We do have clients who approach the holiday season with gusto. Projects like these come with a big dose of celebratory feeling attached. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all – I enjoy it. Not all work is work. Some work is satisfying enough to call it fun. The holiday work comes with some peripheral exposure to important or traditional moments in people’s lives. As in an extended family coming home for the holidays. This is work that has very personal connotations. For starters, this client wanted every pillar in front festooned with garland. It seems natural that a landscape design and installation company could make the leap to seasonal gardening.
Her lighting person had already wound strings of lights around each pillar. This was a little harsh looking.It only took a few minutes to take them down, and get the garland up first. Since we would be adding garland to 6 pillars, it seemed like fewer spirals per column would look better.
We put one length up from an uncut 50 foot roll, and unwound enough to make a decent puddle of greens at the bottom. We laid out all of the garlands in the drive, and cut them to the proper length. The top of the column has a molding. It was easy to attach the first circle of garland with a zip tie above that molding. That architectural detail would keep the entire length of garland aloft.
Yes, there were pots to do. Since there would be a lot of decorating outdoors, we kept the pots simple.
These pots will look as good all winter as they do for the holiday season. I always appreciate a client who has a preferred color scheme in mind. Once I have that, I can put materials together that I think reflects the taste of the client, and the setting. Red, green and white would predominate.
The outside of the house is festive indeed. The light strings were reattached on top of the green garland, for a much softer look.
At the door, we filled another pair of winter pots, and added an artificial garland overhead – to which we added eucalyptus, faux berries, and those beautiful bleached pine cones.
That garland was repeated on the inside, over the doorways, and on the stair railings.
Once we attached them, Marzela went back and fluffed every sprig, and made sure every element was facing towards the primary view.
The pine cones were attached facing left on the left side, facing right on the right side, and facing down at the bottom of the swoop. If this seems fussy, it is. But facing the materials on a garland has to do with establishing a visual rhythm, and repeating it. Part of the beauty of it is how it is installed.
The mantel was done in noble fir attached to a bamboo pole across the top. The drops were lengths of the fir zip tied together. In the center, a larger bloack of floral foam was stuffed with greens, poplar branches, and birds. The bleached cones from the garlands were repeated.
This porch is as green and festive as it can be. It surely is the garden version of “welcome to my home at the holidays”. I like this.
