Holly Follies
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday December 5, 1989
IT IS almost the season to be jolly and time to be thinking of the Christmas tree, a festive wreath for the front door and Christmas ornaments that can be gleaned from your garden.
If you have children in the household, help them collect things like fallen pine cones, gum nuts and various dry seed pods which can be painted or gilded to make inexpensive decorations.
Wreaths can be made by cutting bundles of thin, pliable canes from climbers like wisteria and grape, or whippy willow stems. Strip off the leaves and twist them round into a ring about 5cm thick and 30 cm across. Secure by twisting round florist's wire or soft plastic-coated wire. Hang them up to dry until you are ready to start trimming with ribbons and fresh foliage, flowers and your garden gleanings.
These decorative wreaths make pretty gifts and you could make a long-lasting, living version using succulents which will continue to grow. To do this you will need to stuff your wreath form with damp sphagnum moss which is packed in between the stems. Collect a mixture of small, rosette-type succulents from the garden and push the stems down into the moss.
Succulents such as sedums (stonecrop, propeller plant, jelly beans), sempervivums (cobweb houseleek and red houseleek) and others offer a range of attractive foliage shapes, textures and colours. They will quickly send out roots to anchor them into the moss-filled wreath. Fill any gaps between the rosettes with single succulent leaves which will soon develop plantlets. Leave flat for a couple of weeks until roots form to stabilise the plants.
The wreath can then be hung on a wall where it will get several hours of sun a day and, with just enough watering to keep the moss damp, the plants will continue to grow for a long time.
There are many possible variations on this theme. For instance a Christmas-tree shape can be made using a length of dowel and some chicken wire to make the framework. Push the dowel into a pot filled with sand, wrap the chicken wire round into a cone shape and stuff with damp sphagnum moss. Next poke succulents in through the wire until covered, add a few Christmas baubles or bows on florist's wire and you have a fun gift for someone who gardens on a balcony or a sunny windowsill.
When it comes to the Christmas tree itself, nothing can compare with a live one growing in a tub. Nurseries have good supplies of conifers of all kinds and the early shopper gets the best tree. Any sort of conifer can be used as long as it is upright and has even branches.
Spruce make handsome, traditional trees but can be disappointing in the long term because they don't always grow well in the Sydney area. Norfolk Island pines have a very regular branching habit and make a great tree which can be grown in a tub for up to five years or more, as long as they are watered regularly while outdoors for the rest of the year.
I saw some splendid Norfolk Island pines in Woolworths this week. They have been specially grown for use as Christmas trees and each has a how-to-care-for label. The trees are beautifully grown, tall and bushy, with perfectly even branches of a rich, lustrous green. I do hope they keep them watered until sold as they are splendid specimens and watering always seems to be a problem in chain stores.
When you buy a living tree keep it outside in a sheltered spot where it will get morning sun or filtered sunlight and water it daily until Christmas Eve. Don't bring it inside too early as a tree loaded with decorations will only be happy inside for a short time and just makes Twelfth Night.
Holly is part of the traditional Christmas scene, valued in the northern hemisphere countries because it is evergreen and has shining red berries through winter when other plants are bare. Here, holly is disappointing because it berries mid-year, in our winter. However, for the die-hard romantics it is now possible to buy holly which actually berries in our summer. You will find them at nurseries such as Swanes at Dural, though supplies are still limited.
Swanes imported a number of different hollies several years ago and after trialling them for some time have released some of the best. Holly can be used as a specimen plant or hedge and, with its prickly foliage, makes a good protective barrier against people or animals.
The variegated forms make handsome tub plants for a sunny position and grow quite successfully in the Sydney area, though they are at their best in a cold climate.
© 1989 Sydney Morning Herald
