Give holiday garlands a low-cost twist

Maureen Gilmer, Scripps Howard News Service

Published November 11, 2006 at midnight

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More dig!

An old Irish proverb states: "When a twig grows hard, it is difficult to twist. Every beginning is weak."

This was no doubt applied to early life training of children, but the same thinking will reward you with plenty of twiggy holiday decorating materials at virtually no cost.

While sap is still high in the woody trees, shrubs and vines, their limbs are soft and flexible. When the sap falls to the root with the first hard freezes, it will harden the wood, making it hard to shape.

The most beautiful wreaths and garlands are composed of core materials made from branches, twigs, whips, runners and tendrils. When cut while still green and flexible, you can twist and bundle them into all sorts of beautiful holiday decorating materials. Once dried, they retain these shapes indefinitely.

Pioneers without nails or wire used willow whips to bind fence boards, knowing that when dry they'd make a solid connection.

All you do is cut materials from the plant, strip the leaves and weave into a wreath. Tie it off with florist wire because it shrinks a little while drying, causing tips to pop out of shape. Put the wreath on a flat, dry surface such as a garage floor. There it will gradually dehydrate.

In a couple of weeks, you can bring it out again and remove the wire, then decorate. For Thanksgiving, use colorful gourds and autumn leaves; for Christmas, try mistletoe and holly berries.

Certain plants have long been traditional for these twiggy core materials. Each offers a different texture and flexibility. Some will be better for broom-like swags because they are brushy and fine-textured. Others produce very long runners ideal for garlands. Still more are quite flexible, bending easily into wreaths of all sizes.

Grapevines, be they vines supporting wine, table or wild grapes, are the best for very long garlands and big, solid wreaths. In the wild, the vines climb into the treetops, where you'll find the straightest runners are easy to pull down.

Willows are the most flexible of all plants, but they tend to be rather slick and lack the character of grapevine. The best cuttings for garland-making are from weeping willows.

If you enjoy a sizeable garden filled with these sorts of plants, or must go to wild places to find them, you'll save a bundle on holiday decorating. Rest assured that no plastic or tinsel or foam flocking can compare with Mother Nature's own decorating style.

Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist and host of "Weekend Gardening" on DIY Network. Contact her at her Web site www.moplants.com or visit www.diynetwork.com.

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