Create a Jolly Front Porch With Festive Winter Planters

Use these top expert-approved tips to design stunning winter planters with materials gathered straight from your own backyard.

Whether you prefer simple or dazzling, you can create a magazine–worthy winter planter for your holiday porch with items from the garden and garage. Katherine Kinch, founder and designer of Your Space by Design in Calgary, Alberta, offers some suggestions to take your arrangements to the next level.

A gray winter planter with assorted greenery, a pomegranate, red twigs and berries.
Katherine Kinch

Place Winter Planters in Clear Sight

Front-door winter planters greet visitors, but other placements are also worthwhile. Katherine says, “Consider exterior areas such as decks or patios that have clear sight lines from interior spaces.” That way you can enjoy them inside, too, no matter how low temperatures drop outside.

Grow these winter interest plants to add seasonal beauty to your yard,

A trio of winter planters filled with birch branches, berries and ornaments.
Katherine Kinch

Organize Winter Planters in Groups

One container is a focal point, but multiple planters are a party. Be creative in how you arrange your planters and displays. Less isn’t always more!

“You will see matching planters on each side of the door,” she says. “But a less predictable but fun option is to layer planters of different sizes.”

Check out the top 10 dwarf conifers for small spaces.

Clay pot of greenery on terrace with red berries and red branches - Christmas decor
Susan Vineyard/Getty Images

Pick the Right Planter for Winter

Katherine points out that not all containers can handle cold winter temperatures. Look for a cast concrete, aluminum, fiberglass or heavy plastic planter to hold your beautiful design.

Winter gardens can be colorful! Grow these pretty winter plants for backyard cheer.

A branch from a juniper bush filled with gray-blue berries.
Katherine Kinch

Use Natural Materials for Winter Planters

Katherine utilizes natural materials as a base for her arrangement. Start with evergreen foliage, such cedar and juniper branches. Supplement with items from the backyard such as seedpods, pine cones or berry-covered branches.

Psst—try these winter garden ideas to keep growing while it’s snowing,

A grouping of winter containers and a wreath decorate a front entryway.
Katherine Kinch

Add Some Sparkle to Winter Planters

Simple containers with branches, seed heads and pine cones from the yard provide tons of visual impact. But Katherine adds metals or a pop of color with ornaments or berry branches to make it much more festive. She also might add a small string of white lights to “bring a twinkle and glow to winter nights.” For more inspiration or to hire Katherine, visit yourspacebydesign.com.

Next, don’t miss the top 10 fall container plants for a pretty front porch.

Rachel Maidl
Rachel Maidl is a former senior editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. She enjoys bird-watching in her urban backyard and local state parks, gardening for pollinators and researching new plants. Her favorite backyard visitors are the bumblebees that visit her sedums.