Top 13+ Plants You Can Forage for Beautiful (and Free!) Holiday Decor

Create festive decorations with foraged greenery, vines, berries, and more from these common plants.

Decorating for the holidays can get pricey fast and lead to a lot of unnecessary waste in the form of plastic packaging, single-use decor, and more. But if you have a backyard or you are out in nature where greenery is abundant, you might find plants to decorate your holiday mantel, table, and tree with foraged, fresh, and all-natural materials this winter.

From pine boughs to colorful winter berries, here are 13 stunning yet common plants to deck your halls and bring the outdoors in.

If you are foraging outside your own property, always ask permission from the owner first. Foraging in public parks is subject to local regulations and may vary from park to park. Find out what the rules are before you start snipping.

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Conifers

Instead of purchasing evergreen branches around the holidays to create wreaths, garlands, and tablescape designs, forage fresh conifer branches (e.g. fir, pine, spruce) from nature for free. All you need is a pair of pruners and a bit of time. Pine, hemlock, fir, cedar, and spruce boughs are all perfect for holiday decorating. Foraged pinecones can be used for holiday crafting, too.

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Red Osier Dogwood

There are around 15 species of native dogwood in North America, but the red osier dogwood is a stand-out plant thanks to its bright red bark. During winter, red osier dogwood is easy to spot against the snow. Simply snip away its slender stems with a pair of pruners. Once you’ve brought them home, display those red stems in a vase for a minimal look, tuck them into mantel or wreath designs, or use them to make one-of-a-kind ornaments.

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Winterberry

Winterberry is a type of native holly that drops its leaves in fall, but keeps its bright red berries all winter long. Winterberry stems are pretty displayed in vases, wreaths, and just about anywhere you like. Just be sure to take only a few branches with berries and leave most of the berries on the plant. Overall, only 10 percent of the berries should be foraged by you and others. Wild birds rely on winterberry plants for food when snow covers the ground.

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Holly

While winterberry holly drops its leaves in winter, many other hollies are evergreen plants that are enjoyed for their glossy leaves and red berries. English holly is particularly well-known for its spiky, dark green leaves, which are perfect for wreathmaking and garlands. Wear gloves when handling holly as the leaves have sharp edges.

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Rosehips

Like winterberries, bright red rosehips are perfect for crafting, but they also draw the eye when displayed in vases, tablescapes, and mantel designs. Most roses produce hips, but it’s important to handle rosehips carefully when foraging. Some wild roses are invasive in many areas, and accidentally dropping rosehips while foraging can unintentionally cause these unwanted plants to spread.

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Grapevines

When the leaves fall in autumn, vining plants like grapevines are much easier to see and gather for wreathmaking and other crafts. With just a bit of florist wire, you can shape grapevines into DIY wreath forms in any shape you’d like and then wire on pinecones, berries, evergreen branches, and other foraged items to create a unique decorated wreath.

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Poppies

When poppy flowers dry out, they leave behind curiously shaped dried poppy pods that can be gathered for wreath crafting, dried bouquets, and other holiday decor. If the poppy pods rattle when you pick them, they are still full of seeds. After you have used the poppy pods for crafting, plant the seeds in spring if desired.

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Boxwood

Boxwoods, often grown in hedgerows and for garden privacy, have glossy, evergreen leaves that are ideal for holiday crafting. To keep plants looking trim, cut boxwood branches back to a leaf node using sharp pruners. Try to make even cuts around the plant so it still looks polished after you have cut your holiday decor.

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Ornamental Grasses

Lots of ornamental grasses keep their dried seed heads through winter, which makes them great foraging material around the holidays. Grass heads look stately when displayed in bundles in a vase, but they can also be used to create a unique wreath or garland, or threaded in among your Christmas tree branches for a bit of movement and color.

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Birch

If you’re crafty, you can use birch branches and logs to create homemade candle holders, napkin rings, and other fun projects. To keep it simple, use ribbons of foraged birch bark to accentuate tablescape designs, gift wrapping, and other holiday decor.

Never peel living birch bark off trees, as it damages the trees. Only remove bark that has already naturally loosened itself from the tree’s trunk.

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Magnolias

If you live in area where magnolia trees remain evergreen, use their large, glossy leaves as holiday accents. Tucking magnolia leaves in amongst your Christmas tree branches will give an unexpected twist to your Christmas tree design. Magnolia leaves are also ideal for wreaths, garlands, and other holiday decorations.

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Ivy

Although English ivy is an invasive plant that damages masonry and harms trees, for holiday crafting, it's an asset. When trees drop their leaves in winter, it’s much easier to spot these evergreen vines and remove them from your garden.

Before you cut it, make sure that you know how to distinguish English ivy from poison ivy vines, which are hairy or fuzzy with a reddish tint.

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Moss

Mosses come in handy in wreathmaking, or for adding a splash of green to table centerpieces, mantel-scapes, and more. However, like other foraged items, you should never harvest more than one-tenth of an untouched moss you find because moss provides habitat for insects and is an important part of local ecosystems.