The Best Ways to Use Your Outdoor Garden to Decorate Your Home

One of the perks of having a garden, or living somewhere with access to wildflowers, plants, and trees, is being able to spend time outdoors, surrounded by all types of greenery.

But why limit your enjoyment of these to the time you’re outside? Try some botanical decor. In an article for BobVila.com, crafting and gardening expert Debbie Wolfe shares a few indoor decorating options using plants, flowers, and herbs from your outdoor garden. Here’s are a few.

Fresh garlands

There are many ways to use garlands — as table runners, on mantles, woven into the spindles on a staircase — and if you have your own greenery (and the time), making your own is pretty straightforward, according to Wolfe, who is also the author of Do-It-Yourself Garden Projects and Crafts and Crafting with Herbs.

Here are Wolfe’s instructions for a DIY fresh garland:

Bundle greenery such as herbs and foliage from trees and shrubs first and secure each bundle with a green rubber band or floral wire. For colour, use dried flower heads or fresh flowers and bundle them together as well.

Cut some jute or cotton twine and lay it on a table. Make it longer than you think you need — it’s easier to trim off excess length. Leave a 6-inch piece of twine at each end. Add a bundle of greenery, starting at one end. Secure it to the twine with floral wire.

Add the flower bundle next, followed by a greenery bundle. Alternate the bundles as you make your way to the end of the twine. Spritz the garland with water daily to help keep it looking fresh.

Drying herbs

Not sure what to do with all the herbs growing in your garden (especially as we’re heading into autumn)? Wolfe suggests putting them together in bundles — keeping in mind that they’ll shrink to half their size as the plants dry — with a rubber band and/or twine, and hanging them twine-side-up. The decor doubles as a useful way to dry your seasonal herbs.

Natural wreaths

Like the garland, DIY wreaths using materials from your garden are a great way to bring the outdoors indoors. Wolfe provides detailed instructions on how to make your own natural wreath in her article.