Nine glorious swags

Sunset, Dec, 1995 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Holiday decorating with foliage has an ancient heritage: Druids draped their huts with evergreens to welcome the spirits of winter. Today the mystical associations of greens with spirits are gone, but swags of evergreen boughs remain a tradition, presiding over home and hearth during the holidays.

Garden swags can be as simple as clusters of fir boughs strung together and hung between two points, but the most handsome ones artfully combine several types of fresh foliage with berries, flowers, and fruits. You can drape swags almost anywhere -- indoors or out.

The possibilities are endless. Frame a front door with a swag of cedar and fir boughs accented with berries and dried hydrangea blossoms. Or drape a banister or entry hall with a swag of California bay leaves to fill the house with fragrance. For a special holiday fete, suspend a swag gracefully across a fireplace mantel and top it with an elegant bow.

The nine swags shown on these pages illustrate the bounty of plant material Los Altos, California, designer Francoise Kirkman found in gardens on the San Francisco Peninsula.

The swag of manzanita, deer brush, and oak gall combines elements of Western chaparral, while the one that weaves together conifers, lichens, and cones reflects the cool rainy Northwest. The palm and banksia swag topped with anthuriums (the only swag made of plant material from a florist) nods to the warm-winter climates of Southern California and Hawaii. Your own backyard may yield a very different array of plant material, giving you the opportunity to create a swag you can call your own.

The swags are simple to put together and, depending on size, take about 2 hours to make.

For the base material, gather clippings from evergreen shrubs and trees with thick, shiny, or textured leaves, or use a variety of conifers (Douglas fir, fir, pine, and redwood hold needles longer than deodar cedar, spruce, or Western hemlock). Select foliage with contrasting colors and textures.

Other good choices include boxwood, California bay, camellia, citrus, eucalyptus, holly, hollyleaf cherry (Prunus ilicifolia), hollyleaf sweetspire (Itea ilicifolia), Japanese aucuba (A. japonica), juniper (Juniperus sabina), mahonia, manzanita, osmanthus, Pacific wax myrtle, pittosporum, podocarpus, and Western red cedar.

For the fall leaf swag (shown on page 62), Kirkman collected ginkgo, ornamental pear, and red oak leaves in prime fall color. You can also use leaves of other deciduous trees if they have long leaf stems (so they can be securely attached to the swag), such as cherry and liquidambar.

Cut branches with plenty of branchlets attached (always use appropriate pruning practices -- never leave stumps or ragged bark -- and maintain an attractive plant shape). Collect foliage in a large, sturdy garbage bag. Half a bag packed with California bay branches or similar foliage makes an 8-foot-long swag. Eight 1-foot-long juniper branches make a 6- to 7-foot swag.

Almost any kind of berry, cone, long-lasting fruit, or pod makes a handsome accent. Kirkman used California pepper tree berries and foliage, cones, cotoneaster berries, cushion bush (Calocephalus brownii), deer brush (Lotus scoparius), dried pomegranates, dried poppy pods, lacecap hydrangea flowers, lichens, oak galls, and tea tree Leptospermum). She purchased crabapples, Japanese persimmons, quince, and red pimiento peppers at the grocery store.

Making the Basic Swag

Gather materials and tools

At a craft or floral supply store, buy:

* natural jute twine (2 or 3 ply), ribbon or raffia

* a spool of green paddle wire

* water picks (tubes to hold cut flowers or berries in water)

At a nursery, buy:

* an antitranspirant to keep foliage fresh longer

Around the house, gather:

* pruning shears

* scissors

* wire cutters

Wire supports most of the swags pictured on these pages. The swag accented with Asparagus retrofractus on page 57 has a grapevine base (birch or weeping willow also work). To save time, you can buy a plain swag made of conifer greens at a nursery or Christmas tree lot and add your own accents. Swags hung outdoors last longer than swags hung in warm, dry locations. And foliage such as hollyleaf cherry and manzanita just naturally looks fresh for weeks. Other foliage (Asparagus retrofractus, California bay) dries out quickly. Spray such swags with an antitranspirant just after constructing them, to prolong foliage freshness and color.

Measure the area to be decorated

The size and shape of the area you're going to decorate determines the best way to put the swag together. Follow these guidelines:

* To surround a door, make the swag in three lengths (one for the top, two for the sides).

* To decorate a banister, make one long swag, or construct one in whatever lengths you are most comfortable working with.

* To festoon a fireplace wall, make one long swag.

* Before you start your swag, separate the foliage and accents into individual piles.

STEP 1 Unroll a length of twine on a flat surface Make a loop (to hang swag later) on the end and knot it tight. Place the loop on your right side (so you can work from right to left: left-handers may want to work the opposite way, placing the loop to their left), and tie wire on loop. Leave twine and wire spools attached until you're finished.