Last-Minute Ideas for Attractive Winter Container Designs
Create a welcoming holiday entryway with ideas from these 9 looks
Lauren Dunec Hoang
18 December 2023
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and in-house designer for Sunset's Editorial Test Garden. Her garden designs have been featured in the Sunset Western Garden Book of Landscaping, Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings (cover), Inhabitat, and POPSUGAR.
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and... More
From fragrant conifer branches and glossy evergreens to jewel-like winter berries and decorative baubles, winter container arrangements can be lovely additions to bare winter landscapes. With the holidays around the corner, you may have only enough time to hang a few baubles on a potted plant in your entry or tuck some pine cones around the base. To get you started, here are nine inspiring winter container designs ranging from easy, no-soil-required arrangements to more intricate potted compositions.
1. Berries and Baubles
Add a bit of shine with Christmas ornaments tucked in among fat clusters of red winterberries (Ilex verticillata) and fragrant conifer clippings. To get a diversity of conifers — fir, pine and spruce — as shown in this planter, ask for clippings at the Christmas tree lot when you’re picking up your tree. Sometimes they’ll let you take home a bundle for free or for a couple of dollars.
Find a landscape designer near you
Add a bit of shine with Christmas ornaments tucked in among fat clusters of red winterberries (Ilex verticillata) and fragrant conifer clippings. To get a diversity of conifers — fir, pine and spruce — as shown in this planter, ask for clippings at the Christmas tree lot when you’re picking up your tree. Sometimes they’ll let you take home a bundle for free or for a couple of dollars.
Find a landscape designer near you
2. Wavy Branches
Bare willow branches in aged terra-cotta pots add interesting texture to the crisp white walls of this traditional home. To get the look, pick up about three bundles of curly willow (available from florists) per container and set them into sand, gravel or floral foam placed at the bottom of the pot. Top with pine cones to hide the base, then string the branches with white lights for an inviting evening glow.
Shop for outdoor pots and planters on Houzz
Bare willow branches in aged terra-cotta pots add interesting texture to the crisp white walls of this traditional home. To get the look, pick up about three bundles of curly willow (available from florists) per container and set them into sand, gravel or floral foam placed at the bottom of the pot. Top with pine cones to hide the base, then string the branches with white lights for an inviting evening glow.
Shop for outdoor pots and planters on Houzz
3. Festive Top-Dressing
Just a few seasonal accents around the base of an already potted dwarf white spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’, USDA zones 2 to 8; find your zone) transform this container from plain to festive. Pine cones will last for ages, while bright red pomegranates and clipped conifer branches will stay looking fresh for a few weeks.
Just a few seasonal accents around the base of an already potted dwarf white spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’, USDA zones 2 to 8; find your zone) transform this container from plain to festive. Pine cones will last for ages, while bright red pomegranates and clipped conifer branches will stay looking fresh for a few weeks.
4. Artful Simplicity
Glossy magnolia leaves paired with a few pale birch branches create a sophisticated composition in this container. Using bronze, green and white, instead of the typical Christmas colors, makes the container composition carry on past New Year’s.
Glossy magnolia leaves paired with a few pale birch branches create a sophisticated composition in this container. Using bronze, green and white, instead of the typical Christmas colors, makes the container composition carry on past New Year’s.
5. Holiday Vignette
Gussy up existing outdoor containers — or winterized water features — without repotting by adding holiday-themed accents, such as ornaments, glittering orbs or candy canes. Reserve any fragile accent pieces for decorating indoors, or bring potted containers under the eaves, away from rain and snowfall.
Browse holiday decor in the Houzz Shop
Gussy up existing outdoor containers — or winterized water features — without repotting by adding holiday-themed accents, such as ornaments, glittering orbs or candy canes. Reserve any fragile accent pieces for decorating indoors, or bring potted containers under the eaves, away from rain and snowfall.
Browse holiday decor in the Houzz Shop
6. Elegant Evergreens
All-green compositions look refined and can be much less effort to maintain year-round than containers with seasonal berries or blooms. Focus on a subtle contrast of textures and shades of green by selecting evergreens with different foliage types, such as cypress, spruce, boxwood and weeping juniper.
All-green compositions look refined and can be much less effort to maintain year-round than containers with seasonal berries or blooms. Focus on a subtle contrast of textures and shades of green by selecting evergreens with different foliage types, such as cypress, spruce, boxwood and weeping juniper.
7. Birch “Candles”
Evoke the welcoming feeling of candles in the window — without the fire risk — by placing trios of birch branches cut 5 to 12 inches long along your window box against a dark backdrop of magnolia leaves. The designers also placed thin twigs of golden bamboo in this window box design, adding to the “candle” effect.
Evoke the welcoming feeling of candles in the window — without the fire risk — by placing trios of birch branches cut 5 to 12 inches long along your window box against a dark backdrop of magnolia leaves. The designers also placed thin twigs of golden bamboo in this window box design, adding to the “candle” effect.
8. Icy Accents
Highlights of white brighten winter container compositions like a dusting of fresh snow. Choose plants with pale-streaked foliage, such as ‘Silverdust’ English ivy (Hedera helix ‘Silverdust’, zones 5 to 11) or variegated winter daphne (Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’, zones 7 to 9). Or tuck in decorative branches painted white or silver, like the design here.
Highlights of white brighten winter container compositions like a dusting of fresh snow. Choose plants with pale-streaked foliage, such as ‘Silverdust’ English ivy (Hedera helix ‘Silverdust’, zones 5 to 11) or variegated winter daphne (Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’, zones 7 to 9). Or tuck in decorative branches painted white or silver, like the design here.
9. Classic Boxwoods
Boxwoods (Buxus spp., zones 5 to 9) are about the easiest container plant around, providing four seasons of medium green foliage. Clipped into cones, boxwoods could be decorated with lights and ornaments as miniature Christmas trees or just left naturally for a welcome hit of green on each side of the front door.
More on Houzz
Read more container garden guides
Discover more landscape inspiration
Find a landscape designer near you
Shop for holiday decor
Boxwoods (Buxus spp., zones 5 to 9) are about the easiest container plant around, providing four seasons of medium green foliage. Clipped into cones, boxwoods could be decorated with lights and ornaments as miniature Christmas trees or just left naturally for a welcome hit of green on each side of the front door.
More on Houzz
Read more container garden guides
Discover more landscape inspiration
Find a landscape designer near you
Shop for holiday decor
Related Stories
Kitchen Guides
10 Key Kitchen Dimensions You Need to Know
Here are key kitchen dimensions that will help you design like a pro
Full Story
More Room Guides
35 Serene Puja Room Designs
Take a leaf out of these elegantly designed, beautiful prayer rooms on Houzz
Full Story
Decorating Guides
What Are the Benefits of Hiring an Interior Designer?
From furnishing working drawings to beautifying the home, find out how an interior designer plays multifunctional roles
Full Story
More Room Guides
Turn One Room Into Two With These Genius Ideas
Carve out an extra room within your home with these fab room-splitting tips and tricks
Full Story
Bedroom Guides
What Are the Ideal Wardrobe Measurements?
Here are dimensions for different types of wardrobe designs that ensure maximum functionality and storage
Full Story
Architecture
These Indian Homes Know How To Combat Harsh Climate
See how these homes by SPASM, Kumar Moorthy & Associates and JPLUSDARCHITECTS mitigate the ramifications of harsh climate ahead of time
Full Story
Architecture
How to Find an Architect That's Right for You
Make the construction and renovation of your home a pleasant and memorable journey by selecting the right architect
Full Story
Bathroom Guides
Step-by-Step: A Guide to Renovating Your Bathroom
Planning to renovate your bathroom? Learn about the different stages involved in the remodelling process
Full Story
Living Rooms
30 Best Sofa Designs
This guide gives a rundown of sofa types that will leave you spoilt for choices
Full Story
Small Spaces
7 Stylish Ways to Dry Your Laundry In a Small Apartment
Has your drying rack become a perpetual eyesore in your home? These dapper laundry drying solutions have you covered
Full Story
Decorated my log holder since it's sitting there on the front porch.
Boxwoods can service zone 5 if grown for a season in a large pot prepared for winter,. I lined large glazed winter hardy pots with foam wrap and styrofoam against the insides all the way around. Fill withhigh quality potting soil with a little extra perlte.and time release fertilizer. I plant the small boxwoods in spring as part of the annuals planted for summer display. In late summer, I pull the summerflowers and add mums, asters cabbage or whatever for an early fal display. Then by October I get pots ready for winter, adding branches, aa few iches of pine bark mulch andpine cones surrounding the boxwood. They do just fine for the winter. The folowing spring I refreshe the soil, and after a few years, plant them in the garden and start again with small ones
My first attempt at foraging greenery for my porch pots that hold bulb "lasagna" for Spring. I used pieces of dried eucalyptus to add some color variations that from a distance looks like popcorn sticks! The blue juniper berries are my favorite in my homemade wreath which was fun to make!