The Magnolia Midwinter Glow is a gorgeous festive planter for your patio featuring browns and golds along with traditional evergreen boughs. (14"-18" pot)

1. You can use a newly prepared pot with fresh soil or re-use a finished planter from last season. To prepare a used pot from last season, simply sheer the tops of the old plants off from their roots and clean the top of the soil. The roots in the soil are a perfect anchor to hold your greens in place.Then, make sure you water the soil deeply a day, or few hours, before you start creating your new planter. 

2. Start with the tallest branches/poles in the centre of your planter. The basic rule of thumb is for your final greens arrangement to be double the height and double the width. So, if your pot is 16" tall and 12" wide, you will want to have the arrangement that is 32" tall and 24" wide.

3. Begin adding in the greenery tight against these poles/branches to secure them in place. Fill up the centre of your design with greens that stagger in height, decreasing as you get farther from the centre.

4. Create a collar using greens around the rim of the pot, to define the overall width of the arrangement. Make sure you use enough greens to cover up the soil. 

5. Accents are a great way to add natural interest. Faux berries come in a variety of colours, and add a splash of colour. Natural accents like pinecones are easy to add as well.

Even though these arrangements are not living, they need to be watered once a week, with cold water, to help keep the greens fresh.  In climates where freezing is normal, once the arrangement is frozen, you can leave it.  In climates where it doesn't freeze often, you will need to water more often. 

Click here for the container garden template, then print or right click to save.