This is a transitional time of year in the garden; from well-chosen seeds planted in fertile soils that grew flowers, herbs and vegetables, to harvesting and now, readying the soil for a long, cold winter.
And if you're gathering around a table with family and friends for holidays this month, you could reflect those transitions by bringing some seasonal elements from your yard and garden into hand-made centerpieces.
The centerpieces needn't be large or intimidating to create. Some could include space to add a candle or two. Also, try to keep the centerpiece's profile low so guests on either side of the table can see each other and converse.
For a larger table accommodating many guests, consider making several smaller centerpieces that guests can take home.
Choosing natural elements from your yard
First, take a look out your window and see what your eye naturally lands on — do you have dried rudbeckia stems and seed heads that could provide some height and shape, or bright berries that could add color? Evergreen boughs can provide softness and movement to a centerpiece, too. And mini pumpkins can create a tiny centerpiece that guests can take home.
Some ideas to forage from your yard and garden:
- Berries: holly, dogwood or viburnum
- Evergreens: pine, spruce, cedar or juniper (If you have sensitive skin, consider wearing gloves when clipping evergreens to avoid the sticky sap!)
- Broadleaf evergreens: rhododendrons or pieris
- Branches and bark: dogwood or birch
- Nuts: pine cones and acorns
- Herbs: rosemary, mint, parsley and thyme
- Dried hydrangea flowers
- Ferns
- Mini pumpkins and gourds
Putting together your centerpiece
Now that you have foraged from your own lawn and garden (or the neighbors, with permission!) for some natural items, it's time to think about your centerpiece's structure.
Imagine which table you'll be placing it on. Will it need to be low and wide or tall and narrow? Once you have some ideas, pull out your favorite vases, bowls or containers.
You can use florist's foam (the green foam blocks found at craft stores) and florist's picks (small green pointed sticks with wire to attach elements to), but you can create the centerpiece without them, too.
Begin with adding the largest elements to the container — likely the evergreen boughs — and create the base of your piece.
Mix in some broadleaf evergreens, like rhododendrons and pieris. On top of that, add in pine cones and acorns, berries from holly plants, dogwoods and viburnums. You can harvest some dried hydrangea flowers and mix those in, as well.
In the spirit of this transitional season, add in some small living plants among the dried elements, too. Small transplants of rosemary, mint, parsley or thyme can mirror some of the herb flavors used in the holiday meal.
And for a fun take-home, use small pumpkins as containers, too. Hollow them out, fill them with potting soil and pop in a small succulent. Guests around your dinner table could take one home and repot the plant. It could serve as a small remembrance of the time spent in good company at your house.
Your centerpieces can combine items from all three seasons in celebration of the harvest, the changing of seasons and in celebration of getting together with good friends and family.
Plants that could work over a septic tank mound
Q: Hi Charlie and team, We recently had some work done near our septic tank and the grass surrounding the lid/access is now just dirt. I would love to plant some kind of voracious ornamental or herb around the lid to keep the grass at bay since mowing the lid is kind of a hassle. I was thinking of mint but we have mint in several other spots around the yard already. Do you have any recommendations? - Josh, in West Brookfield
A: If you have a septic field area, trees or shrubs have root systems that can actually disrupt the lines, clog them and cause your system to fail. So you are correct to avoid those.
Certain herbs and wild flowers would be best in that area. You mentioned mint, but some of the other Mediterranean herbs, like oregano and thyme, would work really well in there. Pop those in different places and let them spread around. Those herbs, as well as lamiums, will do well as ground covers.
You'll be mowing these less often, though some mowing and string-trimming will likely be necessary once or twice a year.
If you do want to have shrubs planted in the space down from the mound itself, try some that prefer slightly wetter soil, as a lot of the water is going to drain to the area downslope from the mound.
Try elderberries, aronias, hollies or some shrub dogwoods. The combination could be really nice where the mound is still functioning, and you've got some useful and beautiful plants.
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