Outdoor Holiday Planter with Branches

I had a vision in my mind of a large holiday planter using various branches so on Saturday I went out to the country property and cut various types of branches. These included Golden Willow, Highbush Cranberry, wild Dogwood and spruce. This morning while the kids worked on school, I put these planters together in the entrance. I made two so I could have one to flank each side of the garage door. I love how they turned out!

First off, I took some scrap metal mesh, like a really small sized stucco wire, with about 1/2" squares and cut a square about the size of the top of the urn.. You could use chicken wire as well. I smushed the wire on top of the soil that was already in the planter. The wire is just to help the branches stay in place.

Then I took my branches and pruners and started cutting and placing the branches. I started with really long willow branches in the center and worked out from there. I made sure to stagger their heights and to provide more fullness as I got closer to the pot. I love the color difference in the gold of the willow and red of the dogwood, the berries on the cranberry branches and the green of the spruce. Once all the deciduous branches were in place, I used the spruce branches to cover all the wire. I used larger pieces to spread out across the bottom and then used really small leftovers and stood them up in the very center of the pot, where all the branches came together. Not sure if that makes sense so just look at the pictures. Stand back often to make sure it looks balanced and to ensure that all your pots (if you are doing more than one) look similar enough. I love the large size of the arrangement and can see it lasting well through the winter. And to think it was completely free!

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