Garden Gab

From food to fashion to furniture, the green revolution is finally in full swing.  While the past few years have heralded a return to the garden, self sufficiency and elegance through simplicity, 2010 is shaping up as the real start of the outdoor living renaissance.  With more and more of us enjoying our own and our neighbors’ homes this holiday season, why not kick off this new era of renewed hospitality with a New Year’s Eve party highlighting all the great things to come?

With many homeowners utilising smaller indoor spaces this year, entertaining may seem a stressful or even impossible task, but if you utilize your outdoor space, it need not be.  Even in colder climates opening up your idea of entertaining space is possible and even desirable.  The trick is to decide which aspects of your party will take place indoors and which will take place in the outdoor kitchen or living area.  For those hosts blessed with mild weather or those who have a very good patio heater or large firepit, it may be possible to serve your entire dinner outdoors. 

Outdoor Dining sets can now comfortably hold a larger number of guests, such as the Harvest Dining Set from www.thepatiofurnitureshopper.com

Outdoor barbecues can still be the casual affair we enjoyed in the last decade with our neighbors and friends, but these days the food tastes better, stays hotter, and is ready quicker.  Full dinner parties can be prepared in these beautiful new patio kitchens, which is good news, because experts say the cocktail party is on the way out for 2010.   Guests want relaxed atmospheres and full sit down dinners with several small courses rather than forced mingling with drink and hors d’ouvres in hand.  So if you are equipped with a small outdoor dining set or warming it sufficiently is not an option, save your indoor space for your formal meal and utilise your outdoor kitchen for your bar, a skating or sledding party for the kids, or even as your dancing space.

Canopied gazebos with solid floors, like this Tigerwood Gazebo from www.gazebosonly.com are perfect for your bar, dining area or dance floor even on snowy days. This one has an option for modular panels so you can make it as large as you need!

The next year is expected to focus on relaxation and casual get togethers, so invite your guests to dress warmly and comfortably for your affair, especially as it will be partially outdoors, rather than making it black tie. 

Homegrown and local products are all the rage both this year and far into the next, so highlight your menu with a mixture of locally produced entrees and your own garden’s products.  Build both your bar selection and your meal around what you do best.  If growing food is not your cup of tea, it might be that one of your neighbors is a champion gardener and would love to swap for your gorgeous flowers, plant cuttings or orchard fruit.  The point is to make it as local as possible.  Food in 2010 is going to be about preparing it from scratch.  If you are a wine hobbyist, make mulled wine from the stock that you put down yourself.  If you grew a spectacular herb garden this year, utilise your herbs in both your meal and in some handcrafted drinks, such as lavender infused gin, Meyer lemon vodka, or homegrown Bloody Mary’s.   Remember, part of the charm is that these handcrafted drinks and homemade meals are not going to turn out perfectly.  The real gift you bring to the table as a host is your expertise and part of that is good food, good drinks and good company- not corporate perfection.  Your guests will appreciate it all the more.

Make your own homegrown meyer lemon drops this year

With this year’s emphasis on home grown food and the growing popularity of the staycation, an outdoor space centred around a beloved hobby such as wine making is a perfect option for entertaining and unwinding.  A home vineyard isn’t hard to create and requires surprisingly little space.  Add a mediterranean storage and tasting area to add vibrant, welcoming color and warm hospitality to your home.

Grapes can be grown in many regions, so no matter your growing zone you will be able to find the right wine making grape for you with a little research.  Experts say that once your vines begin to produce you can expect to get up to a gallon of wine from each vine, and a good average number for a home winery is about 10-12 vines.  This may sound like it would take a massive amount of space, but grapevine is actually very space friendly since it will grow from one central, woody vine up.  If your space is very small, consider replacing privacy fencing with metal trellis screens- it will be just as sheltered once the grapevines are trained up them.  You could also utilize a pergola or arbor- even a metal gazebo can be trained with grapevine.  Make lots of use of your garden structures and you can pull it off.

Gazebos like the Rococo Arbor from www.gazebosonly.com feature latticed sides perfect for training grapevine for cool shade

There are just two important points to remember when laying out your home vineyard.  Grapevines need full sun as often as possible and metal trellises will be better in the long run, as grapevine is a strong grower and eventually will pull apart a wooden trellis.

The Vintner Trellis is a good, sturdy choice for long term grape growing. www.thetrellisstore.com

Once your vines are set up, you will need a place to enjoy both your space and your wine.  Most tastings are small, casual affairs and a furniture set reflecting this will set the perfect mood.  If you are going with a mediterranean theme, a comfortable leisure set with rich red or deep gold cushions will match nicely.  A dining set will work, but will give your space a more formal feel.

The comfortable round barrell shape and casual coffee table of the Graycliff Seating Collection from www.thepatiofurnitureshopper.com echo both the mediterranean and wine theme.

Your planters and lighting options should also echo the rotund curves of antique wine bottles and casks to keep the flow.  Reproductions of ancient olive oil and wine casks like these from Pottery of Tunisia.

Wine Amphora flower pot

And for lighting, these Madeira lanterns:

The Madeira Lantern from www.gardentorchesonly.com

Wine tastings go best with colder foods to cleanse the palate, so your outdoor kitchen can focus on an outdoor wine cellar and small refrigerator rather than an elaborate oven and grill set up.  Outdoor wine cellars range in size from 5-10 bottles all the way up to 50-60 so you can keep a selection on hand and in easy reach of your gorgeous home vineyard.

This dual zone wine cellar from www.lifeluxurymarvel.com is built for outdoor kitchens

Once your vineyard is set up and you have mastered the art of wine making for yourself, stepping into your garden can transport you to the sunny south of France, the beautiful Napa Valley or the rich hills of Italy, with all the sights, sounds and comfort of your favorite getaway.

Miami's EPIC hotel offers rooftop lounge areas

Experiencing a plunge in holiday and even business travelers, the hospitality industry is pulling out all the stops.  It’s not enough any more just to increase a hotel or restaurant’s customer base, these days survival means cornering the local market as well.  In this unfriendly war between competitors, the little guys are often emerging on top.  In the past few years even business travelers, that cash cow of the hospitality industry, have underutilized or even abandoned memberships at large chains in favor of small sprawling inns or tiny country bed and breakfasts.

Why this shift?  Experts say that the past few years “comfort” rather than “luxury” has been the element Americans have valued most, not only in their travels but also in their homes.  As the trend of “stay-cations” has increased, the value of a comfortable, stress free environment has become paramount.  Even (or especially) those who do travel often are trying to find the hotel or restaurant that will make them feel most at home.  Smaller inns have a headstart in this area.

The beautiful, relaxed garden of the Iris Inn in Ashland, OR

As major chains focused on meeting every guest’s request for extra amenities, perks, and special rates with memberships and best business practices during the last decade, small hotels continued to focus on comfort and a homey, welcoming feeling with handmade quilts, extra soft beds, and intimate outdoor spaces.   While the entire hospitality industry has striven and achieved new heights in quality of service, this sadly, is simply not enough for today’s travelers.

The hotels and restaurants that are surviving, or even thriving in today’s market are those that are offering an experience as close to home life as possible.  And for many Americans this year, that includes a comfortable outdoor living space.  Some, like Gramercy Park in New York are using memberships not to offer special rates or material perks, but to grant access to these much coveted, beautiful fresh air spaces.

Gramercy Park's private roof club features a seamless transition between indoor and outdoors and features a retractable roof

Other hotels are freshening up their balconies by replacing old plastic or iron patio furniture with comfortable, cushioned sets and living plants or garden sculptures on each guest’s private balcony.

The petite Graycliff Seating Collection is an ideal example of comfortable pieces for small patios or balconies

Those hotels without individual outdoor spaces for guests are creating them with private poolside cabanas or shady golf huts complete with access to an outdoor bar or restaurant.

Reservable cabana at La Playa Beach and Golf Resort in Naples, FL

While almost every large establishment now sees the value and has invested in outdoor dining facilities, one of the largest and still most rare advantages an inn usually holds over large chains is the addition and perfection of outdoor reception spaces.  While major chains now sometimes offer outdoor meeting spaces, they still consist of large green lawns covered in tents.  Some banquet facilities, though, have made the outdoor reception or meeting a work of art.  These package deals feature guest rooms, blooming reception spaces featuring specific color themes, and even highlighted spots, like gazebos, covered bridges or hedge mazes for photo opportunities.   Throughout the decade, these package weddings, often called “destination weddings” have been held in exotic locales, but more and more frequently, these are being abandoned for a local version of the same experience.

The Lavendar Gardens set up for an outdoor wedding Kirkwood Inn in Mason, OH

Just as an outdoor living space is one of the best renovations to make to a home to increase it’s value for little cost,  so is renovating the hospitality industries version of outdoor living.  Originally the source of inspiration for outdoor living with a resort feel, the hospitality industry is now looking towards home life for its cues.  As this trend toward comfort, and especially outdoor living spaces continues to grow throughout 2010, major chains are scrambling to catch up.

The use of turf benches as garden fixtures originally became popular during the Middle Ages in European monastery and castle herberies, as a way for visitors to enjoy a cool, fragrant rest and allowed ladies who were jealous about their fair complexions enjoy the garden in shade and privacy.

One of the most famous depictions of a medieval herbery: Madonna on the Turf Bench by Martin Schongauer

As outdoor living becomes more and more prevalent, gardeners are again turning to the turf bench as an alternative or in addition to plastic or wooden furniture sets.  Turf benches stay cool long into the summer months, even in direct sun, and they can be planted with fragrant herbs or flowers to surround the sitter with pleasant smells and small bursts of color.  Turf benches can also perform double duty, acting as a container herb garden as well as a functional garden seat.

Turf benches can be made by creating natural banks of turf if your space is exceptionally hilly, however, we like the simplicity of starting with a large trellis planter.

The wide Nottingham Lattice Planter from www.thetrellisstore.com makes an ideal housing for a turf bench

This particular trellis planter is on wheels, making it easy to move to our final spot when we’re through (or easy to move back to the hose to be watered), but if you choose one without casters, you may want to build the bench in its final location, as it will be heavy when finished.

Fill the planter with soil, but keep it loose.  If you pack the soil down your turf will have a tough time rooting.  You will want to plant any climbing plants for the trellis toward the back of the planter.  Choose the most fragrant plants: roses, honeysuckle, or sweet pea for example.  You may also choose to hang planters from the trellis rather than train plants to climb up.  The goal is to provide shade for the seat’s back and utilize soft breezes to produce a pleasant smell from your flowers.

The next step is to add the turf or sod.  Turf is simply a thick mat of grass and grass roots that can be cut either from a spot in your yard (say where you are breaking ground for a flower bed) or purchased from specialized turf growers.  You could also opt for artificial turf if you prefer to have low maintenance, but will not be an option if you want to scatter herb plants on the seat.  Cut your turf to size, leaving an opening for any climbing plants to push through and gently tamp down and water your turf immediately to encourage rooting.

One of the attractions of the turf bench is that it is always cool.  However, if you live in a very damp climate, you may want to lay a permanent seat with the sod.  A small slab of river rock or a disc of tree trunk will work nicely, simply cut a space in the turf for it and press your seat in.  As the turf roots it will knit itself around the seat, anchoring it firmly.

You can purchase (or cut) purely grass turf, or you can explore flowering turf, which looks more like meadow grass:

You can also create this yourself once after laying your turf.  Simply make small incisions with a sharp spade or knife to plant rampant growth herbs like chamomile or mint or to plant small flower bulbs such as flowering crocus.

Your turf bench may take up to a year to become fully established with growing herbs and flowers, but it will actually be usable within a few weeks: as soon as the turf has rooted, it is ready for use as seating.  To keep your turf bench trim and healthy, remember to water it along with your other flower beds and potted plants and use a weed wacker or even a hedge trimmer (especially if you have planted woody herbs like thyme) once a month or so to keep it short and comfortable.

Now is the ideal time to begin planning a plant swap to cheer up those midwinter blues.    Set a date for late February or early March, sometime between major holidays to see dear friends and begin thinking of spring.

Unlike many events where everything else is prepared before sending out invitations, a plant swap should send out invitations as quickly as possible.  This way, you and your guests will have an idea of how many swaps can take place (by how many people will be coming) and have time to create cuttings that really have time to thrive before the party.

Don’t limit yourself just to cuttings though, many gardeners have lovely flower books they no longer need or seeds they have saved, or even lightly used garden tools that they may have too many of. 

When guests rsvp, ask what type of seed, plant, or other object they would like to swap.  This will keep everyone from bringing one type of plant (say an aloe) and no one really getting to swap.  Or if you like, on each person’s invitation drop a subtle hint about a plant you really enjoy that they grow, for instance:

Dear Mary,

I would like to invite you to a garden swap on March 20th at 1:00 pm.  We will be swapping anything and everything garden related, including plants, books or flower pots.  But Mary, I’ve always particularly loved your Jade plant it’s so lush!  I hope you will be bringing some cuttings of it, as I’ve never had good luck with Jade plant myself, and I need a little of your green magic!  I’ll be bringing a variety of cuttings and seeds, but if there is a particular plant you would like, do let me know, I’d be so happy to share!  I look forward to seeing you- the company and the beautiful plants will surely banish everyone’s winter blues!

Love,

Deirdre

This way, you and your guests have a chance to both admire each person’s handiwork and request the plants they would truly like and can use. 

As time goes on, we will of course return to the topic of a swap party, but for now, letting everyone know to get ready and start their cuttings is a great way to start!

I’ve always been intrigued by a method employed in some Japanese tea gardens to help guests see the space around them in new or interesting ways.  These gardens block some paths to guests and open others, so that the guest will be sure to delight in an element of their garden that they have not experienced before.  While most small, backyard gardens don’t have the luxury of several separate paths, you can rearrange some elements of your garden to reflect the changing seasons and highlight new beauties in your space.

You may be covering your flower beds or removing many dying plants, but that doesn’t mean your garden must be shunned and never shown until late spring.  Whether you have already experienced a lasting snowfall or your trees still cling to the last of their turning leaves, your space is undergoing a large transformation that can and should be celebrated.

Instead of being a riot of color, the most beautiful aspects of your space are now the deep contrast between just a few colors and the underlying form of both your plants and your artificial elements.  Create pauses for your guests at particularly lovely spots, such as a stand of birches, a curling grapevine still on a trellis or wall, or around your water feature.    Add a bench or even just a few well-sanded stumps with interesting crooks to let your visitors rest and take in each highlighted element.

Moss and Lichen wonderlands

You can also make use of any irregular stones and old stubborn tree remains, either by arranging them in attractive forms or by encouraging different species of moss and lichen to cover them.  Both moss and lichen will survive over the winter and can add a startling burst of color against a drab brown background or bursting out of the white snow.  In order to start your moss garden you can buy a patch of moss at a nursery or cut a square from any wooded area.  Since there are no roots to moss, it is simply a matter of cutting through the moss and lifting it.  If you would like to transplant the patch of moss as it is, paint your rock or log with mud and lay the moss on it.  However, for a more natural look, you will want to blend your patch of moss with water and yogurt.  Since moss is a group of microorganisms this won’t harm it, just break it apart.  The yogurt will feed the moss and encourage it to multiply and knit together and the water will keep it moist and alive.  Simply pour or paint your mixture over your rock or log or spread it over tightly packed soil.  This is also a good way to cover any bare spots that potted plants or summer sun may have left in your space.  For lichen, you will want to paint your rock or log with a thin layer of yogurt or liquid fertilizer.  Since lichen is a spore in the air, it should naturally begin growing within a few weeks. 

“Green the whole year ’round”

Planting evergreen shrubs and trees in your space can give you a depth of color and shadows.  Make sure to space them throughout your space, instead of clumping them.  This is also true of trees and shrubs that hold onto their berries throughout the winter, such as Acers which keep bright red berries or like this subtle snowberry vine that stands out against dark backgrounds like tree trunks, stone or deep bracken, even in deep snow.

Animal Attraction

Don’t forget to appreciate the animal life in your space as well.  Create a rest stop around your feeder or bath, but make sure it is far enough away to not frightened the birds.  Birdwatching adds not only color and movement to your garden but also lovely sounds that, in a winter setting, can be scarce.  A covered gazebo can be excellent for this, affording your guests some protection from the wind and camouflage for bird watching.

Your idle garden structures can also be used to create pleasing shapes, and even sound in your garden.  A chiming trellis or gazebo hung with bells will bring a sense of life to your garden even if the birds and squirrels are away.

There’s no reason an outdoor party can’t be elegant and charming even when you are entertaining an entire neighborhood.  Nor should something as simple and casual as a block party cause you undue stress or heartache to put together.  The recipes you choose should be easy and quick to cook (both for your sake and so you can utilise many different helpers), but you can add a certain flair in your presentation to make your bonfire a pleasant, vibrant occasion.

Keep it simple and warm

For a fall bonfire party, you will want extra warming comfort food, which means lots of root vegetables, sweet starches, hearty servings and full red or spicy white wines (for the adult guests).  When many hosts think of fall events, they envision lots of prep time, a lot of slow roasting and endless baking.  Don’t let Thanksgiving ideas dictate your entire fall party season!  While these labours of love certainly have a cherished place in my own and many people’s hearts, something as simple and impromptu as a bonfire party should be easy and fun to host.  You can still get all of the fall flavors we all love without lengthy kitchen times.  Instead of a long simmering beef stew, for example, try beef kebabs with root vegetables.  This will give you an excuse to use the grill and greatly cut down on clean up.  Especially if you use wooden or (better yet) rosemary skewers to add flavor and that can be tossed into the bonfire rather than washed like metal ones.  Kebab recipes can be found for almost any meat and vegetable combination and are quick to prepare.  If you choose to use softer meats for your kebab you can use your rosemary skewers as is.  However, if you decide to use a tougher meat like beef you will have to strip all but the end of the skewer’s leaves in order to slide the beef on.  Chunk up squash, potato and onion in large pieces and alternate them on the skewer (you can add mushrooms or even wrap with bacon if you like).  Lay the skewers in a large glass casserole dish and marinate with a vinaigrette of your choice (a favorite for this time of year is 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar, 1 clove minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste).  Doing this after threading the meat and veggies lets you easily turn them to coat and saves you from really messy hands.  Do this in the morning and turn the skewers every half hour or so until dinner time.  Throw them on the grill and you are done! 

Stylish desserts borrowed from a hot night spot

Many years ago, when I was in college, my friends and I haunted an upscale coffeehouse that doubled as a bar.  The place was called XandOs and it was just off the Dupont Circle exit in Washington, DC.  To survive in a culturally exciting, progressive and artistic neighborhood such as Dupont Circle was, a restaurant had to be stylish, comfortable and serve memorable food.  Though I have no idea what XandOs may be like these days, when my friends and I frequented the place, it did all of these things.  You may wonder why I’m writing about a coffee bar when the post is meant to be about a bonfire party.  The reason I mention XandOs is because of all the items they served, their most popular (and my favorite) item was their s’mores.  Don’t let the simplicity of this trick you into believing it was more than it was.  XandOs didn’t serve gourmet graham crackers or imported chocolate, it was a standard s’more, good old American chocolate, plain grocery store crackers and an average marshmallow.  It was the way XandOs presented their s’mores that made it special.  The dish came out on a pu pu platter with a lit sterno in the middle.  Each small tray held a different component, marshmallow, chocolate or graham cracker, with the graham crackers and chocolate cut to the correct size.  You were each given a skewer and you could toast your own s’mores right there while you were having your cocktail.  So if an upscale D.C. coffee house can make an impression with something as simple as s’mores, who’s to say you can’t?  Instead of pu pu platters, tapas trays, dip platters or a selection of graduated bowls arranged on a table can have the same effect.  Unwrap and precut the crackers and chocolate so your guests don’t have to fumble with irregular pieces or sticky chocolate wrappers and can get to the good stuff.  Having lit sternos with a bonfire nearby may seem redundant, but for small children especially, approaching a large fire, even when it’s been reduced to coals can be dangerous.  With small sterno pots an adult can easily supervise your young guests.  If you’d like to get fancy with your ingredients, try adding coconut shavings (or coconut coated marshmallows), thin orange slices or thin mints rather than chocolate squares.  I guarantee, your guests will love this simple treat and appreciate having all the muss and fuss taken out of it.

We’d love to hear some of your favorite casual party recipes.  If you’ve got one you’d like to share, leave us a note here or email us at theshopperlink@gmail.com .  We’ll be happy to share it here at the garden gab!

 The days between the last summer block party and the neighborhood christmas party can seem long and dull indeed.  Our weeks are filled with jobs and school and our weekends seem to be overwhelmed with yardwork and errands.  Planning a bonfire block party can help everyone get their lawns in shape for winter and break up the frenetic, cooped up,  antisocial feeling of late autumn.

After a large fall storm, most homeowners face a large clean up and disposal of yard debris.  Chances are most of your neighbors will face this before the snow  makes maintenance impossible.  Instead of having several separate dump trips, mulching days or small yard fires to dispose of everyone’s debris, invite your neighborhood to participate in a day of clean up, both for their own yards and any common areas you may share.  Instead of hauling away all the debris,  host a neighborhood bonfire as an end of day celebration.

Things to keep in mind: 

• You will want to host a bonfire in an area where there is no risk of spreading the fire and somewhere that won’t be damaged by fire.  A neighbor with an already built firepit or a common gravel or blacktop area  all work.  Make sure you have volunteers that will help clean up afterwords!
• Let your neighbors know this is for yard debris or fallen trees only.  Treated wood and garbage will not only smoke your party out, it will damage the air in your neighborhood
• Make sure to get a fire permit from your town’s fire marshall.  The fire marshall will also check your burn spot and weather conditions so that everybody stays safe!
• Make sure to have plenty of hoses and access to water just in case
• Create a perimeter around the fire with chairs, tables, or coolers to keep small children from wandering too close to the flames

Throughout the day, your neighbors can pile their yard debris at your burn spot and at dusk you can let the festivities begin!

Warm, hearty dishes to keep everyone happy

Of course, a bonfire block party is an excellent excuse to get the grills out one last time, but there are a few menu items that make a bonfire block party truly special.  The key is to think warm!  You may be experiencing a particularly balmy day for your clean up (and we hope you are!) but when the sun sets it’s going to get pretty chilly, even with a blazing bonfire.  So skip the cold dips and salads and serve warming drinks, sweet desserts and root vegetable kabobs. 

Of course, hot chocolate and coffee are staples at any bonfire, but here is our favorite mulled cider recipe:

To make an extra large batch for your block party, try brewing the cider in a stock pot and storing it in a cooler keg (these can keep things warm as well as cold).

• You will need 2-3 gallons of your favorite apple cider, which should be available at your local supermarket (don’t use apple juice, it has an entirely different flavor) 
• 3 tblspns Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tblspn Nutmeg
• Ground clove to taste (between 1/2 tblspn and 1 tblspn)
• 3 cups brown sugar

Begin by heating your cider over low heat just until it starts to simmer.  Add the sugar and spices and stir.  Keep over low heat and simmer about ten minutes, when you start to smell the spices (it will smell as if you are baking a pie), your cider is ready to serve.  What makes this recipe our favorite however, is an added caramel sauce:

• You will want to combine the syrup and cider at the last moment, otherwise the syrup will harden on the bottom of your container
• You will need 2 cups cream
• 2 cups light karo syrup
• 2 cups of sugar (we prefer brown, but white sugar works well too)

Pour all ingredients into a heavy saucepan.  Stir your ingredients over low to medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and then don’t stir again.  Bring your ingredients to a rolling boil until you reach the soft ball stage (if you don’t have a candy thermometer, drip some caramel from your spoon into ice water, if it forms a soft, squishy ball but doesn’t spread out, you are at the correct stage) and remove it from the heat. If you like, add one teaspoon of vanilla and stir quickly.  Store in a thermos until your party.  When serving your cider, add a nice spoonful of the caramel and stir.

In our next post we’ll share more recipes and tricks to make your bonfire block party an unforgettable annual event!

Decorating the exterior of our homes and creating dazzling yard scenes has become a popular activity for Americans this time of year.  While many of us go to elaborate lengths and dizzying heights to decorate our roofs, eaves and windows, many folks who have become too busy, who have a fear of heights or who are no longer physically able to hang lights in difficult places may feel left out and stick to decorating just their doorway or interior.  But if you don’t limit yourself to towering heights or hard to handle staple guns, everyone has other options to join in the decorating festivities. 

First you will need to decide which viewers you would most like to attract, passers by along the road or guests that will be entering your home throughout the season.  If you are going for passers by, you will want to decorate as close to the road as possible and arrange large lights and ornaments that stand out well both during the day and at night. If you are decorating for guests that will be walking down a path into your house, you will want to decorate close to the pathway but you have more freedom to use twinkle lights, small ornaments and natural, striking elements in your decorating scheme.

Don’t limit your imagination to tall firs and pines- anything with attractive branch structure that can support the weight of your ornaments will look beautiful when you are through.  If the trees closest to the road are deciduous, that’s okay, in fact, your ornaments and ribbons will stand out as much on a white birch as they will do on an evergreen, and the lights will seem to magically float on air at night.  Hedges, shrubs or even small ornamental trees will also look beautiful when decorated, and will give you far less work both in decorating and in removing decorations than a tall tree would.  If your yard is bare or your trees and bushes are too far away from both your drive and walkway, don’t despair.  Potted woody plants work just as well, just be sure they are hardy enough to withstand cold winter nights.  These are a good option as they can not only be moved to suit your needs, but the pots they sit in can be chosen to echo your decorating theme (our copper planters are dazzling with either paired English Hollies or Burning Bush).

When you are choosing lights, be sure to opt either for clip on lights or net lights, as they will be easier to get on and off with cold, stiff fingers than the old slider outdoor lights.  Large bulbs work best when they will be viewed from farther away, as they give bright spots of color that can be seen for hundreds of feet.  Make sure all of your lights are meant for outdoor use to prevent any mishap, including fire.  If you are using lights from last year, make sure to check not only your bulb sockets for broken pieces and burned out bulbs, but also your cord for any breaks or wire exposures.  This can happen from normal wear and tear but can also result from chewing rodents, especially outdoors.  You can run any cord that lies on the ground through a piece of pvc pipe to prevent rodents from chewing the cords.  This will also keep them from tangling causing a tripping hazard.  To hide your cords, simply add mulch over them.  Not only will you hide your electric work, you’ll insulate your plants and keep moisture in the ground for them.

When you are deciding what type of ornaments to use, keep in mind that they will be outside in all types of weather for the better part of a month.  Non-porous and thicker materials will last the longest.  If you are using natural materials, such as feathers, berries, or pinecones, be aware that these may need to be replaced from time to time, as they will attract birds or become detached from your tree or shrub.  Not that attracting birds is bad! You can have a tree devoted to the colorful, cheerful bird visitors and add berries, suet treats or popcorn garlands.  If your tree or shrub is under an overhang of the house, you might consider a wider range of materials that might not last very well in direct rain or snow but will survive well in cool damp temperatures, such as different fabric ribbons or pomanders.

Whether you choose large trees or tiny shrubs, potted plants or an avenue of firs, we hope you have a fantastic time decorating your exteriors this year and have a safe and happy holiday season.  Please send us photos of YOUR decorating themes and ideas, we would love to share them!