Gardens illustrated feature

11 Dec

December 2025 issue

I was commissioned by Gardens Illustrated magazine to create three natural festive decorations.

A winter fireplace, a staircase and a free-standing decoration, which could also double as an alternative Christmas tree.

Images within the magazine by Andrew Montgomery, the rest are mine.

Twisting trails of *akebia quinata* and dried *alchelmilla mollis* flowers

The mantlepiece design was attached to the wall using just four nails - a confidence is required to obtain an effortless, natural design with minimal fixings.

The lichen is the main feature of the freestanding design and the hanging ‘baubles’ and twigs spin gently in the breeze as you walk past.

The staircase design, consisting of lichen-covered branches, alchelmilla mollis flowers and dried lunaria seedheads, spread further than just the stairs themselves and out onto the walls and floor.

If you try to make a version of this take care not to impede the handrail or the path of travel up and down the stairs. The candles should be placed at a safe distance from the dried material never left unattended.

behind the scenes

During my mid-winter dog walks I collected fallen lichen and branches, honing in on the most ‘licheny’ or interesting shapes.

Earlier in the summer I had rescued a van load of alchemilla plants destined for the tip. I couldn’t plant them out sadly as they were riddled with bindweed and I certainly don’t want to introduce that into the garden, so I removed all the flower heads and hung them up to dry - waiting for who-knows-what…

Once dried, the alchemilla mollis flowers lost some of their fresh, bright green zestiness, fading to an earthier ochre hue - echoing the colour of the yellow lichen.

This colour-play formed the basis of my designs.

The mantlepiece design underwent many changes and took days of work - both settling on the final version then making. This is not a process to be rushed!