- Choose a container with a wide mouth and fill it with water.
- Then go into your winter garden and pick a variety of evergreen stems.
- Wear gloves to protect your hands and cut from the back of a shrub or down low near the ground.
- If the bush is unruly, it is a good chance to cut off any bits that stick out.
- Avoid cutting any branches that will spoil the overall shape of a bush or tree, and don't cut spruce as they do not regenerate if the growing tips are cut off. (You may have nice blue/gray spruce, and that color will beckon to you, but resist the temptation!)
- Yews, arborvitae, holly, privet, euonymus, sage, mahonia, pine, cypress, ivy and box are easy to cut and available in many home gardens.
- Contrasting shades, texture and form create interest in winter arrangements, so get as many different species as you can find.
- Hold the stems in your hand and arrange them so that they look attractive. (Maybe create an outside collar of similar bits.)
- Then go inside the house and hold the arrangement in your hand next to the vase so that you can decide on a pleasing height.
- Then cut across all of the stems to make them even and the best height for the vase. (For example: one third greenery and two thirds of vase height.)
- If using a glass vase, add a few shiny balls to the water before adding the stems.
- Once the natural greenery is arranged, add some stems of fake red berries before placing the vase on a red mat.
