Amy Draiss
If you’re like me, this time of year always brings to mind A Charlie Brown Christmas, with its wistful musical interludes and Charlie's tiny, forlorn-looking fir tree. As you deck the halls, hopefully your trees won’t be looking quite that limp – but as the weeks go on, there is a chance it might show more gaps, look a bit spindly, or just seem a bit… sad. Maybe the branches are thinner than you like, perhaps you’ll spy a random bald spot, or maybe your trusty artificial tree is starting to look more tired than timeless.
It’s a common Christmas tree problem: how do you make it look fuller? If you want to give your tree a helping hand, there’s a cool hack you can try that needn’t cost a bean. This hack is equally effective whether you are looking to fluff up a real tree or an artificial model. It’s a quick and simple way to create a full Christmas tree – and it involves elements that are likely growing right outside your window.
This fluffy tree hack is fun, budget-friendly and sure to give your tree a fuller, thicker, more luxurious appearance in moments. Here’s how to deploy a delightful trick of the eye to transform a sad or spindly tree into a fabulously full and fluffy affair…
Why You Need This Fluffy Tree Hack
The ‘fluffiness factor’ is a real thing, and it can make or break the visual integrity of your tree. Yes, well-placed ornaments can look lovely, but if your eye keeps landing on that unsightly gap, spindly branch or bald spot, no amount of sparkle is going to conceal it. What you need is some visual trickery – a way to create the effect of fluffiness even if it is lacking. And this is possible, whether you’re using a real Christmas tree or giving that vintage artificial number another turn on the living room carpet. As long as the tree branches are deep green, this hack will give instant volume, fullness, and luxe appeal – and the best bit is that you can use homegrown elements from your own backyard.
This visual trickery involves a Christmas tree garland hack I’ve been using for years, and the principle is simple. It’s about giving your tree an extra layer of foliage to create natural density inside the branches. The eye reads all these green garden clippings as originating from the same natural source. This foliage can be different tones, and even variegated, to complement the color of your tree. It doesn’t have to be the exact same shade – in fact, varieties and contrasts are part of the magic of the illusion. By weaving greenery garlands in the right way, you’ll minimize gaps, create soft shadows, and give more natural texture – the perfect foil for all those sparkly, twinkly embellishments.
You don’t have to be a crafting genius to make a greenery garland of leafy pieces, and you don’t have to worry about making mistakes. This evergreen garland trick doesn’t require advanced techniques, and you won’t need oodles of time to devote to the task. Just give yourself half an hour of Christmas tree care, a steady hand for weaving and draping, and select greenery from the garden. Here’s how to quickly give sparse Christmas trees a lush boost and that all-important fluffiness factor.
What You Need for This Hack
Selection of greenery, to a large degree, will depend on your Christmas tree type, natural color, and what you have growing in your yard. But think creatively, and it’s easy to adapt all manner of cuttings from evergreens, shrubs and plants for unique Christmas trees that practically rustle with fullness and texture. Ideally, you need plants with textures and tones to offset or complement a pine, spruce or fir.
Look for evergreen staples, but also plants that provide natural filler, and maybe silvery or gold accents. The following planting options are all handy for helping to create that voluminous quality. As long as you avoid overly sappy branches and quick shedders, there is plenty to play with. Any combination can make your tree look bushier and more luxe, so aim for 3-5 options from this list:
- Leyland Cypress: A popular festive evergreen with soft, feathery foliage and naturally dense branching, Leyland cypress is perfect for adding natural bulk.
- Yew: These dark green needles create contrast and depth tucked among lighter branches. It’s sturdy but not stiff, helping to add definition without looking too heavy.
- Pine: The soft, fragrant needle clusters of common pine varieties will add instant fluffiness. Their long needles make gaps vanish, and it smells so festive.
- Boxwood: Small box hedge leaves and tidy branching make a smart filler. Use it where you need neat, compact density without distracting from your tree’s needles.
- Euonymus: Variegated Euonymus varieties add gentle tonal variation, perfect for areas where your tree looks flat and needs brightness.
- Rosemary: Some rosemary plant sprigs add a delectable herbal scent as well as a fine texture and tonal accents with pops of silver.
- Laurel: Choose cherry or Portuguese varieties for shiny leaves, used sparingly for a luxe, glossy pop to more fluffier elements.
- Juniper: Grab some blue-green juniper tones and berries for a frosty, wintry feel. This foliage adds a soft texture that pairs especially well with artificial trees.
If your supply of naturally sourced greenery won’t stretch to a couple of lush garlands, it’s fine to incorporate a few sprigs from your local nursery, florist or garden center or source a few faux greenery elements online.
You will also need some lightweight twine, string or floral wire, and a good pair of garden shears, secateurs, pruners or garden scissors, such as Fiskars Comfort Loop Pruning Snips from Amazon. And don’t forget comfy gloves, like Oizen Thorn-Proof Gloves from Amazon, for handling any prickly evergreens.
How to Make Your Fluffy Garland
Once you’ve gathered together your raw elements, twine and so on, there are just a few golden rules to creating a lush green garland that can be woven naturalistically in and out of your tree branches. If you have some experience of making a winter wreath or natural Christmas decorations, this is a breeze. But even if you have never tried anything like this before, it’s really mostly common sense and color play.
Try to keep the overall textural effect loose. A relaxed, hand-tangled garland looks more natural than a tight braided rope. When gathering your leaves and cuttings for the garland, aim for a level of continuity. Group selections into small plant bundles before attaching, and make sure every bundle has similar elements. Match textures and tones in each bundle. And think about layering. When it comes to these natural greenery elements, a little can go a long way. Aim for fullness, not foliage chaos.
For a standard 6ft (1.8m) tree, aim for a garland length of 7-10 feet (2-3m). For very sparse trees, make two narrower garlands and weave them on different levels of your tree for maximum fluff. Here’s how to weave the basic greenery garland:
- Lay out your greenery and group into short 8-12 inch (20–30cm) bundles. Mix in different elements as you see fit, but try to be consistent with each bundle. Again, try not to overload each bundle.
- Tie your bundles together lightly with the string or wire, creating a gently meandering garland. It’s up to you whether you loop one long length of wire around each bundle, or add together sections of wire.
- Starting from the trunk outward, lightly weave the garland into any gaps you spot. It helps to start on the inside of the tree, near the base, and move upwards in a lightly natural movement. Working with the trunk creates instant depth in a way that is harder to distinguish from the tree’s natural branching.
- Step back occasionally and adjust. Your tree should look naturally bushy. Adjust as you feel, making sure that any obvious gaps and spindly tree areas are given special attention. Make sure the garland is fastened somewhere on the trunk once you are happy.
If you find, when you lay your greenery out, that you are still falling short, or you are struggling to find all the elements you want in your garden, it’s not a problem. You can mix in faux spruce, artificial green branching, or faux Christmas tree extras. You can source dried or artificial green stem bundles like Cenelo Eucalyptus Bundles from Amazon. Even incorporating a little soft green Christmas tree tinsel which can then be tucked deep in the branches can bulk up your natural greenery, adding an intriguing dimension and much-needed density.
Finishing Touches for a Fluffy Tree
Now you’ve added your greenery garlands, you can give further tonal texture and visual interest to hide or conceal any lingering unwanted gapping. Adding branches or twigs may sound a little radical, but if you opt for natural (or natural-look) branches like contorted hazel, birch, or willow, you’ll help reinforce structure and give an instant wow factor. If you don’t have any to hand in your garden, you can buy Lifelike Curly Willow Branches from Amazon. Add red berry branches or floral branches for pops of naturalist color and a unique Christmas tree effect.
Dried citrus wheels are another great filler, either added to your garland or added directly to the tree. You can bind together berry and foliage elements using holly, rosehips and winter berries. I love adding dried hydrangea heads to trees at regular intervals to max out that fluffy factor, and I’m also a big fan of threaded popcorn for a homespun flourish.
You can also use silver toned foliage like dusty miller, and not forgetting the old faithful: pine cones. Just remember to always add embellishments into the tree as well as around the edges, to emphasise fullness. Greenery brooches can also be dotted around the tree, mixing elements like laurel or pine, such as some lifelike Pine Branches from Amazon, attached with twine or wire. And voila: your Christmas tree will now be looking like a fuller, fluffier and truly epic showpiece!
Other Ways to Add Fullness
Now your festive showpiece is back to its fluffy best, there are a few other ways to enhance a full, three-dimensional showpiece, and guarantee that it captures attention for all the right reasons. Several of these simple tricks deploy tricks of the eye, or tricks of light, and all are relatively inexpensive (if not free). They may not be homegrown, but they can all help to showcase a more voluminous Christmas tree:
1. Reflective Baubles
High-shine ornaments mirror their surroundings, immediately multiplying any greenery and making your tree look more abundant. This is true of both metallic style baubles and more translucent glass-style options. You can buy Iridescent Prism Christmas Tree Decor from Amazon for added sparkle and visual dynamics to further enhance the suggested thickness of the tree. Golds, coppers, bronzes, silvers, whites and iridescent baubles all work wonderfully.
For a clever Christmas tree idea, try mixing up bauble sizes is a neat way of manipulating the depth of individual branches, and it can also look more professional. Just remember to place baubles near the trunk as well as around the edges of the branches. Try clustering them in groups of three at different depths for stylish yet natural elegance.
2. Frosty Embellishments
Another great way to easily boost the three-dimensional nature of your tree (and therefore seem to plump up its contours as if by magic) is by adding flecks of fake snow along the edges of its branches. Working much like frosting on a cake, you can use frosting sprays to enhance branch outlines, making them appear pronounced and therefore suggesting that the tree is thicker and more substantial. For your frosted Christmas tree, try a spray like the Pretex Tree Flocking Spray from Amazon. Just take care not to overdo it. You want this to be a light dusting rather than a pile-up.
Don’t forget about any readily available garden options that could also help you here. There are several frosty trims and accents possibly growing right under your nose. These include pieris, senecio (dusty miller), eucalyptus, cushion bush, gaultheria, and winter-flowering heather, to name but a few tasteful ideas that can help to add velvety silvers and lacy flakes.
3. Plenty of LED Lights
Finally, this one may go without saying, but some thoughtful Christmas tree fairy lights are a lovely way to bolster depth, as well as showcase all that extra foliage you’ve just added. Lighting is one of the easiest fullness-boosters. As a rule, you need 100 LEDs per foot of tree. Go for 150-200 for a richer, more layered glow. These LED Lights from Amazon are a great way to add depth and dimension to trees, making them look even fuller.
Tuck your lights deep inside the branches, as well as around the outer edges of the tree. Use a gentle zigzag approach to dressing the tree with lights, weaving in and out to hide cords and create visual depth. Another great pro tip is to use warm lights on the inside of the tree and cool white lights on the outside. This contrast is another visual trick that can suggest a deeper, fuller tree.
Fluffy Christmas Tree Essentials
Add an instantly festive flourish to your fluffed up tree with this flocking spray – guaranteed to create the impression of depth and fullness to festive specimens.
For instant dynamism and light play, these prism teardrop ornaments add optical depth as well as a pretty sparkle. The refractory shape creates added dimensions to the tree’s structure, not to mention movement. Combine with lights, and remember to stagger some of the ornaments on the inside as well as the edges of the branches.
These LED lights come in a string of 100 bulbs, which is perfect for creating those important zigzags that trick the eye into thinking that your tree is thicker, while the deeper lights help to create the idea of broader branches. These LEDs are also energy-saving so you can keep your tree looking fuller for longer.
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