At Foraged & Found we want our customers to be able to easily style the stems they have purchased from us or to re-create the arrangements shown on our website. Here you will hopefully find some practical tips and techniques to help you do just that.
Vessel
Firstly, you will need to select an appropriate vase or vessel for the arrangement you would like to create. For faux stems that you don't want to cut in order to position them at the perfect height, I would recommend using an opaque vase. This will allow you to bend your stems accordingly without them being visible. If you prefer using a glass vase, I would advise trimming the length of each stem with wire cutters to achieve a more realistic look. You may also want to consider the width of the neck of the vase. Wider opening vases will require more stems or a structural supporting foundation in order to create the perfect look, whereas a narrower neck will need to be more considered as this will hold fewer stems.
Creating Support
Flowers with larger heads or longer stems and vases with wider necks such as our Hartington vase may need some support in order to be able to place them where they look best visually. In this case there a couple of tried and tested methods you can use which will help.
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Firstly, chicken wire. This creates the ideal supporting framework for stems and can be re used in all your future arrangements. How much you will need will vary depending on the size of the vessel but for a rough guide a 12inch square piece would be suitable for a vase with a 3-4 inch opening. Using protective gloves, cut the chicken wire to size and shape it into a rough ball. Simply place this inside the vessel and secure with floristry tape if necessary.
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Secondly, floral pot tape, which can easily be purchased online using this link. Oasis tape is my personal favourite to use as it's really nice quality and also transparent so can be hidden well in your arrangement. Cut the tape to length making sure it is long enough to cover the full width of your chosen vessel allowing approximately one extra cm each side to adhere to the rim. Use several pieces to create a checkerboard pattern across the opening of the vase. The spaces in between the tape will allow you to place your stems in accordance with how how you want your finished design to appear. |
Shape & Structure
When creating any design, I like to begin by using foliage, ornamental branches or large structural stems like queen Annes lace or dogwood to create the framework. This will dictate the overall height and general shape for my design. For a more realistic overall appearance it is perfectly fine to mix faux stems with real foliage, but the ends of any flowers will need to be sealed if being placed in water. This can easily be done using a glue gun and a small amount of hot glue placed over the open end of each stem.
To create movement and a more naturalistic appearance, I like to manipulate each faux stem to make it appear as if it had just been cut from a tree or plucked from a hedgerow. Contorted Hazel is one of my favourite additions to any composition as it always tends to elevate the design and create form and structure. You can buy this on our website using this link. Floral arrangements tend to be one and a half times the height of the vessel being used so I tend to use this as a rough guide when creating my initial framework for more formal designs.
Focal Flowers
Once you have created a framework you are happy with you will need to select your focal flowers. These tend to be the largest blooms or statement stems such as peonies or roses which will create the main focus of the display. General rule of thumb is to place these in odd numbers of three, five or seven depending on the size of your arrangement. For contrast, I like to mix these blooms as I feel it gives an overall less contrived appearance. For example, to create a larger arrangement with seven focal flowers, I may use five roses and and two peony stems. I also like to mix the colour palette rather than use all the same for the focal flowers, so I would select three roses of one colour and two of a complimentary colour to complete the look.
Once you have chosen your flowers, you will need to manipulate each stem and bend them a little to create a more organic, natural appearance as if they are reaching for light. Some of the petals can also be reflexed to create a wider, more open look and to vary the overall aesthetic. When arranging the focal flowers, start by placing the tallest or fullest stem slightly off centre and place the remaining flowers at different heights surrounding it just as they would be found in nature. Faux stems are wired so can easily be bent and manipulated to achieve this.
For a more relaxed, organic looking arrangement, don't be afraid to place flowers so the heads fall below the rim of the vase and vary the stem angle so they are facing different directions. It is also worth noting that the overall design of your display will be heavily influenced by its placement within your home. For example. an arrangement being placed against a wall doesn't need to be considered from as many angles as one being placed in the centre of a table. If arranging for this scenario you will need to keep moving the vessel round whilst arranging to ensure it looks appealing from all sides.
Filler Flowers
The last stems to add to your arrangement are any than can be classed as filler or textural flowers such as Icelandic or oriental poppies, or if not previously used to create form and structure, dogwood or queen Anne's lace. Filler stems tend to be smaller stems or stems with multiple smaller heads and are used to fill any gaps or empty spaces in your arrangement to knit the design together.
As before, manipulate each of the stems before adding them to the design to create a more organic appearance. Think carefully when finishing your arrangement about the placement of these stems and don't be tempted to overcrowd the design allowing it space to breathe. Often fewer stems look more elegant than a dense display.