Q. My wife wants to decorate the Christmas tree “naturally” this year with items collected from the landscape and woods. I am concerned about bringing unwanted critters inside and worried that any plants with berries she might use might be poisonous. Any advice?
A. My advice is to stick with plants you know are safe and leave the “mystery” plants alone.
There are many items found in landscapes that can be used for decorations on a more natural tree. Just realize that many can be flammable, so care is needed not to place these items near lights that can produce heat. Some older lights can produce quite a bit of heat, so be careful.
The first Christmas trees used by pioneers were made of nothing but natural items collected from the wild or made at home. Many early trees were small tabletop versions. Early trees were also decorated with colorful fabric, fruit and popcorn strings.
Even though it sounds counterproductive, we use natural items on our artificial tree at home.
Pine or spruce cones are easy to collect and look great as tree decorations. Inspect them carefully to make sure no insects are hitching a ride inside. Douglas fir has wonderful winged cones to use as decorations. My wife Ms. Frugal loves to collect and use Sweet Gum seed pods on the tree and on wreaths and presents. She uses silver and gold spray paint to color the star-shaped seed pods.
I have used the seed pods of teasel as decorations. They are spiny, so I use a razor blade to remove the spines from the seed stalk. Teasel seed heads can also be spray-painted. Rose hips from your landscape roses or even the wild multifora rose make excellent decorations; again I remove the thorns from the stem.
Leftover hydrangea flowers really look great. The dried flowers can be used in fresh and dried arrangements – and on the tree. Everlasting plants such as gomphrena (globe amaranth) really look nice. “Strawberry Fields” flower heads in particular hold their color well when dried and placed on the tree. Statice and Straw Flower also make excellent decorations. All one has to do is collect and dry in advance of the holidays.
I love using lavender on the tree. The fragrance is an added benefit. Thyme and sweet woodruff bundles are also nice to use.
Collect and use ribbon and fabric to make bows to be used as decorations. The sky’s the limit, but make sure you don’t collect an unknown plant from the wild or landscape. Many plants with berries (holly berries, yew, bittersweet and mistletoe are examples) can be highly toxic – especially to children. A partial lists of landscape plants that are poisonous can be found here: www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/DGP/DGP166.pdf
Having a naturally decorated tree can be a unique way to decorate a tree much like the pioneers decorated their trees long ago. Just be careful you are not using anything mysterious that might cause potential harm.
