Sacramento Digs Gardening: Holiday decorating, the easy and natural way

Evergreens such as rosemary and redwood, with a splash

of color from nandina leaves and berries, are the makings

of a holiday arrangement. Festive ribbon can tie it all together.

Be sure to soak the foliage first. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Use evergreens, holly and other garden clippings

Deck the halls with boughs of holly – and just about any good-looking evergreen.

For centuries, holiday revelers have brought pieces of evergreen indoors to bring in the scent of the season as well as add a festive natural touch to decorations.

These quick and easy decorations can be as simple as greens arranged loosely in a vase, tied with a bow. Get out your pruning shears and snip some evergreen foliage, such as 2-foot pieces of redwood, juniper, cedar, cypress, pine or fir. (These may come off the bottom of a Christmas tree, too.) Stems of citrus foliage or rosemary will work. Like evergreens, citrus leaves and herbs add scent as well as bright green color.

Don’t forget holly; its shiny foliage and cheery red berries almost shout, “Happy holidays!” With red-orange berries, pyracantha and nandina (heavenly bamboo) also make attractive accents.

Before displaying, soak the foliage in lukewarm water for 20 minutes, then gently shake or drip dry. That bath rehydrates the needles or leaves and helps them retain their freshness.

Stick some stems of foliage in a vase with water; remove any leaves or needles that will be below the water line. Add a ribbon bow and it’s an instant centerpiece.

Pieces of evergreen can be turned into super-easy garlands. After stems have been washed and dried, lay stems on a mantle or tabletop, or weave them around stair bannisters. Tuck them around picture frames or mirrors. Bend, twist and braid stems into a rustic wreath. Use thin wire and ribbon to tie in place. Accent with more garden gleanings such as pine cones, seed pods and rose hips.

Another easy decorating idea the natural way: A bowl of red and green apples. The shiny fruit makes an instant (and edible) centerpiece in the colors of the season.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

citrus gardening Sacramento holiday decor winter gardening evergreens ornamentals pyracantha nandina

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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