Autumn decor: make a natural table centrepiece

Autumn has just arrived, offering beautiful fiery colours to tree foliage. With it come convivial meals with friends or family, cosy around a table. To bring warmth and cheer (even a festive touch) to your interior, nothing beats a lovely autumnal decoration. And what better way to create that atmosphere than a pretty table centrepiece, one of the focal points of a successful display. Especially since natural decorations are within easy reach (or within reach of a pruning shear) at this time of year. Discover our step-by-step tutorial to make a pretty natural table centrepiece.

1- What do I need?

Equipment :

• A container for your decorations : a pretty planter, a basket, a zinc tub, a wooden crate (wine crate…).
• Small vessels, glass or plastic, to place inside the container : jam jar, small vase, glass yoghurt pots, food-safe container, glass, etc.
• A pruning shear cleaned for trimming branches and gathering berries.

Decorations :

For decorative elements, forage according to your tastes and desires. Here are some ideas for natural decorations this season:

• Branches from bushes or trees, with leaves in autumn colours : Japanese maples, smokebush (Cotinus), Amelanchier, Euonymus alatus (burning bush), Viburnums
• Autumn flowers : autumn camellias, Caryopteris, Japanese anemones, autumn asters, chrysanthemums, some sedums, dried hydrangea flowers
• Plumes of ornamental grasses : Miscanthus, Pennisetum
• Decorative woody twigs, such as branches from a dogwood
• Berries : hips, Cotoneaster lacteus berries or holly, Callicarpa, Cotoneaster, Pyracantha or ornamental crabapples
• A few dead leaves : oak, maple
• Decorative items : pine cones, Chinese lanterns (Physalis), Gypsophila, honesty (Lunaria)

→ See our wide selection of trees and bushes with beautiful autumn colours and all our trees and bushes with autumn flowering.

2- Make a natural table centrepiece step by step

• Take your container, whether a planter, wooden box or basket. Here, I reused a small zinc basin.

• Place your small glass or plastic vessels inside the tub. Here, I used jam jars and glass yoghurt pots.

• Pour water to extend the life of cut branches and flowers. Note that these vessels can also be replaced by floral foam.

• Add your first branches with colourful or flowering foliage, placing them towards the outside. Here, I chose branches of Viburnum tinus 'Lisarose' for its pretty small pink flowers at this time of year and its evergreen foliage.

• Then alternate with other plant varieties, playing with colours, contrasts and leaf shapes. Here, I chose branchlets from a field maple, bearing autumn leaves in golden-yellow tones.

• Enhance the arrangement with a few autumnal decorations: berries, pine cone, dead leaves, etc. Here, I combined the orange of Cotoneaster lacteus berries with the small fruits of an ornamental crabapple and hips.

• Let your creativity express itself, for example with pine cones.

• There you go, your table centrepiece is finished! Just place it in the middle of the table so every guest can admire it.

3- Tips and advice

• This easy-to-make table decoration can be renewed for every major occasion (Christmas, Easter, etc.) and in every season.
• You can also use branches from evergreen bushes or twigs from conifers (thuja, yew, ...).
• You can also place a few small bulbs in the centre of this lovely composition, in a small terracotta pot, such as narcissi, a hyacinth or muscari.