In days past, clever gardeners clipped trees, shrubs and hedges into wonderful shapes. Today the tradition lives on in these versatile, decorative trees you can make yourself - in any size.








You will need:
Assorted ribbons; strips of tulle; decorative fabric; dried flowers and leaves;
nuts; shells; seed pods
Florists' foam block or ball
Nails; tissue paper; paper
Length of dowel or an attractive branch for stem of tree
Pot or container
Spray paint, if desired
Small quantity of quick-dry cement
Medium-weight florists' wire
Small wire cutters and pliers


Here's how:
1. Hammer nails into sides of one end of stem and sharpen other end.

2. Lay paper across drainage hole in pot and stand nailed end of stem in pot. Fill pot with cement and allow to dry.

3. Wire up all trimmings into bunches and wind wire around stems. Paint any trimmings now. Tie bows or layer ribbon and wire layers together. Strips of tulle and fabric can be used as ribbons.

4. When cement is dry, pull centre of foam block firmly down onto sharpened, top end of stem. Start inserting wired trimmings into foam block, first building up a circular perimeter to act as a guide. This will prevent you subsequently having some bunches too far into or out of the circle. Remember to build up this perimeter from all angles-try to imagine you are creating a smooth, round ball.

5. When all bunches are inserted, scrunch up tissue paper or similar to hide cement and place pot into basket.

6. Rim of pot can be decorated with glued-on nuts, shells, dried flowers or seed pods.

Design Tips:
Remember balance is important. Don't put a very tall tree into a small pot.

The trees become quite top-heavy once completed; consider this when securing the base in its container.

For miniature trees, use small polystyrene balls instead of florists' foam block and sharpened meat skewers or dowelling for the stem. They look wonderful as table centre pieces for special occasions.

Topiary trees are ideal for special occasions and can be covered with small balloons, leaves or flowers.