Dressing up your outdoor planters and urns for the winter season is an easy way to add color to your garden and to provide a little more food for the birds and other small wildlife that make your garden home during the winter.

I made this container in only a few minutes, mostly with items I already had on hand. The planter is a recycled 1-gallon plant container. It’s not the fanciest vessel but it does the trick. I like that it doesn’t overpower or detract from the arrangement. The red-twig dogwood branches, sedum, and hypericum berries are also re-purposed. The sedum, an ingredient in several other seasonal displays this year, will be planted  in the garden in the spring.

The winterberry branches, from a local floral supply house, add a pop of color and will carry the display throughout part of the winter. The birds are already flitting about and grabbing a berry here and there.

Scout Your Garden for Goodies

Here’s another urn I created for a client. Most of the materials were found on the property — the black pine, white pine, arborvitae and juniper boughs dripping with berries were saved after a day of pruning. The winterberry and blue cedar branches were bought to add more berries for color and for the array of birds who make the garden their home.

Regardless of where you live, it’s simple to find local plant material that is ideal for creating  colorful seasonal planters. Remember to layer plant material, add different textures (conifers and broad-leaf evergreens are good choices), a little height (look for interesting branches) and some berries for a dash of color and food for the birds.

If you want to add some seed ornaments to your arrangement, check out this recipe from Country Living or this one  from the National Wildlife Federation.

Do you add any special treats for the birds to your outdoor containers?