Wreaths from Scratch

I haven’t bought a cut tree in ages.  I used to buy a live tree, but after so many years of hauling in the heavy 15-gallon container while being face-whipped by the branches, I finally bought a very lovely fake tree about eight years ago or so.  It works well, except it doesn’t have the fragrance of a real tree.  In the ‘old days’ I could gather cuttings from tree lots, but the sellers caught on and now sell them or use them for wreaths themselves.  I’ve been buying a wreath from Trader Joe’s which smells nice for awhile but is pretty expensive for just some branches.

This year my daughter and I used bits of plants that we trimmed as we pruned our fruit trees.  Some pine branches had been left unshredded in the huge mulch piles I nabbed from my neighbor’s tree trimmer after they topped (shudder!) all his trees.

A large eager rose had hung some large lovely hips low over the pedestrian gate and needed trimming back.

A rosemary bush was encroching on a fruit tree and was cut firmly back. We cut some willow and sage as well. So one night last week my daughter and I had a ‘craft night’ and on spread newspaper with the help of wire and old wreath frames made three wreaths, a centerpiece and a huge mess on the floor.

We had a lot of fun, and the wreaths smell of herbs.

What can you do with what you have growing?