Winter Gardening with Outdoor Planters for the Front Porch
Looking for budget-friendly ways to decorate the front porch for the holidays? Try winter gardening by potting up some fresh winter greens and make an outdoor planter that will last throught the winter. Wait until you see how easy it is to design a gorgeous winter front porch display.
As we move into the colder months of the year, do you miss gardening as much as I do?
Winter gardening with outdoor planters is a great way to satisfy that craving while decorating for the holidays.
I just finished decorating the front porch for Christmas and love how classic and simple it looks with my outdoor planters.
While I love what I did last year on the front porch, I replanted my garden containers with a whole new look.
This year, I added lots of fresh winter greens, festive holiday decor and new door mats to the front porch.
And I can’t wait to show you how to make these gorgeous outdoor planters.
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Decorating the Front Porch for Christmas
How I plant my containers is largely dictated by how I decorate my front porch for any given season. Because my front entry has a small footprint, I want my garden containers to be the overall focal point of my front porch decor.
When we renovated our home 15 years ago, we considered adding a full sized front porch onto our home. It was high on the priority list, but there were other things we wanted to add to our home too.
And it wasn’t all within our budget. So we had to make some decisions.
In lieu of having a full covered front porch, we opted for round brick paver steps with expansive gardens.
Not the same I know, but we opted for other amenities instead. Someday I’ll have that big covered porch.
But this is what I have now and I love it!
When my kids were little, I used to sit on the front steps and watch them play in the yard. Or watch them ride their bikes up and down the street.
Now I sit here among my cottage garden flowers and watch my dogs run around.
It’s sometimes challenging to decorate the front porch because the steps are rounded, my gardens are expansive, and I want flowers to be the focal point of the front entry.
So instead of going crazy with all kinds of decor, I prefer to the front porch pretty simple.
Adding Beautiful Front Door Decor for Winter
When decorating the front porch for Christmas, the first place I start is the front door.
Whether choosing live or faux, a gorgeous wreath or something like a basket filled with greens is a must.
The front door needs something green and festive for winter.
This year, I received this beautiful live wreath from Lynch Creek Farms.
Isn’t it gorgeous?
So this wreath was the inspiration for my outdoor planters this winter.
Shop Live and Faux Winter Wreaths
Adding a New Doormat
Because I don’t want to distract from my gorgeous planters, I like to keep my outdoor winter decor pretty simple and just add a new mat.
I love a pretty coir mat layered with a gingham rug.
It just looks a little more finished and cozy.
Shop for New Door Mats
Winter Gardening: How to Make These Outdoor Planters for Winter
Winter container gardens are a great way to extend the gardening season and are much easier to create than they look.
Outdoor planters for winter are low maintenance, require minimal investment, and can last through February if properly cared for.
They are one of my favorite ways to dress up the front entry for the holidays.
Why Plant Pots with Fresh Winter Greens?
Because they warm up the exterior of your home with lots of curb appeal while the rest of the landscape looks dull and lifeless in winter.
And it doesn’t have to cost you an arm or a leg either. Winter gardening with outdoor planters can be as budget-friendly as you want them to be.
If you have lots of greens in your yard, cut from the landscape and save money on decor.
If you don’t have a variety of fresh greens to cut, ask a neighbor to cut some of theirs or pick some up from the nursery.
As an aside, fresh cut greens from the yard will last much longer than the ones you pick up at the nursery. Why? Because the cut is more fresh and you can more easily keep them hydrated.
Although I’ve planted more greenery on my property to have more of a variety, I don’t have enough to cut to make my containers look different from the last few years.
So I supplemented this year’s container garden design with fresh greens from the nursery.
My containers turned out beautiful this year. And I can’t wait to show you how I made them!
Outdoor Planters for Winter Supplies
Here’s what you need to get started.
- Fresh cut greens from your yard or the nursery like boxwood, cedar branch, juniper, holly, rhododendron, balsam, frasier fir, and andromeda.
- Winter decor like ribbons, berries, colored branches, etc.
- Pruners
- Gloves
- Potting Soil
- Outdoor planters like and urn or other weather resistant container.
Direction to Make Beautiful Outdoor Planters for Winter Idea
- Gather your supplies.
- When collecting greens from your yard or the nursery, look for greens that have different colors, textures and foliage sizes and cut more than you think you need. Having a variety of greens will make a prettier planter. For my outdoor planters, I used balsam greens, juniper, cedar branch, and variegated boxwood.
- Consider the container design thriller, filler and spiller technique. I not only use this method for my garden container designs, but also use it when creating centerpieces.
- Because my winter pots will rest against the house, I don’t worry about the fullness of the design in the back. If you are placing yours in a location where you will see all sides, make yours fuller all around.
- For this design, I started with the height and stuffed a bunch of tall balsam greens. When stuffing, make it look as symmetrical as you can.
- To fill it in more and add fullness, I tucked in more balsam branches that I cut smaller and some variegated boxwood. Because the boxwood is variegated, it adds texture and dimension to the planters.
- For spiller, I used cedar branches tucking them in so they could drape over the edges of the urns. I love the look of cedar branches in winter containers. I wish I had them on the property to cut.
- When the spiller looked full, I added more filler greens to the urns to get a little more fullness, color and texture. I tucked in these junipers with those little berries.
- To complete the look, I added a large red faux berry sprig and oversized pine cones.
- When finished, stand back and make sure it looks symmetrical. If you are making two that are the same, put them next to each other to make sure they look similar.
Don’t they look amazing?
Shop for Winter Gardening Supplies
To learn how to care for winter garden containers, CLICK HERE.
What Planters Can Stay Outside All Winter?
The best planters for outdoor winter use are ones that will survive the thawing and dethawing from winter weather.
So anything non-porous like heavy plastic or resin, lead, iron, and stone are the best weather-resistant containers to use for outdoor winter planters.
Keep in mind that it’s best to plant winter planters early enough so they acclimate well before the deep freeze arrives.
But also not too early enough where the temps are too mild for them to survive.
If you want to learn more about choosing a container for gardens, check out this post.
How to Care for Outdoor Winter Planters with Evergreens
Water it your outdoor planters for winter when you are done designing it.
If your container is not under a protected area like a front porch or awning, the outdoor elements should take care of them all winter long.
If your containers are under a protected area, there are two options of care: water them every now and again, or leave them be and let them dry out when they dry out.
My containers are located under the roof line and look pretty good until about mid-February.
I pull them away from the roof line during inclement weather or water them when I remember which helps them last longer.
But to be honest, I tend to forget so I pretty much just let them be.
More Winter Gardening and Outdoor Decorating Ideas
- Easy Outdoor Planters for Winter
- Budget-Friendly Outdoor Planters for Winter
- Budget-Friendly Winter Centerpiece Ideas
- Rustic Farmhouse Holiday Home Tour 2020
Looking For More Christmas Decorating Ideas?
I love looking through festive holiday inspiration to get ideas for this year’s decorating aesthetic, don’t you?
Wait until you see these holiday decorating, entertaining, and food ideas to create a cozy home for Christmas.
- 23 Inspiring Christmas Aesthetics for 2022
- How to Make a Christmas Kissing Ball
- How to Make Scented Gift Tags
- First Christmas in Our New Home Tour
- Last Christmas in Our Home Tour
- 6 Delicious Dinner Ideas for Christmas
- Christmas Tree Ornament Storage Hack (Tiktok Made Me Do It)
- 6 Clever Christmas Dinner Easy Table Decorating Ideas
- 13 Simple Christmas Decorating Ideas for Your Home
- How to Make an Advent Wreath
- Winter Gardening With Outdoor Planters
- 5 Clever Ideas for the Prettiest Christmas Table Settings
- 17 Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas
- Easy Christmas Cookies
- Rustic Farmhouse Christmas Decorating Ideas
- Easy Outdoor Planters for Winter
- Budget-Friendly Winter Outdoor Planters
Want to Learn How to Make a Fresh Wreath?
Check out my good friend Kim’s blog from Shiplap and Shells where she explains how to make a gorgeous wreath out of fresh magnolias.
Isn’t it gorgeous? I want one.
She lives in the Pacific Northwest and is blessed with the most beautiful gardens.
Wait until you see how she makes this wreath!
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