Easy Winter Porch Pots: Decorating Around Your Year-Round Evergreen

Get beautiful winter porch pots without replanting! Learn how to style a permanent evergreen for a cozy, stunning container garden.

Looking for an easy way to get beautiful winter porch pots without starting from scratch every year? You’re in luck! I have a simple solution that will make your container gardens shine all season long.

Hi, I’m Stacy Ling, a trained Master Gardener in USDA Zone 6b, New Jersey, and out of all the seasons, winter container gardening is my favorite. I love using a Dwarf Alberta Spruce as a permanent fixture in my planter and just add cozy, seasonal decor around it for the holidays. This is a game-changer because you get to enjoy a gorgeous, low-maintenance creation that requires minimal investment and can last all the way through February.

Today, I’m sharing my favorite design trick for dressing up a permanent evergreen for the winter season, and I can’t wait to show you how they turned out.

If you’d like to understand more about how I design and care for containers through every season, check out my Container Gardening for Beginners guide—it’s the perfect place to start

(Posts on stacyling.com may contain affiliate links. Click HERE for full disclosure.)

Why It’s a Good Idea to Dress Up Your Porch Planters

If you’ve never tucked blooms or flowers in around the conical evergreens in your planters before, you are in for a treat. Cause I’m going to show you why you’d want to do it!

In the picture below, you’ll find a dwarf alberta spruce that I planted well over a year ago. As we head into the holidays and winter, it looks a bit sad and lonely, don’t you think?

By tucking in fresh cut evergreens, we can cozy it up while making it look more full and lush. Not to mention, the porch look a bit more festive with a variety of greenery until things thaw out and we can plant flowers again.

Today, I’m going to show you how to decorate around the conical evergreen in your planter. And if you don’t have one but love the look? You can find something like a dwarf alberta spruce right now at your local nursery or big box store and plant it.

The best part? You can plant these in the ground when you want to fill in your landscape. (And that is what I ultimately did in my zone 6b garden when I grew tired of them in my planters!)

What Planters Can Stay Outside All Winter?

Before you start decorating, it’s always a good idea to think about what you are using the outdoor planters for and whether or not they’ll be outside all season long. Certain pots, like terra cotta and ceramic, absorb moisture that can freeze and expand in cold temperatures, causing them to crack and get damaged.

The best planters to use for outdoor winter containers are those made from durable, non-porous materials like:

• Metal
• Concrete
• Fiberglass
• Resin
• Wood

I love the look of the black resin urns that flank my front door because they are large enough to hold the evergreen and other decor, and they add a bit of rustic elegance.

How to Make These Cozy Winter Porch Pots

Since my favorite black urns already had a Dwarf Alberta Spruce in them, I decided to decorate around them. This method is so easy and allows you to enjoy a beautiful container garden without replanting every season.

Gather Supplies

In general, here’s what you’ll need to make a beautiful winter porch pot for the holidays:

• Pruners: Make sure they are clean to avoid spreading disease. These are the ones that I use.
• Gloves: Garden gloves are a must to keep your hands warm while working with sharp pine needles.
• Potting Soil: This is the potting soil I use in all of my porch planters.
• Fresh-cut evergreens (see below for ideas)
• Other festive decor (ornaments, berry stems, lights, ribbon, pinecones, etc.)

Determine what containers you will use, then look around your landscape. What types of evergreen shrubs or trees do you have in your yard that you can take cuttings from? This will cut down on the cost of having to buy them and they’ll last longer since you’ll be making fresh cuts.

Choosing Greens and Decor

You can use the container design thriller, filler, and spiller technique to choose the greens you want to use. Since the evergreen tree is your permanent thriller, you’ll want to select cuttings that will fulfill the filler and spiller roles. Look for varied foliage that has different shades of green, varying textures, and different leaf shapes to add character and depth.

Here is a quick list of great winter greens to look for:

• Boxwood
• Pine
• Cedar Branch
• Andromeda
• Rhododendron
• Magnolia
• Spruce
• Holly

You can also add other decorative elements, such as colorful ornaments, bells, pinecones, or ribbons, depending on your holiday aesthetic.

I typically use cuttings from boxwood, andromeda, rhododendron, and other evergreen trees because that’s what I have in my yard. But again, if you don’t have a good variety, cuttings can be purchased from your local nursery.

How to Make These Cozy Winter Porch Pots

Since my favorite black urns that flank my front door already had a Dwarf Alberta Spruce in them, I decided to keep them and decorate around them. This method is so easy and allows you to enjoy a beautiful container garden without replanting every season.

My Method for Designing Winter Porch Pots

The bottom line is, it’s your outdoor winter planter design, so use what you love that makes you happy! But here is a step-by-step look at how I brought my own design to life.

1. Add Fresh Soil: If you don’t already have potting soil in your containers, add it now. The soil helps anchor the branches and other festive decor.
2. Start the Layers: I started with the Dwarf Alberta Spruce as the focal point. For the spiller, I used fresh cuts from our Christmas tree and cedar branches. I tucked the cedar branches on top of the Christmas tree cuts to add another layer of texture and make the base look more full.
3. Fill It In: Once the thriller and spiller features were planted, I filled in with Magnolia cuttings, Andromeda, and Boxwood. To break up the shades and textures, I like to incorporate a large leaf or dried flower head from the garden, such as Rhododendron leaves or Sedum Autumn Joy seed heads.
4. Add Final Touches: Depending on your style, you can add berries, pinecones, ornaments, birch branches, or ribbon. Since I love rustic-looking planters for winter, I kept mine simple with organic decor.

Pro-Tip: While working, stop and step back a few times to look at the planter for symmetry and fullness. Oftentimes, I go back into the landscape and cut more so I can stuff the planters as much as I can until they look nice and full.

If you’re new to the thriller, filler, spiller design method, I break it down step-by-step in my container design guide in this post.

How to Take Proper Cuttings for Your Front Porch Winter Planters

Once you determine what shrubs and trees you will take cuttings from, grab pruners and make sure they are clean before you use them. I run a Clorox Wipe over them to clean and disinfect them before making cuts to avoid spreading disease and promote good plant hygiene.

(If you are unfamiliar with how to take cuttings or basic pruning techniques, click here.)

Make your cuts and get ready to plant. Gather your cuttings, potting soil, containers, and gloves (if you use them).

How to Care for Your Winter Porch Pots

After you finish designing them, it’s important to water your outdoor planters. There is no need to feed them with fertilizer or anything like that.

• If your container is not under a protected area, the outdoor elements should take care of them all winter long.
• If your containers are under a covered porch or awning, you can water them every now and again, or you can leave them be and let them dry out. I find that pulling them away from the roofline during inclement weather helps them last longer.

Over the past 30 years of gardening, I’ve learned that consistent care is the key to thriving containers. You can find more of my tried-and-true methods in my Container Gardening for Beginners guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you keep evergreen branches fresh in a planter? The best way to keep your branches fresh is to keep the potting soil moist, particularly for the first few weeks after planting. For branches that are not planted, you can mist them with water.
• How long do outdoor winter planters last? With proper care, a well-made winter planter can easily last from late fall through February, or even into early spring. The cold temperatures help preserve the cut branches and keep them looking fresh.
• Do winter planters need drainage? Yes, your planters should always have a drainage hole at the bottom. This prevents water from freezing and expanding, which could crack the container, and keeps the soil from becoming waterlogged.
• Can you reuse the soil from a winter planter? Yes, you can reuse the soil. Simply remove the branches and other materials in the spring. You can then add some fresh compost or fertilizer to the existing soil to replenish its nutrients before planting your spring flowers.

Final Thoughts About Making Your Winter Porch Pots Cozy

I’ve found that making these planters is one of my favorite holiday traditions. It’s so fun decorating my porch planters with fresh greenery and the fact that they stay beautiful all season long is a huge bonus. It’s a wonderful way to decorate for the holidays and keep your porch feeling cozy and welcoming well into the winter months. I hope you feel inspired to try your hand at winter gardening and create a beautiful creation that you can enjoy every year.

For more winter gardening and outdoor planter ideas

• Easy DIY Outdoor Planters for Winter
• Budget-Friendly Outdoor Planters for Winter

To drill down more on container gardening, visit my Container Gardening for Beginners guide and my Thriller–Filler–Spiller design tutorial.

And if you need more tips for winter gardening? Please check out these posts from the Penn State Cooperative Extension and Iowa State University.

Do you make your own Christmas pots too? Making Christmas planters is one of my favorite things to do for the holidays. If you love making them too, I’d love to know more in the comments below.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Enjoy your day! xoxo

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