Sustainable Holiday Decorating

By Ellen Todd

Christmas inspires us to decorate our homes with greenery and berries. In New England we are fortunate to find fragrant pine, fir and red berries growing wild, as well as for sale at garden centers, farm stands and even supermarkets. The ancient tradition of gathering evergreens to celebrate the winter solstice and related holidays connects us with past generations. Responsible collecting will ensure that future generations can enjoy the same traditions.

If you are buying trees, wreath and other greenery, they usually come from farmed sources, and are an important part of our agricultural economy. If you plan to collect your own greenery, get permission before gathering on land that you don’t own. Then, keep a plant’s growing habits in mind, and harvest responsibly. White pine seedlings grow very thickly in the understory and benefit from being thinned. Cut off selected seedlings near the ground, and use these fragrant, tiny pine trees for decorating. Juniper, fir, holly and other evergreens can benefit from artful pruning. Look for crossed branches that rub, or other damaged branches that should be removed, and branches that distort the shape of the plant. Try to leave these plants looking better than you found them.

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) a deciduous holly with bright red berries, is widely available where holiday greenery is sold. I suspect that much of the winterberry sold is scavenged from the wild. In late fall many stands of this plant create blazes of red in low-lying areas, and by late November, the display is less spectacular. Only the berries growing in deep water remain – every accessible branch of berries is gone. This is unfortunate, as these berries are very nutritious for birds (though poisonous to humans.) If you want to be sure you are using responsibly harvested winterberry, consider planting a few winterberries in your own yard next spring. Within a few years you will be able to harvest winterberry for your holiday decorating while leaving many berries to feed birds in your yard. Ilex verticillata is easily found in nurseries and garden centers. Why not give someone a gift certificate for a winterberry as a Christmas or housewarming gift this year?

Two of our most invasive plants are also sources of red berries. Rosehips from the invasive Rosa multiflora, and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), are sometimes sold at garden centers and can be found at the edge of woods and fields, and even in our own yards. When these plants are found, plans should be made to control and eventually eliminate them from the landscape. However, Barberry has bright red berries that can be substituted for winterberry. Rosehips are a beautiful addition to holiday decorations if your home décor clashes with the bright red of barberry and holly berries.

Be wary of using either of these berries in outdoor decorations. Well-loved by birds, they are the avian equivalent of junk food. Birds eat the rosehips and barberries in one yard and expel the seeds in another, where seedlings grow and contribute to these plants’ invasion of our woods, fields and yards. Help slow the spread of these plants by only using the berries indoors and burning them after the holidays. If your friends admire them, please advise them of the invasiveness of these plants and the need to control them. Be careful when disposing of them – birds can scavenge them from your compost pile as easily as from a wreath on your front door. Experts recommend storing them in a plastic garbage-pail until you burn them.

Consider composting your other holiday decorations. Cut flowers, evergreens and winterberry can all be added to a compost pile, which will provide fertilizer when you plant your own winterberry next spring. Cut evergreen boughs can be layered on top of your perennial beds as an insulating mulch to prevent frost-heaving and then removed come spring. Decking your halls mindfully is a stewardship matter!


Ellen Todd is a professional landscape designer who studied at the Landscape Institute of the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. She is especially interested in sustainable design and other environmental issues.