Christmas is fast approaching! So, it’s time to get festive out in the garden, so add some holiday cheer with these quintessential Christmas plants.
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Holly
Holly is a much-underused plant in the garden, mainly because it has spikes on its leaves. However, some varieties have been bred without the spikes.
Pruning just before Christmas means you’ll have plenty of foliage.
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Natives
Why not try an Aussie native plant as your Christmas tree this year? The WA native wooly bush has lovely soft feathery foliage, and it can be planted out in the garden as a large shrub or part of a hedge. Give it full sun and good drainage.
Poinsettias
Poinsettias are archetypal festive plants with their bright red flowers. These red petals are modified leaves with the flowers small and inconspicuous.
If you buy a plant at Christmas with these red leaves, they have been forced into producing the colour in a fridge as they normally naturally do this in the cooler seasons.
If you decide to plant your poinsettia out in the garden, then it will revert to producing red leaves and flowers in the Australian winter.
Mistletoe
Mistletoe is a parasitic plant (one that feeds off another for sustenance) that’s seen as a bundle of leaves high up in the canopies of trees.
It’s very difficult to eradicate so come Christmas, pull out the pruning saw and remove as much as you can – hopefully, this means you’ll end up with plenty of Christmas kisses!
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Lilly Pilly
The lilly pilly is also a good option with branches to hang baubles and fresh growth in festive red tones.
This can become a big tree so plant carefully but also, why not buy more and get yourself a large hedge?
These plants love good soil so enrich with compost during planting and water well to establish.
Wollemi Pine Tree
You can do your bit for conservation this year and decorate the once-thought-extinct Wollemi pine tree.
This has an open but pine-tree-like feel and will make a delightful addition to the garden – if you have the space for it to mature.
It’s also a great feeling to know you are doing your bit to preserve this rare tree.
Catch Charlie on Better Homes and Gardens at 7pm on Fridays on Channel 7 and in the Better Homes and Gardens magazine every month.
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