A garden doesn’t have to be big to be bold and beautiful. A 20” diameter wire wreath frame can accommodate several dozen plants with a wide variety of color, texture, and shape. Think of your autumn living wreath as a captivating container garden.
Assembling the wreath can be a solo venture but it can be great fun to get a circle of friends together for an outdoor wreath making party.
Materials Needed
- 20” wire wreath form lined with coir or cocoa fiber
- garden shears
- garden gloves
- soilless potting mix
- slow-release fertilizer pellets
- assorted succulents
- sphagnum moss
- water
Selecting Succulents
Low-maintenance easy to grow succulents are plentiful at garden centers.
- Sempervivum aka as hen and chicks or houseleeks is a hardy succulent in heat or cold, full sun or shade. They are close kin to kalanchoe.
- Chinese sedum, Sedum tetractinum, has green foliage in summer and bronze in fall.
- Sedum lydium is a classic evergreen succulent groundcover with bronze-red leaves in fall.
- Sedum makanoi ‘Eco Mt. Emei’ is a trailing succulent with yellow star-shaped spring flowers.
In addition to sedums, other herbaceous plants can be tucked in between for added interest.
- Platt’s black brass buttons, Leptinella squalida, is a mat-forming ground cover with fernlike black leaves.
- Creeping wire vine, Muelenbeckia axillaris, is a low-growing creeping groundcover with wiry stems and round glossy green leaves turning bronze in fall.
- Variegated lemon thyme, Thymus citriodorus variegata, is a scented hardy herb.
- Just as pansies and viola add smiling fall faces on the rim of the wreath, there are lots of choices to embellish the basic design for the occasion or season.
As the Wreath Turns
The steps in assembling the wreath are simple but the artistry is up to the individual.
- Fill the fiber lined wire wreath form with moistened potting soil and sprinkle slow release fertilizer pellets into the soil.
- Cover the bedding with a circular layer of fiber and clip on the back wire to hold all inside the frame.
- Flip the frame over. The form will look like a caged Bundt cake awaiting frosting.
- Remove succulents from transplant pots taking care to protect the roots.
- Using garden shears or strong fingers, widen holes in the coir lining to accommodate roots of the plants.
- Insert plant roots deeply into the soil inside the wreath form. Continue to plant a variety of succulents around the circular frame making sure to vary textures, colors, and shapes.
- Cover bare spots with wet moss held down with wire picks.
- Spray the wreath generously with water when all is planted.
- Set in a shady spot for 2-3 weeks for the roots to take hold before moving to its sunny home.
Displaying the Wreath
Wreaths may be displayed flat or hung vertically indoors or outside. Indoor flat wreaths become a table centerpiece or reception decoration. Flat wreaths are often decorated with candles in the center.
Outdoors is ideal for the wreath because it does need sunlight and humidity to prosper. Flat wreaths look stunning on pedestals. Wreaths are hung on doors, windows, gazebos, garden walls and gates.
Wreath Care
Your living wreath as a container garden can last for years under a watchful eye. Scout the condition of your wreath weekly watering well once a week. After initial slow release fertilizer is exhausted, use a liquid all-purpose fertilizer monthly during the growing season.
Trim off spent plant parts as needed and add new plants to fill in spaces.
As you prune the wreath, you’ll receive cuttings to make another wreath.
In time your living wreath will become a tightly woven circular tapestry of steadfast succulents.
Sources
- Living Wreath Workshop at Rebekah’s Garden. September 6, 2011.
- “Make a Living Wreath with Succulents” Oregonian website November 14, 2010.
- “Succulent Wreaths” at Succulent Gardens website
- Thrift, William. “The Living Wreath.” Columbia Home and Garden, Winter 2010.
Arlene Marturano - Arlene Marturano, an educator, consultant, master gardener, and writer advocates gardens as a context and gardening as a tool for ...
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