How to make an autumn wreath

In autumn, you can create a beautiful wreath with foliage you collected from long walks and by drying your bouquets. Their beauty will last all season long.

To achieve a professional-looking wreath, you will need a pair of scissors, floristry reel or binding wire, a wire or vine wreath ring, some ribbon or twine to hang it, and for a fuller look, you can add Sphagnum moss if you want. You’ll be able to find these tools at your local garden centre or florist.

- Lucy Hook

Step 1: What you will need

• Flowers

• Foliage

• Wreath wring (Lucy recommends choosing a vine or wicker wreath ring for a more natural look).

• Wire

• Scissors

Step 2: Gather fresh foliage and flowers that dry well

Foliage:

• Oak leaves

• Eucalyptus

• Rosemary

• Wheat

• Chasmanthium grass

• Corn

• Grasses

Flowers:

• Hydrangeas

• Strawflower

• Red roses

• Poppy heads

• Sea lavenders (Statice)

• Pinks (Dianthus)

• Baby’s breath

• Amaranthus

• Dried Nigella

Recycle your flowers! Lucy says, “dried wreaths are the perfect way to give new life to cut flowers. You can dry the flowers and foliage from a dying bouquet, the easiest way is to hang them upside down in a dark and dry storage room.” Dried flowers can add a nice touch to autumn wreaths, but they’re delicate so add them at the end to fill any gaps.

Step 3: Prep your flowers

Cut the flower & foliage stems and keep them about 8-15 cm long. Lay them in groups of 2 to 3 stems, staggering down, so the tips lay slightly below each other.

Step 4: Start making

With your chosen foliage stems, gather little bunches of foliage together and attach them with wire. Snipping the foliage down to lengths of between approximately 15 to 20 cm.

Step 5: Add your foliage

Feed the wire through the frame and secure. Then lie your first bunch of foliage on the mossed or vine ring and wrap the wire tightly around the bunch and frame. Make up another foliage bunch and lay it so it covers the stems of the previous bunch, wire over the stems as before. Work down in a zigzag formation so you have full coverage.

Step 6: Add the flowers

This is the right time to add any flowers you might have. These can just be inserted into the ring and are perfect for brightening up and filling in any gaps in the composition.

Step 7: Hang your wreath

Finally, add your hanging ribbon or twine. A thin ribbon looks best when attached to the frame at the back, while a larger one can be wrapped around the top of your wreath and secured with an oversized bow. Both ribbon options are excellent choices, with the thin one letting your foliage and flower do the talking and the large one adding a clear focal point to the composition.