Best Christmas Plants For Your Garden
Around this time of year, your house is cleaned from top to bottom and covered with Christmas decorations, however, your garden is left feeling isolated. Although there is far less work to be done in the garden during Christmas, most households hang lights around their houses and decorate their front lawns to help them feel extra festive. Many of us bring plants indoors, but we choose not to pay enough attention to our gardens. But, isn’t our garden a part of our home too?
Well, it’s time to take action. In this article, you’ll learn about the best festive plants to have in your garden this Christmas. Not only will your home look merry but your garden will too!
Christmas Cactus
It’s not what you’re thinking of, by this we mean we aren’t suggesting you invest in an actual cactus. Oh no, we’re talking about a beautiful festive flower called Christmas Cactus. This flower blooms over the Christmas period from November to January. You can find them in garden centres and supermarkets. They come in an array of bright colours including red, yellow, white, pink, and purple.
If you’re a low maintenance gardener and you often experience your plants withering on you, you will love this plant because they thrive with little watering (just like a cactus) in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. We love this flower because they bloom every year so the plant can last for years with the right kind of care. In terms of the little maintenance the flower does require, you will know if this flower needs watering because the soil will feel dry. If you’re away during Christmas visiting family and friends, simply water it before heading off on your trip and you’ll never have to worry about your Christmas cactus flowers withering on you again!
Holly
Holly is known as the most popular traditional Christmas plant around the world and in many different religions. Households around the world carry their own traditions using holly. For example, Christians display holly around their homes as a reminder of Jesus’s Crown of Thorns. In the UK, we associate the holly plant as a symbol of Christmas. With its deep green pointy leaves, bright red berries and spiky branches, this tough evergreen shrub has the ability to survive through the harshest of conditions. From wreaths to table centrepieces, we can agree holly is really versatile as a Christmas decoration.
Why not plant a holly shrub in your garden? It’s relatively easy to grow and care for. Having slow growth, holly shrubs can grow to the size of a tree if left alone but respond well to pruning so you should keep it at the preferred height and neatly shaped. We recommend planting away in shade to protect foliage from cold winds, keep the soil evenly moist, and make sure there is effective water draining to prevent waterlogging.
With some time and care, you’ll have a generous stock of fresh holly straight from your garden to use every Christmas. Plus, holly is a beautiful shrub to see in gardens because their crimson berries will add a splash of colour to even a dull-looking garden.
Mistletoe
Just like the popular Christmas song, “Mistletoe and Wine” by Cliff Richard. Like holly, mistletoe is another hardy evergreen shrub that is widely popular from the Christmas tradition of kissing under the mistletoe. According to ancient myths, anyone kissed under mistletoe will be blessed by love.
Surprisingly, mistletoe doesn’t grow from the ground in your garden, it requires the help of a hosting tree. This plant is actually semi-parasitic, meaning it thrives by taking some nutrients from hosting trees such as apples, lime, conifers, and poplar. So, does that mean mistletoe is bad? Luckily, mistletoe doesn’t kill or disease the hosting trees but it can weaken them over time.
If you happen to have those trees, keep an eye out for any mistletoe. You can recognise it by its oval-shaped olive-green leaves and white berries. It can be found growing in round clumps on the tree branches. You don’t have to remove it if you happen to spot it growing in your garden. On the positive side, it supplies you with homegrown mistletoe to decorate with for Christmas!
Christmas Tree
We have kept the best plant for last, the famous and much loved Christmas tree. Many households choose an artificial tree or pick out a tree from Christmas tree farms or nurseries. Another option is to grow your Christmas tree in your garden. We suggest growing Norway spruce or Nordmann fir, because they are the most common Christmas tree species found in the UK. Christmas tree species are evergreen and hardy, so they survived well during bad weather conditions.
Garden Maintenance Services In Oxfordshire
We have been providing gardening and landscaping services to homes in Abingdon and around Oxfordshire for over 30 years. If you would like to find out more about Christmas plants and our excellent gardening services, feel free to contact our team at Abingdon’s Complete Garden Services.