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December is the time of the year that many people decorate their houses and outdoor living spaces for the holidays. We love decorating for the holidays and have some suggestions for what you can do.
Lights really brighten up the outdoors this season. There are two ways you can go with holiday lights: temporary lights and changing your permanent lights to suit the season.
Temporary lights can be very energy efficient if they use low-voltage LED lights. These can be plugged into a photovoltaic cell that automatically turns them on at dusk and off at dawn. You can also use a timer to turn the lights on and off, but you will have to adjust the timer as the season progresses, and it gets dark earlier and light later. Of course, temporary lights have to be installed and removed, which means someone gets to climb on a ladder.
If you have a low-voltage LED light system to light your yard, you can probably change the colors of the lights to be more seasonal. You simply adjust the color on your smartphone, and voila, you have holiday lights. You can read more about automatic low-voltage LED light systems in our previous post on them.
Christmas plants can if chosen carefully, brighten up the outdoor living area. Putting pots on wheels makes it easier to move them around for your holiday parties. If you have heating, your poinsettias can make a statement in a large pot. You can also use Christmas cacti, which bloom starting a few weeks before Christmas for about six weeks. Neither of these plants are cold hardy. They need to be in a warm environment.
Holly is relatively hardy and has bright red berries. Place holly shrubs near your doorway to greet your guests. These can be inground permanent shrubs or container shrubs brought in just for the holidays. If you plant them in a container, it helps to have the container on wheels so you can move it after the holidays.
We also like to include items like white birch branches, pinecones, and large ornaments to “spruce” up our winter arrangements for our clients.
Another use for holly is to make a seasonal wreath. Many people also use grape vines or willow branches. You can weave the green foliage into a wreath shape and tie it to keep the wreath together. Adding holiday decorations such as Christmas tree balls and lights will make the wreath stand out. Using evergreen boughs can add a nice smell to your wreath. Many people decorate with mistletoe but be careful because the berries are poisonous and may pose a hazard to children and pets.
There are a wide variety of Christmas nativity scenes, from tabletop versions to life-size versions for the yard. These can be placed in the backyard for private viewing or in the front yard for everyone to see. Of course, you will want to install temporary low-voltage LED lights to light the nativity scene in the yard. More details on such a system are mentioned above.
Driving around Kansas City, I see lots of inflatable Santas, reindeer, snowmen, and other winter figures. If you want to use these, be sure to anchor them well, so winter storms don’t send them bounding down the road. You will also want to light these figures so everyone can enjoy them. There are a wide variety of these figures available from big box stores.
We at Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping want to wish you Happy Holidays. We hope you get to enjoy some time with your family decorating and making your winter wonderland a special place together. If you need help with any projects, please don’t hesitate to reach out, We do installations of hardscapes, patios, and lights during the winter, and design many other projects for implementation in the spring. Schedule a consultation today, so we can help you design a landscape that meets your needs.
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