WhatsApp Chat
Short answer: outdoors, on a front door in British December weather, a fresh evergreen wreath holds its look for several weeks. Indoors, in a heated hallway, it dries out in one to two — and then it dries decoratively rather than dying.
A wreath is the one Christmas decoration your neighbours see, and it is also the one people most often hang too late and then wonder why it looked its best on Boxing Day. Fresh evergreens behave in a completely predictable way once you know what they respond to: cold, damp air is what they want, and central heating is what finishes them.
How long does a fresh Christmas wreath last outdoors?
Several weeks, and often the whole of December into January. A north-facing or shaded front door in a cold, damp London December is close to ideal: fir, spruce, pine and eucalyptus all hold their needles and their colour for weeks at those temperatures. What shortens it is not frost — it is sun and wind. A south-facing door in a bright, dry spell will brown the tips of the foliage first, usually within a fortnight.
The parts that fade in a different order are worth knowing. Berries and fruit go first, especially dried orange slices in rain. Evergreen foliage goes last. Ribbon simply gets wet and loses its shape, and is the easiest thing to replace halfway through the month.
Why does the same wreath last half as long indoors?
Because indoors in December means heated, and heated means dry. A radiator under the hallway shelf, or a hall that runs at 21 degrees, pulls the moisture out of cut evergreens in days. An indoor wreath that would have lasted five weeks on the door gives you one to two.
This is not a reason to keep wreaths outside. It is a reason to hang an indoor one away from the radiator, off the wall above it, and out of direct sun — and to accept that an indoor wreath is going to dry. Fir and eucalyptus dry well: the colour goes muted and the shape stays. Berries shrivel and holly drops. If the wreath is going inside, ask us to build it with more eucalyptus and less soft berry.
When should you hang a Christmas wreath?
The first week of December, for most people. It is early enough that you get the whole season out of something that only lasts a few weeks, and late enough that it does not feel like a statement. Waiting until the weekend before Christmas is the single most common way to waste a fresh wreath: you pay for five weeks of life and use one.
If you want it up in late November — for a shop, an office reception, or because you simply like it — that is fine too, as long as it is outdoors and shaded. Ask for a build with a higher proportion of evergreen and dried material and less fresh fruit, and it will still look right on Christmas Eve.
How do you keep a fresh wreath looking new?
- Mist it. A spray bottle of cold water over the foliage, once or twice a week, does more than anything else on this list. Do it in the evening rather than in bright sun.
- Keep it off the heat. No radiator underneath, no sunny south-facing spot, no spot above a hot air vent.
- Let the rain do its work. An outdoor wreath needs no watering in a normal British December. The only weather that hurts it is a dry, bright, windy week.
- Re-tie the ribbon. After rain it will droop. A fresh bow is two minutes and makes a three-week-old wreath look new.
- Pick out what has gone. Shrivelled berries and browned orange slices are easy to pull out; the wreath reads as fresh again immediately.
The same principle as looking after a bouquet, really: cold, wet and out of the sun. We wrote the longer version of that in our guide to caring for flowers after delivery.
What is a fresh Christmas wreath actually made of?
Ours are built on a fresh evergreen base — fir and pine, eucalyptus for the silver-grey, pine cones, dried citrus, berries and ribbon — on a ring that holds its shape through the season. They come in three sizes, from a standard front-door wreath through to a large statement piece for a wide entrance or a shopfront.
Every one is made by hand in our studio in Bermondsey, in batches, which is why the sizes sell through: once a batch is gone we cannot conjure another one on 23 December. The current range is on the Christmas collection page, and if you want a specific size, colour scheme or a scent-led build with more eucalyptus, message us on WhatsApp on +44 7387 939120 before ordering.
Fresh or artificial: which should you buy?
An honest answer, given we sell one of the two. An artificial wreath lasts years, costs nothing after the first December, and never drops a needle on the doormat. A fresh one smells of pine and eucalyptus every time the door opens, changes as the month goes on, and looks like something that grew. Neither is the right answer for everyone.
What is worth knowing is that the two do not look the same from a metre away, in either direction. If you buy fresh, buy it for the smell and the texture and accept that it is seasonal. If you buy artificial, buy a good one and dress it with a few fresh sprigs — eucalyptus and a couple of pine cones tucked in do most of the work.
Can you make your own?
Yes, and it is a better evening than it sounds. We run wreath-making sessions in our studio in the run-up to Christmas: fresh evergreens, all the materials and tools, and the wreath goes home with you the same evening. Groups are small, and company teams often take a whole session instead of the usual Christmas party. Dates go up in late autumn — the workshop page has the details, or message us on WhatsApp to be told first or to arrange a private session.
What do you do with it in January?
Cut the ribbon and the decorations off, and the evergreen base composts. Most wreath rings are reusable — if yours is a wire or vine ring, keep it and bring it to a workshop next year. The dried orange slices and cinnamon, if they survived, are worth keeping in a drawer for next December.
One thing we keep separate, because people search for both and mean very different things: a Christmas wreath and a funeral wreath are not the same product and are not made the same way. If you are looking for tribute flowers, that page is the right one.
