Floral Design Tip: The Importance of Greening

What is greening?

“Greening” is a term florists use to explain the process of adding foliage to a flower arrangement. It is usually the first step in the design process because most florists use greening as an opportunity to create the shape of their design. It can be thought of as providing the foundation, structure, or architecture for a design. Greening is also important because the foliage provides the necessary support for the flowers to be placed in a container. Also, when floral foam is used, the foliage is used to cover the mechanics of a design.

What kind of foliage can be used for greening?

Although there are some staples in the floral industry (such as leather and lemon leaf), there is so much variety in foliage available today that there is no answer to this question. Many designers use forage herbs and vegetables for their designs. Searching for your veggies is a great way to cut your fix costs. Greens are everywhere and the opportunities for foraging are huge too. Keep an eye out for interesting foliage for your arrangements. Using two or three different types of greens, with different textures and shades of green, adds interest, movement, and depth to a design.

How to green a vase arrangement:

The first step is to determine the length of each stem that you place in the vase. The standard rule of thumb is that your arrangement is 1-1.5 times the height + width of your container. Select three stems to start and cut the longest stem using the formula above. Then cut the second step 2/3 of the length of the longest stem. Lastly, cut the third stem about 2/3 the length of the longest stem (you don’t want to be too exact, and even a slight difference in length adds dimension to your piece).

For a 3-sided standard shape arrangement, place the longest stem in the middle of the vase and the shorter stems on either side of the longest stem. Use these three pieces as the skeleton of your arrangement. Cut the rest of the vegetables to fill between the three primary stalks.

Now that you have your green leaves in place, you can add your flowers and continue to use the shape you established with your green leaves as a guide for flower placement.

As you can see, greening is a critical step in the flower design process. It provides the architecture for your design, provides support for your flowers to stay in place, and also covers the mechanics of floral foam designs. Mastering greening is not an overnight process and requires patience and practice. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes and use your mistakes as learning opportunities.