Even during winter, gardeners can wreath what they sow

With the ground freezing and snow thickening, we are turning our thoughts away from the garden and towards the holidays. Indeed, there is little time for gardening even were it still possible, with family gatherings to plan and attend, Halloween parties, school parties, work parties, gifts to buy, costumes to prepare and house decorations to change out three times in as many months.

House decorating introduces the possibility of enjoying a bit of garden-related activity even during this hectic season. Try making a wreath or swag for quick and effective holiday decor.

Most of us have used wreaths at one time or another and may associate the wreath only with front doors and Christmas. Wreaths or swags, however, can easily be adapted to any occasion and create a maximum impact in return for a minimum effort.

A wreath is traditionally round, but can be oval, heart-shaped or however else it turns out. A swag is like a bouquet bound together at one end.

Wreaths hang nicely on doors, walls, posts or wherever; swags can hang anywhere a wreath can, but are especially adaptable over windows or door frames and other narrow spaces where a wreath would appear squashed.

Although the base of wreaths and swags, which I shall henceforth refer to only as wreaths in the interest of brevity, can be made of any material, provided it is supple enough to be bent and bound into shape and stiff enough to hold that shape. As this is a garden column, we shall confine our discussion of bases to plant materials. A familiar wreath base is comprised of evergreen bows. Locally, that restricts us to spruce, black (which is surprisingly well suited to this purpose) or white, and garden subjects such as pine, arborvitae, or juniper. As arborvitae grows so slowly in our climate, we rarely want to prune it, and juniper is unpleasantly prickly. That leaves us with spruce and pine. A spruce will commonly hold its needle out-of-doors for two to three weeks, a pine wreath perhaps a week longer, and both may last for several more weeks if left completely undisturbed. Indoors, neither will keep more than a few days. Incidentally, bare evergreen stems also make a serviceable wreath base. Muhgo pines, as they have a penchant for rampant growth where one expects them to remain trim, can be an endless source of wreaths. Hold off pruning muhgos until wreath season and then let them have it.

Deciduous wreath bases can be formed from branches of willow, alder, cottonwood, birch, poplar, berry bushes and nearly any garden shrub. Tree roots also make great wreath forms. What better use for unwanted cottonwood suckers? And lilacs, which often require severe pruning, can just as well be pruned now for use in wreaths.

Having once formed our wreath, we have only to decorate it to suit the season. I prefer to use plant material for this purpose, such as berries, rosehips, seedpods or seed heads, and cones, but small ornaments also work well and can be more durable.

For Halloween, try a dried gourd for color, a scarecrow or a collection of large black spiders with bright orange ribbon to finish the effect.

For Thanksgiving, nix the spiders, add pheasant or peacock feathers, a decorative turkey, rosehips or dried berries, or colored silk leaves and change the orange ribbon for an autumn gold one.

For Christmas, all of the previous décor must go, with the possible exception of the berries and hips. Start afresh with holly, mistletoe, cones, Christmas tree ornaments or candy canes (these only work indoors), and finish with a bright red or candy-striped ribbon. Christmas wreaths also lend themselves well to an all blue, silver or other single color décor.

Collecting material for wreaths can be a challenge once the snow deepens, so take advantage of this wonderful fall and gather deciduous branches now. It is best to form a wreath within a week of gathering branches; although, if kept out-of-doors in the shade, they may remain supple for several weeks. Evergreen boughs must be gathered when needed, but it is a good idea to mark the boughs you intend to harvest before they are covered with snow.

Do not let this holiday season keep you from the pleasures of the garden. You can have the satisfaction of working with some plant material, and you can decorate for the holidays, both at the same time.

Hally Truelove is a Master Gardener and Plants Woman who lives and gardens in Wasilla Alaska with her two daughters, a handful of cats, a bunch of bunnies, some guinea pigs, a dog and a frog. Contact her at 376-0909.