I’ve always admired the beautiful holiday spruce top* displays I see in people’s yards and in front of stores here in Minneapolis. Since I don’t have much of a front porch or stoop, I never really had a place to make then myself, until this year. This past spring, Matt and his father put large planter in for me on either side of the steps leading up from the sidewalk. They are the perfect place for this type of display.
My pots were still full of the potting soil from this summer. Unfortunately, that soil was pretty much frozen (I missed doing this in last week’s warm spell). In order to loosen it up, I poured watering cans of hot water in and used a garden shovel to help break it up. Then I divided the ten spruce tops I had between the two pots. It took a bit of work to get them in deep enough to stand up straight.
I added some white pine branches around the base (plus got in the car and drove back to the garden center for two more bunches of the white pine to fill it up more). I added a little sparkle with white, silver and gold floral picks that I bought for 50% off at JoAnn.
Finally, I added in three large plastic Christmas balls. I used garden stakes through the hole at the top of the balls to hold them in place. Wanting to make sure everything was really stable, I packed in a little more potting soil around everything and then watered it in. I figure with temperatures below zero the water will freeze everything in place. And the final result…
I think it looks quite pretty and they should stay nice most of the winter. I’m tempted to add more floral picks, but I think I’ll resist that temptation and just add some lights instead. Once the wreath is on the house and lights on the peak above the door it’ll be more than festive enough.
How are you decorating the outside of your house this season?
*Spruce tops are the tips of white or black spruce. They are a regenerative crop that can be harvested again and again. In Minnesota, the harvesting of them is licensed by the state.
© 2005 – 2012 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
Oh wow, I love them, Kathy! Just perfect, though like you said, a few lights will be beautiful. And some light snow, too! 🙂 We’ve got lights up on one side of the house (we’re on a corner, so we actually have two front sides), and a few more we still need to add to the shrubs. And our little lit reindeer needs to come out of the garage, too. We’ve also got lit wreaths. Oh! And I’m eyeing a pot we have with a small tomato cage. I read that wrapping that in lights will make a good “lit tree.” I’ll take a pic for you if I end up doing it.
Your little house is so incredibly cute! Those decorations look fantastic.
Elle – My brother has done the tomato cage trees in his front yard for years, and we were talking about it at Thanksgiving – he said it was super-simple and looked awesome!
Thanks Val. We have spent a lot of time over the last couple of years having it fixed up outside and landscaped.
Oh, that’s nice. Simple, but effective.
And I love your yellow door!