Get into the festive spirit by making your Christmas wreath

And, one that is individual - created from foraged foliage - is so much better than those mass-produced and shipped over by the container-load from the Far East.

I am fortunate in that all the ingredients I have used in preparation for Christmas wreaths past and present are readily available from my garden.

I plump for a backing of yew or leylandii on a wire frame which once sported some of the tackiest decoration seen at this festive time before being upcycled.

Richard's Christmas wreath nearing completion. (Image: Richard Wright)

Some cover the frame in sphagnum moss wired to the structure which gives a uniform green backing and holds moisture too.

Bare wire frames are widely available from the interweb, florists or garden centres for those who want to start from scratch and not cannibalise.

Spiky Butcher’s Broom, which got its name from being utilised to sweep-up bloodied sawdust in days long gone, is used to create an angled top feature and there is fruiting ivy and – of course – holly for colour.

It’s been an especially good year for berries, although now that the weather has chilled they will soon be stripped from bushes by hungry birds. Berries can disappear in a matter of hours.

WATCH: A short RHS tutorial on making Christmas wreaths

RICHARD'S TOP TIPS:

• Cover heavy clay soil with polythene to keep it drier and allow winter digging.
• Leave the faded flower heads on your hydrangeas until spring, as they provide frost protection to the swelling buds.
• Start to winter-prune wisteria, cutting back whippy summer side-shoots to two or three buds. Wisteria sinensis looks better tidy and will flower better in good shape. 
• Prune climbing roses now, removing diseased or damaged growth and tie-in to supports. Prune older side shoots back by two thirds of their length.
• Plant deciduous climbing honeysuckle now, but make sure to avoid waterlogged ground.
• Prune Japanese maple. if necessary. Acers ‘bleed’ if pruning is done when the sap starts to rise.
• If your strawberry plants are over three years old, order some new varieties to replace them. Older plants tend to lose vigour and don’t fruit so well. Alternatively, peg runners down next summer to create new plants from old.
• I sometimes add further colour from bright yellow crabapples from my piece of land.
• All can be strung on the frame using cheap green garden twine.
• You do not have to have a big garden to create a wreath of your own. All is available to be foraged and what better outing than a walk in the woods with secateurs, partner and family?
• Foraged foliage can include eucalyptus with its shimmery silver-green leaves, seed heads and small pine cones. Aromatic bay leaves mean the wreath not only looks great but smells good too.

Are you an Isle of Wight gardener with a question for Richard?

Email him on richrydegardener@gmail.com