Things You'll Need:
- Wire Wreath Frame
- Ferns
- Garden Shears
- Liquid Fertilizers
- Slow-release Fertilizer
- Sphagnum Moss
- Paddle Wire
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Step 1
Attach the tag end of No. 24 paddle wire to a wire wreath frame.
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Step 2
Soak sphagnum moss in a bucket until it is moist. Half a bale of sphagnum will make one 8-inch living wreath.
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Step 3
Cover the wreath frame with the sphagnum moss. The brown side of the moss should be facing up and the sides should overlap by at least two inches on both sides of the frame.
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Step 4
Select six to eight ferns in 2- to 4-inch pots from the nursery. Some suggestions are maiden hair fern, fluffy ruffles of fern, moss fern, holly fern, button fern or rabbit's foot fern.
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Step 5
Remove one of the ferns from the container and flatten the root ball by pressing it gently between your palms.
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Step 6
Lay the prepared fern plant onto the moss-covered frame near where the wire is attached. The fern should be on its side.
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Step 7
Cover the root ball with a new piece of damp moss. Wrap the moss that overlaps the sides up over the new sheet to cover the entire root ball.
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Step 8
Wrap twice with the paddle wire. Be very careful to wrap the wire over the root ball and not the crown (the area where the foliage meets the roots) of the plant.
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Step 9
Place the next fern so that the foliage is overlapping the covered root ball of the first plant.
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Step 10
Continue adding ferns, covering with moss and wrapping with wire until you come to the end. Cut the wire and tie off to the back of the frame.
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Step 11
Soak the finished wreath in a bucket of water or spray with a hose to settle plants in place.
