Use natural greenery from your yard, the roadside, or a garden center to create beautiful free Christmas porch decorations.
The Christmas season is upon us now that December has arrived! And, Christmas decorations have begun at my house starting with both the front and back porches.
One of the first things on your list to celebrate the season probably includes decorating your house, too. If you are looking for some ideas for how to decorate your porch or door for the holidays, you are at the right place. Amber at Follow The Yellow Brick Home is hosting a fantastic Christmas Porches and Holiday Door Decor Blog Hop with twenty-one creative bloggers sharing their seasonal porch and door decorating ideas. Links to everyone are at the end of the post.
If you coming from Katie at Let's Add Sprinkles, welcome. Katie is one of my dear blogging friends who lives within twenty minutes from me. I not only enjoy visiting her blog, I get to visit with her in person!
C H R I S T M A S P O R C H
N A T U R A L G R E E N E R Y
Traditional greenery for decorating houses has long been greenery found in gardens and the countryside. Holly, ivy, mistletoe, and evergreen trees are favorites to dress houses, churches, and businesses for the holidays.
One advantage of using natural greens instead of faux greens is natural greens are often FREE, found right in your yard, neighborhood, or local garden center. You may not have the traditional big four natural greenery favorites (holly, ivy, mistletoe, evergreen tree) growing in your garden or in your area, but you probably have some evergreen plants that will work just as well.
EVERGREENS PLANTED IN YOUR GARDEN
Dwarf Yaupon holly and English ivy plants are staples in containers on my back porch. They were selected because they are evergreen plants that do well in north central Texas. When all the deciduous trees loose their leaves, these plants provide some much-needed green during the bleak winter months.
Since these plants are part of my everyday landscaping they are free Christmas greenery that are not purchased solely to decorate for the holidays. However, whenever I choose plants I do think about how they will look all during the year.
The large ivy plant is trained to grow in a cone shape.
As long as the plant is well watered it will survive the low temperatures during the winter months.
ROADSIDE GREENERY
Horse apples, a common name for the fruit of the Bois d'Arc tree, are native to the Southeastern states in the USA as far west as central Texas. I gather these large pebbly green fruits after they fall to the ground. There are several trees in my area that are along the roadside right-of-way where I can safely park my car to gather the fruit.
Watch for other natural fruits and berries in your area. Red holly branches are another source for roadside greenery that grows along fence rows in my area. The native holly trees are really large shrubs that loose their leaves and have bright red berries on their bare branches.
LOCAL GARDEN CENTER TREE TRIMMINGS
Both Home Depot and Lowes give away the branches they trim from Christmas trees. Just ask to take the cuttings.
Remember to take the branches trimmed from your fresh Christmas tree, also. Keep your fresh tree and tree trimmings outside in buckets of water until you are ready to use them.
I used Frasier fir in the vintage canning jars and Nordmann fir as the base under the horse apples.
Both the canning jars and large urn hold water to keep the evergreen cuttings hydrated. In addition, the low outside temperatures and high humidity help keep outdoor greenery fresh.
Tie a sprig of Christmas tree branches to lantern handles.
When the evergreen branch dries out, replace it with a fresh one from your bucket of tree trimmings. Use ribbon that can withstand wind, rain, and freezing temperatures.
N A T I V E P L A N T S I N Y O U R Y A R D
Native grapevines make a good base for door wreaths. If you do not have a source for free grapevines, you can find inexpensive grapevine wreaths at craft stores. Remember to use any coupons to lower the cost.
Both juniper cedar with blue berries and incense cedar with yellow berries grow wild in my 2-acre country yard. Some years the incense cedar blooms and some years there are blue berries on the other cedars.
This year there are blue berries.
The door wreath hangers are made from tin and have angels which are the focal points on the hangers. No ribbon or bow needed.
The potting bench on the back porch is decorated for Christmas with natural greenery. Later this week I will share details of the potting bench decor.
Free natural greenery from your yard, the roadside, and your local garden center are great sources for creating beautiful Christmas porch decorations.
Next up is Michelle at The Painted Hinge. You are going to love her farmhouse Christmas ideas.
Be sure to visit all the links below for more ideas to create beautiful porches and front door Christmas decorations.
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