Christmas gardens - a garden to decorate
Instead of just using your garden as a source for material to decorate your house, think about using your garden as a space to be decorated - this is also wonderful if you are planning a winter garden party.
Begin by thinking about lighting - you can put up strings of Christmas lights, of course, but rather than light your garden until it begins to look like a precinct on late night shopping day, consider the balance of light and dark so that some areas remain mysterious. To this end, you can use candles in small glass holders, hanging lanterns and tea lights to give lighted areas that glow through the dark.
Plants can be given a boost by adding decorations, but once again, don't just use the same techniques you'd apply to your Christmas tree and end up hanging baubles over everything. Stemmed plants like standard rose or bay trees, or small garden trees, look stunning if you make one large light coloured bow and tie it around the trunk. A weeping willow or other trailing plant can have one row of little bows made from paper ribbon or raffia, which are tied in a single wavy row around the lowest edge of the foliage. Bare areas of soil can be studded with baubles pinned down with v shaped wires, interspersed with terracotta pots that contain gilded walnuts - they may get stolen by squirrels but just think of this as giving an extra Christmas present!
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