8 / DECEMBER 2021 PRIME
Backyard Christmas Beauty By Jan Cashman
I
t might surprise you how many of nature’s Christmas decorations are right in you own backyard. Take a walk around with your pruners and clip come of these to use for decorating in your home this holiday season: GREENS The boughs of Douglas fir, a common tree found in the surrounding mountains, are one of the
best to use for decorating. Fir boughs stay fresh a long time and have that evergreen aroma you love in your home at Christmastime. Some of you may be lucky enough to have native Douglas fir on your property. Otherwise balsam and grand fir boughs, not grown here, but available to purchase, provide wonderful fragrance when brought into your home. Branches of Colorado spruce, commonly found in yards around
here, are prickly and don’t last as long when cut and brought inside. But add a few blue spruce boughs to your centerpiece or wreath for a nice contrast in color and texture. Blue-toned junipers with powdery blue berries, forest green arborvitae, and long-needled pine branches also add contrast. Many of these you will find by walking out your back door—your trees and shrubs might even benefit from a little pruning.
CONES The Ponderosa pines we planted in 1985 to block the view of the road from our house now provide us with large brown cones great for decorating. As our spruce trees mature, they drop light-brown elongated cones. Even our larch tree has small cones that work well in a centerpiece or wreath. Tiny cones can be found on native alder shrubs that grow near rivers and streams. TWIGS Red twig dogwood stems
