The Top 6 Foliages I Use for Garlands
Break up the bold lines of a mirror or frame with a fluffy textured garland.
If you’re thinking of keeping your venue flowers simple and you’re a big fan when it comes to leaves; foliage garlands are a venue decoration that’ll be right up your street. Use them to decorate long tables and create leafy texture between ornaments, bottles and glasses. Decorate mantelpieces with them and bring the green outdoors in, to soften up interiors. You can also use them to add a little something to staircase bannisters. The way they twist and wind themselves up the staircase looks as though they’ve been growing there all along. Not sure what goes into a deep green and botanical garland, or how you can choose foliage to perfectly match a dusky Mediterranean theme? I’ve explained the ideal types of foliage you can choose for garlands and I also describe the looks they work well with. If you’ve seen many a foliage garland on Pinterest but you want to make sure the look of your own garlands match your wedding decor, I’ve selected foliage varieties and listed them below so you can confidently choose how you’d like your garlands to look. If you want to make your own garland, this blog post will help you choose from 6 types of foliage that are ideal for garland making. Take a look down the list below to help you choose the leaves for your arrangement.
Olive leaves. Planning a mediterranean look wedding with a romantic Italian theme? Or bringing a touch of bohemian South of France to your big day? Those two are my favourite types of theme. If this sounds like the look you’d love to achieve, then olive leaves are your foliage to go to. They’re almost pale blue-green in colour, are the best companion to blush pink and fawn tone flowers and the leaves even look pretty when they drop to the floor. If you use only olive leaves in your garland, you’ll get a real wow factor with all the tiny textured leaves creating a beautifully feathered garland look. Sometimes the olive leaves are available with little olives on them and that’s just the best. If you’d like to combine olive leaves with other foliage types, I’d stick to similar dusky green and paler foliages to maintain that vineyard chateaux look we all know and love.
Eucalyptus. I think I talk about this foliage in every single wedding consultation I have and it’s understandable why. The colours of the leaves are gorgeous and the medicinal smell of eucalyptus is beautiful. Eucalyptus comes in lots of varieties and some of the most popular include cinerea, nicoli, and populus. Cinerea is the chunkier and more rounded leaf variety, a brilliant foliage for garlands because the stems are strong and the leaves have a very familiar outline shape and look great against a white table cloth. Nicoli has very long and thin leaves and is a brilliant accompaniment to olive leaves in a long table arrangement. This variety is great for trailing over the ends of trestle tables and from mantelpieces. Populus eucalyptus also shares the quality of being a beautiful foliage to drape and cascade. This variety also comes with little berries sometimes, adding even more interest and texture to your garlands.
Fern. Eye catching with its striking silhouette and the leaves point in different directions. I would always use fern alongside other foliages because less is definitely more with this one. Use it alongside eucalyptus or french ruscus. The fern variety I always use in garland arrangements is leather leaf because it’s so robust. Be careful if you use asparagus fern, even though it’s fluffy and pretty it does tend to drop and go everywhere when it becomes dry and the stems have very sharp thorns. Keep asparagus ferns for arrangements that go in water to save your hands when you’re binding your garland.
Blue Spruce. An evergreen foliage and one that I always use in every winter garland. Its chunky shape means you don’t need a lot to create a big and generously green table, staircase or mantelpiece arrangement. The foliage’s gentle dusky blue hue makes it one of my favourite foliages and it smells pine fresh. If you want to use blue spruce but also want to steer away from being overly Christmassy, use other foliages alongside blue spruce to give it a little update. I would use eucalyptus and fern alongside blue spruce because both foliages add new shapes and scent into the mix.
Magnolia leaves with glossy green on one side and soft matte brown on the other.
Magnolia leaf. Fantastic if you want to go botanical and almost jurassic park jungle style with your foliage garlands. The leaves are large so this leaf goes a long way. One side is a glossy green and the other side of the leaf is a suede like brown. One of my favourite foliages to use and I’ll jump on any opportunity to use it. If you’re using magnolia leaf in a garland with other types of foliage, I’d use a fern shaped leaf alongside it to add to the juicy botanical theme.
French Ruscus. The ever reliable foliage for garlands. Ruscus on its own creates long, slender dark green garlands. Of all the foliages, it’s one of the most simple to use. All you need to do is wire the top end to the bottom end of the next piece and you have a simple and chic garland. These look brilliant going up beams in a barn or across stark white table cloths on long tables. I also use ruscus alongside other foliages in garlands because it instantly adds a naturally growing feel to the look. It’s as if the ruscus is slowly growing across the table, reaching out to get between the wine glasses and bottles.
By softening the look of your venue and drawing the eye across tables and mantelpieces; foliage garlands are a beautiful way to bring a natural green effect indoors. So many looks can be achieved with a foliage garland, from botanical, jungley, rustic, romantic, country barn, chic and boho. My favourite type of look to create with foliage garlands is to wrap them round bannisters, making them extra long to allow them to pool at the bottom of the stairs in an overgrown sleeping beauty sort of look. They add a gentle fragrance and their green tones and hues makes them the perfect backdrop for all sorts of flower colours. If you, much like me, love the idea of foliage everywhere and you’re looking to learn more, you can find out how to make a foliage hoop by heading over here and following the simple steps I’ve put together for you.
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Learn new flower arranging skills at home with your coffee just how you like it
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