ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot

Greenery for the festive season
This year, make your own seasonal decorations using greenery from nature. You can make festive wall swags, table settings, wreaths or arrangements in vases, using an abundance of available natural materials. Have fun being creative and don’t forget the ribbon!

Festive greenery
• Salal (pretty pink berries, glossy green foliage)
• Swordferns (dramatic foliage, colourful spores)
• Mahonia (dark green, handsome foliage)
• Sarcococca sweet box (dark green, glossy foliage, black berries)
• Nandina domestica heavenly bamboo (red-tinged foliage, shiny red berries)
• Callicarpa beauty berry (profusion of bright purple berries)
• Ilex species holly (berries and colourful foliage)
• Trailing ivy (colourful foliage)
• Cedar, fir, balsam and hemlock boughs (the mainstay of arrangements)
• Assorted cones (have fun looking for different shapes and sizes)
• Cornus species dogwood (colourful red stems)
• Rosehips (red, red, red!)
• Cotoneaster species (red berries)
• Vaccinium species huckleberries (more red!)

Never wildcraft from nature with a clearcut mentality. Take only what you need in consideration of the impact on the remaining ecosystem.

Gift ideas for gardeners
• Bird feeders (squirrel proof!)
• Bags of bird food
• Suet or peanut blocks
• Great gardening books... so many to choose from!
• A trug or basket to put a selection of gifts in
• Almond biscotti, for gardening tea breaks
• A bulb planter (with a bag of bulbs, too?)
• A dibber – great for planting bulbs, garlic, peas, onions and leeks
• Garden stakes, tied with ribbon or raffia
• Bamboo poles, as above
• Gardening gloves, rubberized or leatherized for thorny plants!
• A woolly gardening hat
• Ear muffs – warm ears are a must!
• Felt liners for boots – cozy feet are another must!
• Gumboots to go with liners
• Garden clogs – great for slipping in and out of the house
• Balls of green jute twine
• Hedge trimmer
• Hose reel
• A Korean hoe – a most useful hand tool
• Kneeling pads
• Gardener’s hand cream or soap
• Relaxing bath salts for aching muscles!
• Gift certificate for a massage (even better!)
• Loppers
• Plant pots
• A lightweight wheelbarrow (gift wrapping could be a problem!)
• Secateurs – only the best quality will do
• Seeds
• Hand tools or gardening gadgets
• Tool hooks
• Outdoor thermometer and/or barometer
• Watering cans or spray wand
• A partridge and pears to hang in a tree
• Next year’s garden calendar (or make one with pictures from your own garden)
• Aluminum plant tags, which last forever!
• A magazine subscription
• Membership to a gardening club
• Gift certificate from a local garden centre
• Season ticket to a local botanic garden
• Glass bowls filled with pebbles and paperwhites
• Pots of planted Iris reticulata, grape hyacinths, cyclamen or hyacinths
• An amaryllis bulb
• A gift certificate from you or the kids for gardening work that says “I’ll turn the compost, rake the leaves or cut the lawn for one month.”
• A mug, apron or T-shirt that says: “Gardening Forever – Housework Whenever!”
• A fridge magnet or coaster that says: “I Live in the Garden; I Only Sleep in the House!”

From A Year on the Garden Path: A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide by Carolyn Herriot. Second edition $24.95. Available from your favourite bookstore or order online at www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath.