How to Keep Your Christmas Greenery Fresh
How to Keep Your Christmas Greenery Fresh
Do you love using fresh greenery during the holiday season? Adding greenery instantly brings the outdoors in and creates a warmth to the home during the season. Add some lights to your greenery and you instantly have a festive arrangement. I try to use as much fresh greenery as often as I can, but keeping it fresh can require some preparation.
Caring for Fresh Loose Greenery
Fresh greenery inside the home will last for about two weeks but if the greenery is outside it will last longer. The best choices for fresh greenery are cedar, pine and fir. Always purchase or gather your greenery close to the time that you will be needing it.
How to Keep Christmas Greenery Fresh
Supplies:
Container
Glycerin
Water
Fresh greenery clippings
1. Gather your greenery clippings and re-cut the stems at a 45 degree angle, and smash the ends with a hammer. This will help the stems retain more water.
2. Fill a bucket with 1 part room temperature water and 1 part glycerin. Set the greenery stems in the water and allow the fresh greenery to soak over night.
3. Remove the stems from the water. Use the stems to make your own fresh garlands and wreaths.
More Tips for Keeping Christmas Greenery Fresh
1. Use the freshest greens you can find. They should have a strong aroma and a nice green color. Avoid any greens that already have brown sections.
2. Give them a daily mist. If you have fresh garlands and wreaths, give them a little water each day. This really helps them to last longer!
3. Keep greenery away from heat, and sunlight, both of which dries out the greenery very quickly.
4. Use fresh greenery in areas that are not high traffic. Once the greenery begins to dry, the needles will fall off if it is touched or bumped on a frequent basis.
Using fresh wreaths, and garlands are beautiful choice for the holiday season. The fresh scent and vibrant green color can brighten up any room. With these few tips, you will be able to keep your fresh Christmas greens alive a little longer through the Holiday season.
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What a wonderful idea! Does the greenery need to be fully submerged in the glycerin/water mixture, or just the cut bottom of the branch? Also, how long does the greenery need to be soaking in the mixture before removing and using? Thank you so much! I’m learning so much from your blog, and inspired from you to do things more naturally. =)
I’d never heard of this but it’s definitely worth trying. I stopped having fresh greens in the home because I couldn’t stand the mess. I’m gonna give your recipe a whirl. Thanks for sharing!
Hola! Yo he usado la glicerina para preservar ramas de otoño y me a dado super buen resultado y el saber q las ramas de pino también perduran me hace mucha ilusión! Gracias y felices fiestas
Muchas gracias. Me alegra que hayas tenido tan buenos resultados.
Where do you get the glcerin?
I purchased mine online from Amazon