Fork it! Hollypops!
Having just visited France, I was struck by how beautifully they decorate their shop windows. Small shops in particular used foliage and flowers to create imaginative displays that were often simple, but executed with élan. The tradition of bringing evergreens into the house in winter predates our Christmas customs but it is in danger of dying out, as lack of time, imagination and confidence has resulted in many people using artificial decorations.
The expense of ready-made natural decorations may put some people off, but you are after all paying for someone’s time to craft them - whereas the fake holly spray and plastic pine cones just rolled off a production line in China! However, after seeing some rather skinny box topiary “lollipops” on sale for £60 a pair, I resolved to make my own. I found 2 straight branches of about 1 metre and 10cm circumference and “planted” them firmly and deeply in earth in 2 terracotta pots found in my shed. I soaked 2 spherical oases in water and stuck them on top of each branch and for important extra support I wrapped chicken wire round the oases and secured this with wire firmly round the branch. I then pushed sprigs of holly and ivy into the ball, so that the oasis was completely covered. To ensure you keep the round shape, start with one line all the way around the ball and then do a second one at right angles so that your sphere is divided into quarters. It is then much easier to line up the sprigs with each other and keep an even shape. Don’t cut the foliage too short or the ball will look skimpy, but don’t go too big either, or it will take for ever to cover the oasis and it may start to fall apart with so many holes being made in it. For an oasis sphere of 40cm circumference, I cut my sprigs to about 25cm in length and the overall finished circumference of my foliage ball was 150cm.
If your holly doesn’t have berries, use bunches of other berries such as cotoneaster, using thick florists’ wire (called stub wire) to push them into the oasis. You can also use small apples or clementines to liven up the greenery. Push a piece of stub wire up through the fruit from the bottom, stopping before it pierces the top, then push another piece of wire through from side to side (think of a T shape) and bring the horizontal ends of the wire down to meet the vertical wire and thus create a “stalk “ with which to attach the fruit.
To finish off, tie a piece of ribbon into a bow just under each ball and leave the ends hanging down the “stem”. Flanking my front door these holly and ivy “lollipops” look very Christmassy and with the oasis costing about £2 each, the ribbon 30p a metre, the pack of wires £1 (available from most garden centres and florists) and everything else freely available from my garden, field or shed they saved me a lot of money, which I shall spend on a present to myself. Merry Christmas!
