How to Design an Attractive Winter Planter

Have you considered creating a pretty winter planter to brighten up the season? It is easy to forget about our porch or curb appeal when it’s so cold out we don’t even want to go outside. But what if a beautiful winter porch pot was there to greet you every day and make the season a little more bareable?

This post will cover how to create a winter planter you can be proud of.

Start by removing any remaining summer or fall plants, but keep the soil in the planter. It is the perfect medium to help keep our branches, stems, and other adornments in place.

If the root ball of a plant is difficult to remove from the planter, you can just leave it in there and trim off any of the plant above the soil. It will work out just fine.

winter planter — Sad fall plants, ready to be removed.

Gather your supplies, which may include:

Evergreen stems – pine, cedar, spruce
Clippers
Birch bark – trim if needed
Pinecones
Berries
Ornaments
Bows
Broom or leaf blower to clean up

I tend to use a mix of foraged stems and ones I’ve purchased at a local greenhouse. Foraging for what you can find saves a lot of money, but you are obviously limited by what you have available. After trimming stems from my yard, I put them in buckets of water right away. This helps them absorb extra water and consequently stay green longer.

Another trick to help your winter planter retain its color is using an antitranspirant product which creates a protective coating and helps with moisture retention. There are several brands of these products, and I have felt like they all work pretty well. You can spray the product right on your greenery, or soak them using a concentrated mixture. Many greenhouses will have their stems pre-soaked, so be sure to ask!

After gathering all of our supplies, we can finally get to the fun part!

Place the birch logs in the planter.

The first step in designing an attractive winter planter is placing the birch logs. I like to start with these because they are often the thickest, tallest, and sturdiest items I am using. If I have a garden shovel or trowel nearby, I will use it to dig a small hole. Sometimes, I will just use my hands to dig down a bit. Then, using a twisting motion, position the birch logs near the back the planter. You want them to feel secure, with at least a few inches of the log below the soil.

2. Fill around the planter with greenery.

After the birch logs are positioned, start filling in the planter with greenery. I like to start at the back and work my way forward, from tallest to shortest stems. Make sure each stem is securely in the soil by pushing or twisting it down. This will ensure they stay in place through the entire winter. Incense cedar is my favorite for draping over the front edges of the planter. The ends are still down in the soil, it just drapes nicely!

3. Add pretty embelishments.

Once the planter looks nice and full, it is ready for the pretties! These are what really make it pop, and where you can get super creative if you want to. The options are really endless, but a few popular adornments include: red twig dogwood, berry stems, cattails, glittered or sequined stems, bows, pinecones, and ornaments on stems. You can choose a color theme, add many items to make your winter planter over the top, or keep it simple with a couple of pinecones.

I like to start with just a few items, step back and look, then remove or add to achieve the look I am going for. There is no right or wrong way here, just keep playing with it until you like the way it looks!

You did it! Step back and admire your work. If something seems off, try adding or removing an embellishment and then take another look. If there is a hole, fill it in with more greenery. Sometimes it takes a bit to make it feel just right.

4. Clean your area and give your planter a drink of water.

Using a broom or leaf blower, I clean up the area. This can be somewhat of a messy job, with potting mix, pieces of evergreen, and glitter often surrounding the planter. Since we are working outside, it doesn’t need to be perfectly clean, but I like to get the majority of the area cleaned up.

Finally, do not forget to give your newly designed winter planter a drink of water! Even though we are not growing anything, our green stems will stay fresh much longer if they are hydrated. I suggest continuing to water about once a week until the soil is frozen. At that point, the moisture seems to be locked in and should last through the really cold months. If the winter is mild, continue to water every couple of weeks.

Depending on the size and depth of your planter, you may need to trim your birch logs and greenery to fit correctly. All of these steps can be adjusted to fit the size of your planter or window box.