Dr. Grow: Create garden of holiday greenery

A doorswag made of nandina and white pine can spruce up a home for Christmas.

Marilyn, my bride of almost 32 years, is by profession a registered nurse, but she is really an interior decorator. I found this out the second Christmas of our marriage.

While going to school, we lived on a Christmas tree farm. I traded work on the farm for an inexpensive place to park our mobile home.

Because we were in school, our income was not the greatest. When Christmas approached, we wanted to make our home as festive as we could, but the funds were limited. We just didn't have the money for garlands, wreaths, centerpieces, and swags that one usually purchases at a store.

Our lack of financial resources didn't seem to bother Marilyn at all. She got out my trusty pruning saw and hand pruners and began collecting cuttings from plants growing on the farm and from the landscapes around homes of our more affluent friends.

With her decorating touch, she transformed our modest home into a garden of Christmas greenery and berries. Sprigs of greenery accented candles on end tables. On the coffee table a spray of holly and pine surrounded a bowl of red satin balls. An advent wreath was placed on a chest. Our kitchen table had a centerpiece of nothing more than greenery from the pine and red cedar. Not only were the decorations beautiful, but the smell of pine and cedar pervaded our entire home.

If you too would like to decorate during Christmas with fresh greenery and berries but don't have a source for plant material, consider designing your landscape so that it becomes a cutting garden. This landscape cutting garden can be that source of greenery and berries.

In your landscape you may want to plant Canaerti juniper, Pfitzer juniper and glauca juniper. Branches from each provide different textures, foliage color and scents. Quite often these species also have blue cones on them. These "berries" give the foliage a dash of blue that is an extra bonus in Christmas decorations.

Other needled evergreens that may be used are hemlock, Douglas fir, Colorado blue spruce and Norway spruce. Again each species has different cones that can be used in decorations.

Often overlooked are the broad leaf evergreens as a source of green foliage. Boxwoods, both Korean cultivators and common varieties, can be used. Even azalea foliage will provide a contrast in texture and sometimes in color.

Of course traditional Christmas greens include cuttings of holly. The green foliage and red berries provide the traditional Christmas colors in any kind of arrangement.

Most hollies are listed as hardy in Zone 6. Because of our occasional harsh winters, it is best to plant a holly that is hardy in Zone 5.

One group of hollies that are hardy in Zone 5 are the Meserve hybrids. Cultivars of this group include Blue Angel, Blue Girl, Blue Maid, and Blue Princess. These Blue Cultivars have foliage that is blue-green in color.

Another group of Meserve hybrids have green foliage. These cultivars include China Girl and Dragon Lady.

Hollies are dioecious plants. This means that some plants are male and other plants are female. Only female plants develop berries. For the females to develop berries, they must be pollinated by a male plant. If you want to plant hollies, plant mostly female plants, but place one male in close proximity to the female plants.

To the list of plants that you may want to include in your landscape to use for Christmas decorations, I could add Oregon grape-holly, deciduous holly, winterberry, and nandina. Again these plants will provide you, the decorator, with an endless array of textures, colors and scents to design with.

Paul Schnare of Cape Girardeau has been in the lawn and garden business for more than 20 years. He's an adjunct professor in horticulture at Southeast Missouri State University.