Tools and Tricks needed to arrange flowers at home?

It may be your first thought when you purchase or receive a bouquet of freshly cut flowers, but put them in a vase of water. With a few floristic supplies, you can turn your blooming flowers into vases for a professional-looking floral arrangement. And with some practice you could even make corsages, ikebana and wreaths for wedding floral design ideas.

Use of Kenzan and Frogs:
Harvest frogs, also known as kenzan or ikebana (artist’s green flower foam), are not only because they keep flowers in place, but also because they add elegance to the design. Frogs resemble pincushions and can be pinned to the face. Ancient flower frogs are valuable, so look for them in thrifty shops. Flat containers should have a visible anchorage.

Glue:
For many households there are two types of adhesives: white general purpose adhesive and super glue. Floral adhesive is unusual in that it binds fresh flowers wet and cold, wet foam, glass, cardboard, ribbon, leaves and plastic in the same way. It is used to make intricate corsets and boutonnières, and it is also used for making garlands, wreaths and home decorations. Tubular adhesive, gel adhesive and spray adhesive spray are made to wrap in pavement-style designs and can be purchased to cope with tiny surfaces.

The Branch Cutter:

A simple branch cutter is all it takes to prepare flowers for stem conditioning. Florists often use pruning shears, ribbon shears, ostrich trimmers or simple branch trimmers when they are needed for this task. If you try this with a normal pair of household scissors, you will tire your hands and your scissors blades will become blunt.

Transparent Tape:

To prevent flower drops, use clear flower ribbon to form a grid on the vase or vessel. This is especially important if you are using a clear vase and do not want your arrangement to look like a jumble of shredded stems. Clear, waterproof adhesive tape is also required to prevent the stem bases of some flowers, such as Calla lilies, from cracking underwater. Pruning loppers resemble a pair of secateurs and cut tough stems and woody branches from floral materials.

The Foam:
Foam is a substance that can be used almost anywhere. It comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, such as blocks, circles and wreaths, and can be tailored to any container. Green Flower Foam performs two functions: it keeps the flowers moisturised throughout the entire arrangement, and it keeps the flowers in place throughout your design. Use green flower foam to moisturize it first. You can soak the foam for up to two hours in a prepared solution of water, flowers and food and then insert the flower stems into the foam.

For the greatest longevity of flowers, you can cut your cuttings in the garden, buy more arrangements and extend the elixir. You may remember the flower boxes that came with your last bouquet.

Beginners who use flower ribbon for the first time may find it easier to deal with several tiny adhesive tapes than with continuous strips to prevent clutter. Green ribbon is not sticky, so you can cover leaves as it spreads instead of sticking to them. Due to the self-adhesive properties activated by wax, the tape becomes less sticky when it expands. Wrapping green ribbon around bunches of flower heads, corsets and wedding bouquets works well.

Food for Flowers:
A water hose is used to insert a flowering stem into the soil of a potted plant to create the illusion that the flowers are developing foliage. If your flower stems are too small to reach the foam level of your vase, you can pick up a hose to moisturise them. A water hose with rubberized cap secures the trunk and prevents water from escaping.

A wire:
Florists use wire of varying thicknesses to strengthen and lengthen flower stems in their designs. Flowers with thin stems and large flowers hanging are not wired. If you want to use wire, invest in a wire cutter to prevent your scissors from becoming blunt. Florists often use green ribbon to hide the wire in floral patterns.

Wired wood pickers make it easy to insert thick stems, like sunflowers, into your florist’s froth.

Picks made of wood:

If you have many thin logs with small inserts in your foam, you can combine several logs into one insertion point with a wired wood picker. Even non-floral elements such as fruits and pine cones can be added to your arrangement with wood pickings.