This post is going to give you some tips for how to make a winter planter that is a bit different from the rest!

Learn How to Make a Winter Planter

‘Tis the turning of the seasons yet again! At the beginning of fall I posted about how to make a fall outdoor planter. Now with the cold weather settling it, it is time to change your planters to something a little more hardy!

There are so many planters out and about at this time of year. We’ve all seen them – beautiful combinations of dogwood twigs, white birch branches, evergreen boughs, and red berries. I love these planters, and make them often, but for this particular project I wanted to make a winter planter that is something a little different that was still wintery and festive.

The idea behind this style of planter is to have a central focal object and build around it equally. Although this reindeer is a unique item, there are many great focal items at gardening nurserys at this time of year. The hanging balls made of branches in the image above would be perfect as your central object and are very common.

How to make a winter planter – Decide on a theme!

Gather all your planter supplies and decide on a theme for your planter. I break themes into two main categories: glitzy and natural. With this planter I went for a natural theme using pine cones, berries, and moss balls to embellish. A glitzy arrangement might have red ornaments instead of the pine cones, and some sparkly elements giving it more of a Holiday feel.

 

To Make this Outdoor Winter Planter I used:

• 1 bunch of pine (10 boughs), spruce (10 boughs), cedar (10 boughs), and holly (5 stems)
• 20 natural pinecones
• 10 green moss balls
• 15 small sprigs of artificial red berries (I opted for artificial so they would look fresh for longer)
• 3 large gold pinecones

This planter is approximately 18″ in diameter and 42″ tall.

Building your Winter planter:

Although these evergreen boughs have been cut, it is still necessary that your planter is full of soil so that you have something to stick the branches into and the moisture in the soil helps the branches go into dormancy.

1. Place your central object in the middle of the planter, face the best side outwards.

2. Build your base of evergreens around the central object. Use a combination of pine, cedar and spruce boughs. These are common greens found at any nursery and are easily sourced if you are scavenging in nature! After creating the base with your evergreens it is nice to add in a few sprigs of variegated holly – the festive look of holly in unbeatable.

3. Decorate your base with your chosen embellishment objects. I purchased these pinecones and moss balls pre-made, so they were attached to long sticks which is very handy for sticking the objects into the soil to secure them. If you use regular Christmas ornaments or pine cones from the forest, use a wire to attach the ornament to a strong bough by wrapping it around the branch. Always try and ‘cover your mechanics’ by using other branches to hide where you have attached your ornament. It should look like everything is growing naturally out of the evergreen base.

4. Add a focal Spot. I tend to always do this in the lower right corner of the front of the planter – it is a good spot for balance. I spaced the pine cones and berries equally around the whole planter but in this area I have made a cluster of them and also added some larger gold pinecones here that were nowhere else in the urn. This just adds another area of interest and makes the overall look more pleasing to the eye.

Are you wanting to make a more traditional planter? Check out our newer post on making an outdoor Christmas planter!

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