Filed Under: garden sculpture, Winter, Lighting, Garden Ornament, Detroit Garden Works Tagged With: , , ,