5 Ways to Make Your Garden More Festive

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purple flower covered with snow

The holidays are officially underway, and while you’re probably already in the process of decorating your tree and other indoor spaces, have you stopped to think about your garden? Decorating the outside of your house can bring even more joy to your community and will give your greenery some extra love during the colder months.

Here are 5 ways to decorate your garden for the ultimate holiday curb appeal.

 

1. Start with the basics

You don’t have to run out and buy new decorations right away! Instead, use what you already have. If you have a few plants in pots, that’s a perfect place to start. Add some festive flair to your containers by painting them with holiday images and colors, or just tie some gift bows around them. If filling new containers, use Espoma Potting Mix to give plants a healthy start with our Myco-tone Advantage

snowman and santa claus near house decor

2. Light it up!

You can’t go wrong with string lights during the holidays. While you might be used to lining walkways or hanging them from your roof, try changing things up and wrapping the lights around your shrubs or lining the garden with them. This will bring a festive feeling to your garden while also bringing more attention to your hardy plant babies. (Give them the credit they deserve for making it through this chilly time of year!)

green tree leaves

3. Bring the tree outside

Why keep the glory of your Christmas tree limited to indoors? Plant an evergreen outside and decorate it just the same to bring the holiday cheer where even more people can appreciate it. Now you have the opportunity to decorate two of them in completely different ways! Maybe the outdoor version will have a theme and be more photogenic while the kids can have free reign of the one indoors. Plus, you can never go wrong with adding a tree to your property if you have the space!

gold bauble

4. Decorations everywhere!

Similar to the tree, why keep the fun decor inside? Treat the rest of your garden the same and let loose with ribbon, tinsel, and decorations galore. Stick candy canes in the soil for that classic holiday vibe or strew about pinecones for a more rustic look. Try placing old ornaments on any plants with strong enough stems to replicate a mini Christmas tree. Get creative with this one and make it your own!

red poinsettia flowers near photo frame

5. Include your mailbox

Whether or not your mailbox is near your garden, extend your greenery to it to tie it together with your home’s festive look. This can be done simply by draping or wrapping a garland around it, but you can also fancy it up with some of the same bits of decor used in the garden like lights or bows. If there’s enough space, bring a potted plant or two over to show the neighborhood that this is a plant-loving home!

Go ahead and pick and choose which decor tips you want to incorporate, or go wild and use them all! Remember that curb appeal shouldn’t be reserved just for the warmer months. Even if you’re spending your holidays social-distance style, adding outdoor decor will extend your festive spirit to all who pass by!

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4 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Poinsettias

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‘Tis the season of poinsettias! These jolly red plants are a classic holiday gift and household decoration all across the country during the winter months. Unfortunately, for many people, the leaves quickly turn lackluster and the plant dies soon afterward. But you can avoid this outcome with proper care and maintenance! Here are 4 ways yours can thrive this holiday season, as told by Garden Answer.

1. Get a healthy start

Did you know poinsettias are actually tropical plants? These festive spurges have somehow become a staple during the colder months, but they very much still appreciate their native climate! That means you should try to avoid the ones that are placed near the entrance of your local grocery store, since the draft from outside and the dry heat from inside are already harming the plants’ health. If you find them elsewhere, be sure to check that the foliage has solid colors and is not showing any green as this could mean they’re finished flowering for the season.

2. Give them a loving home

Since poinsettias appreciate that tropical climate, be sure to place them somewhere with lots of light that’s away from cold glass. As mentioned before, keep them away from any drafts — warm or cold. Be sure to check their soil moisture regularly as heated homes often lack moisture in the air. You can water them when the top layer of soil feels dry. As a finishing touch, feel free to mist them regularly and use Espoma Bloom! to give them a boost.

3. Stay safe this holiday season

A widely believed myth is that poinsettias are incredibly toxic to pets and humans. But the truth is that you would have to ingest an exorbitant amount of it for it to actually be dangerous! You should still err on the side of caution since the white sap that’s produced when the stems break can be a skin irritant, and it’s best to set them somewhere pets and kids can’t reach as with all houseplants.

4. Start anew next year

No matter how devoted you are to your beloved poinsettias, you should still think of them as annual plants that need to be replaced each year. It can be very difficult to get them to bloom again a year later and it involves much stricter care than the tips listed above. 

 

Check out this video from Kevin @Epic Gardening for some additional tips and tricks to get the most out of your poinsettias.

 

 

Now that you have all the necessary knowledge, go find the biggest and brightest poinsettias you can locally buy — and rest assured that they’ll last much longer than last year’s!

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5 Fall Plants to Bring Inside for Your Thanksgiving Aesthetic

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If this Thanksgiving is feeling a little lonelier than holidays past, look to plants to give you comfort! A small gathering can feel much more full when there are all kinds of greenery filling up the room. Take a look at our picks for the top 5 plants you can bring inside that will match your fall aesthetic.

1. Orchids

Many people may think of living plants as wasteful in terms of decorations, as some of them don’t live very long. However, Orchids are one of the few plants that last much longer than you’d think and match almost any fall decor. So don’t worry about not finding a place for it in the midst of the holiday chaos!

2. Desert Gems Cacti

Whether your style is brighter or your fall-colored decor needs some contrast, Desert Gems Cacti are small indoor plants that are perfect for adding a bold color to the room! They come in several shiny colors: topaz pink, emerald green, amethyst purple, fire opal orange, and sapphire blue. While they’re stunning on their own, they make a kaleidoscope if mixed with the other colors. While they flourish if kept in light for the better part of the day, they can also be kept in low light for short periods of time.

3. Money Trees

Chinese lore considers money plants to be a bringer of prosperity and resilience. What better time to manifest such things than during the holidays? Money trees thrive amazingly inside and are easy to care for. Their prolific green leaves give any room a pop of color and brighten it up.

4. Purple Passion Plant

The purple passion plant is also called the velvet plant because of the fact that it is covered with a purple sheen on top of the green leaves. It’s a great plant to hang up since it starts off upright but ends up sprawling as it grows. This plant is incredibly easy to care for and just needs moist soil. Use our Moisture Mix while potting to make sure it has everything it needs!

5. Earth Star

Earth Star is the perfect fall plant because of its rust-colored leaves that blend in with almost all fall decor! It’s a unique plant because it contrasts most other greenery with its bright reddish-maroon. Use it as a centerpiece on your Thanksgiving table or just as a fun side plant to brighten up the room. They need a lot of sunlight to grow so consider putting them in a windowsill that would otherwise be bland.

Your guests will love these fun and colorful plants — which means you can spend less time trying to impress them with your cooking! So bring all the plant babies inside, brighten up the room, and have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.

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Create Your Own Fall Centerpiece for Thanksgiving

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Your Thanksgiving dinner may look different this year with a smaller number of attendees, but that’s all the more reason to stun them with holiday decor! It’s more important than ever to relax with members of your household and find ways to put everyone in that classic festive mood. Here are some ways to make a beautiful table centerpiece to help this holiday season be as cheerful as the last.

1. Pumpkins everywhere

Not sure what to do with all the pumpkins you got for Halloween? Turn them into flower pots and get the full effect of fall! Hollow them out and put in some of your favorite flowers. You can even paint them to match any decor color you already have.

2. Create your own cornucopia

Thanksgiving is celebrated to give thanks for the harvest for the year and all the food you’re going to eat, so it’s fitting to display your harvest on the table too! If you took part in growing fruits and vegetables over the summer, why not display your hard work on the table in the form of a cornucopia?

3. Flower arrangements

Another creative trick you can try is creating flower arrangements! If you’ve been growing flowers, you already have everything you need. But if you haven’t, hop on over to your local florist and pick out some fall-colored bouquets and arrange them however you want. There’s no wrong way to do it!

4. Shrubs and leaves

If you’re looking for an inexpensive yet effective way to get it done, your backyard is your oyster! Don’t want to pluck out your flowers? Simply bring in some fallen leaves that are bound to be a mix of red, yellow, and orange. This will definitely give your home a more rustic look. Add some branches and evergreen shrubs for some texture!

5. Don’t forget houseplants

If you’re a dedicated plant parent, you probably already have some unusual houseplants around your house. Now all you need to do is re-pot them into something more festive to brighten up everyone’s spirits! Make sure to add some potting mix while repotting and some Indoor! Houseplant food to keep them perky throughout dinner.

Whether you’re going all out or only want to make a small arrangement, adding some festive decoration is sure to get everyone feeling more festive and joyful this holiday season. Even if Thanksgiving is dinner for one — remember that plant care is self-care!

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