An old Irish proverb states: "When a twig grows hard it is difficult to twist. Every beginning is weak."

This was no doubt applied to early life training of children, but the same thinking will reward you with plenty of twiggy holiday decorating materials at virtually no cost.

While sap is still high in the woody trees, shrubs and vines, their limbs are soft and flexible. But when the sap falls to the root with the first hard freezes, it will harden the wood making it hard to shape. Plus, you'll need leaves to identify poison oak, ivy or sumac – all definitely hands-off!

The most beautiful wreaths and garlands are composed of core materials made from branches, twigs, whips, runners and tendrils. When they're cut while still green and flexible, you can twist and bundle them into all sorts of beautiful holiday decorating materials. Once dried, they retain these shapes indefinitely. Pioneers without nails or wire actually used willow whips to bind fence boards knowing that when dry they'd make a solid connection.

All you do is simply cut materials from the plant, strip the leaves and weave into a wreath. Tie it off with florist wire because it shrinks a little while drying, causing tips to pop out of shape.

Lie the green wreath on a flat, dry surface such as a garage floor. There it will gradually dehydrate. In November you can bring it out again and remove the wire, then decorate. For Thanksgiving use colorful gourds and autumn leaves; for Christmas try mistletoe and holly berries.

Certain plants have long been traditional for these twiggy core materials. Each offers a different texture and flexibility. Some will be better for broom-like swags because they are brushy and fine-textured. Others produce very long runners ideal for garlands. Still more are notoriously flexible, bending easily into wreaths of all sizes.

Grapevines, be they vines supporting wine, table or wild grapes, are the best for very long garlands and big, solid wreaths. In the wild, the vines climb into the treetops where you'll find the straightest runners are easy to pull down.

Bittersweet and Virginia creeper are wild vines that produce finer runners for harvest. Creeper is also found in gardens. So if you need to thin out your vine there, do it in the fall to recycle the cuttings for decor.

Willows are the most flexible of all plants, but they tend to be rather slick and lack the character of grapevine and bittersweet. The best cuttings for garland making are from weeping willows. Use shorter wild willows and shrubbier willow trees for
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