Winter Planter

This client’s front garden was designed to have a large planter in the centre of a flagstone spiral. But finding the right container took us longer than anticipated, and in the meantime she saw a winter-decorated planter that she loved. So this is what we created, using the original planting plan, modified.

Ingredients:

Bowl shaped container, 34″ diameter, 31″ height

Cephalotaxus harringtonia (Plum Yew)

Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’ (Goshiki False Holly)

These were planted as normal in the container. I planted them quite high, leaving a trough around them, and then filled the trough with blocks of pre-soaked florist foam. In the spring we’ll remove the foam and fill the container with more soil to plant around the edges, per the original plan.

Boughs: Incense cedar–the very drapey lowest level; White Pine–long needles; Noble fir–excellent firm statuesque branches; Magnolia branch tips; boxwood harvested from the hedge to fill in bare spaces.

The red berries are artificial, from Michael’s. Winterberries or pyracantha berries or cotoneaster berries are all lovely and would  probably be more beautiful, but would only last until either the birds found them, or the frost or wind dessicated them. So I went with faux. And just a few springs–it’s easy to overdo.