From the Yard: A Simple Winter Wreath Made from What's Already Growing

There's a moment in late November when the garden is mostly done — the tomatoes are gone, the perennials have gone to seed, and everything looks a little brown and tired. But if you walk around with clippers and a basket, you'll find more than you think. Evergreens, dried hydrangeas, seed pods, bare twigs with interesting shapes. That's the material for a winter wreath, and it's free.

The first wreath I ever made was a disaster. I used too much of everything, the wire was too thin, and by the time I hung it, it was already sagging. But I learned the basics, and now it's one of my favorite cold-weather rituals. Here's how I do it.

Gather and Prep

Start with a wire wreath frame — the simple metal kind from a craft store, or a grapevine base if you want something more rustic. For greens, I look for boxwood, cedar, pine, and juniper. Cedar is my favorite because it smells incredible and holds its color, but it dries out faster than boxwood, so I mix them. Cut your clippings into six-to-eight-inch pieces and strip the lower needles so you have a clean stem to wire.

Beyond the greens, look for texture. Dried hydrangea blooms in that faded parchment color, sprigs of winterberry if you're lucky enough to have it, pinecones, rosehips, dried orange slices. These are the pieces that keep the wreath from looking like a green blob. I keep a small box of dried bits from the fall — seed pods, twigs, a few feathers if I find them — and pull it out when I make wreaths.

You'll need floral wire, a spool of 22-gauge is right, and clippers. And a cup of tea, because this takes a little while.

Building It Up

Working in one direction around the frame, lay a small bundle of greens against the wire and wrap the floral wire around the stems and the frame several times to secure. Don't cut the wire — keep it attached to the spool so you can move smoothly to the next bundle. Overlap each bundle with the last, covering the stems of the one before. Keep the bundles small; a wreath made of many small bundles looks fuller and more natural than one made of a few big ones.

Once the base is done, tuck in your accent pieces. I wire pinecones and dried blooms individually so they don't fall off, and I use the natural bend of twigs to my advantage. A few sprigs of winterberry give a pop of red without looking holiday-specific — the wreath can hang well into January. If you want a bow, use a wide linen ribbon and keep it simple.

Hang it on the door with a sturdy hook, and check it after a few days. Greens shrink as they dry, so a wreath that looks sparse at first will fill out a little, but you may want to add a few more sprigs. The best part is that when the season ends, you can pull it apart and compost the greens, keeping the frame for next year. The yard gives, and the yard takes back. That feels right.