DIY Christmas & Holiday Pots

If you love the look of Christmas or holiday planters with evergreens, pine cones, ribbons, bows, and all the accessories, why not try making one yourself? There are a few different ways you can do them, from small live planters for the holiday dinner table to large outdoor porch planters full of evergreen boughs. 

Here are the supplies you’ll need to DIY your holiday pots and a few ideas to get you started!

Live Plant Arrangements for Indoors

Having a live plant arrangement on the table for the holidays is not just pretty; it’s a beautiful reminder of living plants and trees while the world outside is frozen. There are many different plants you can use together in a live planter, including evergreens.

What you’ll need:

• A cute planter
• A mini evergreen tree
• 2-3 live plants
• Assorted mini Christmas decorations
• Potting soil
• Mini twinkle lights
• Decorative moss or stones (optional)

How to do it:

Depending on the plants you choose, you may be able to plant them together, or they may be best kept in separate pots. Lavender and Rosemary have different moisture needs than, say, an Alberta spruce or a lemon cypress tree. 

Even if they have different water needs, you can still give the illusion of being planted together. Keep the plants in their plastic nursery pots. Put a layer of soil in the bottom of your planter, then arrange the plants, still in their plastic pots, inside your container. Once you like how they’re arranged, fill up the gaps with soil and firm it in. Add a thin extra layer just over the tops of the plastic pots so you can’t see them. Now it looks like your plants are in the same planter, but they’re not. So you can safely give one plant all the water it needs while limiting how much other plants get. 

Once your plants are in, add your moss or stones to cover the soil, and then get to decorating your tree. Add a string of twinkle lights, and decorate your mini Christmas tree. 

Here are some live plants that you can use in indoor holiday planters:

• Amaryllis and paperwhites (these make a great gift!)
• Cyclamen 
• Polka Dot Plant (red or white) 
• White Christmas Campanula 
• Red Poinsettia 
• White Poinsettia 
• Thanksgiving cactus 
• Frosty Fern
• Candy Cane Kalanchoe 

Here some of the mini live evergreen trees that you can use in live planters:

• Lavender tree (keep it growing in a pot for next years herb garden)
• Cypress tree  
• Rosemary Tree (add a few snips to your turkey, and keep it growing for next years herb garden) 
• Norfolk Pine 
• Mini Alberta Spruce (If you keep this going well all winter, you can plant it outdoors next spring!)
• Lemon Cypress

Evergreen Arrangements for Outdoors

For outdoor pots, you’ll need a few supplies, plus some evergreens and whatever other decor accessories you like. If the soil in your porch pots is already frozen, you’ll also likely need some chicken wire. If you’re getting new planters, you can fill them up with fresh potting soil and make your arrangement before it freezes.

What you’ll need:

• A bundle of evergreens per pot
• Potting soil
• Accessories like pinecones, red twigs, and birch poles
• Decor accessories like ornaments or seasonal floral picks
• Pruners
• Chicken wire (optional)
• Wire cutters (optional)
• Metal tent stakes (optional)
• Hammer (optional)

If you already have porch pots and the soil is frozen solid in them, you can still use them. If you’re using fresh soil, skip to the next paragraph.

Create a small ball of chicken wire, about half as wide as your pot; just crunch it up together into a rough ball. Then center it in your porch pot, and hammer a couple of tent stakes in to keep it secure. Then make a larger dome of chicken wire over the first ball. Work it into the top of your pot, so all the wire edges are inside the pot edge, and then secure it with a couple of tent stakes as well. 

If you’re using fresh soil, fill your pots up with soil within a few inches below the rim. Firm it down well. If the soil is really light and fluffy, water it well so it settles. The water will help it freeze better and secure your greenery.

Adding the Greenery & Accessories

Start with your bigger items, like birch poles if you’re using them. Secure them into the soil (or chicken wire) a few inches deep. Then start to add in your assorted greenery as you like it, sticking the stems into the soil several inches deep or through both layers of chicken wire. If you’re using chicken wire, make sure to arrange your greenery to obscure the wire itself. Use your pruners to trim any errant greenery for a pleasing overall shape.

Once you have all your foliage how you like it, start adding in your other accessories, like glittery decor, pinecones, red berries, or ornaments. Finish off your porch pots with a strand of white twinkle lights so you can enjoy it after dark too. 

Get Your Holiday Greenery At Ted Lare

If you’re ready to get your DIY on, you can swing by Ted Lare to pick up all the supplies you need. We’ve got a variety of evergreen boughs that you can buy piece by piece or in bundles. Our evergreen bundles have an assortment of greens and include enough boughs to do a 14” porch pot or several smaller projects. We’ve also got various fun ornamental picks and decor on handy sticks to include in your arrangements. 

P.S. If it doesn’t work out, we’ve also got an excellent selection of pre-made holiday pots, or you can sign up for a class!