Making a wreath is a fun way of giving all the beautiful things in your garden a second life. Dried material carries on looking good for a long time. If you’re working with plants that are still alive, your wreath will last longer if you use damp florist’s foam as the base. If you want a real flowering wreath, consider a low ring shape packed with autumn violets, mini shrubs and grasses. Don’t hang it up, but use it as a centrepiece on the garden table or indoors. To provide you with some inspiration we’ve created three new style autumn wreaths.
1. Ling heather and blackberry wreath
You will need:
● Florist’s foam in a wreath shape
● Fishing line
● Ling heather, grass and blackberry branches
Step 1. Hold the florist’s foam under water until it stops bubbling.
Step 2. Divide the heather across the foam; it’s alright for it to look irregular and loose.
Step 3. Insert the branches with the ripe and unripe blackberries. Because the fruit are fairly heavy, it’s a good idea to secure them with some fishing line.
Step 4. Hang the wreath up. The blackberries will continue to ripen; you can still pick and eat them, but you can also leave them to dry out. The wreath will then turn entirely purplish brown over time, and birds will guzzle the fruit.
2. Rosehip beauty
Simple and chic: tie the ends of 6 to 8 rosehip branches together with wire. Wrap the chain around a bucket, and fasten the last branch to the handle. Leave to dry for at least two days, then remove from the bucket and correct with wire where necessary.
3. Shrub & ling heather
A rich mixture of shrub foliage, dried hydrangea, berries and heather nonchalantly distributed across damp florist’s foam. Fishing line has been used here and there to keep the shape compact.
