No Foam Floral Wreath Base — Philippa Craddock (2024)

A few weeks ago I mentioned on Instagram that I would share the steps behind making a wreath base, without floral foam.

The story behind wanting to share these steps started a year ago, when I was asked by a friend to help with her late mother’s funeral flowers. I sadly couldn’t make the funeral, so I spoke to a few florists local to them. My main request, was that the designs would be created without floral foam. Every florist I spoke to said it wasn’t possible. When I dug a little deeper, I discovered that it wasn’t because they didn’t want to, it was because they were genuinely scared to step away from using a technique they had been taught and had relied on for years. I understood and empathised, and became more focussed to share more sustainable mechanics.

What do I mean by sustainable mechanics? Mechanics that don’t use single use plastics, nor hazardous materials. There are five main alternatives to floral foam - moss, wire, branches, garden twine and kenzans. Within this step-by-step guide, we use a combination of branches, moss and garden twine.

I am a strong believer that we can all successfully and easily move away from relying on floral foam; it has to be done with kindness and encouragement, to have positive and real, long term effect.

I hope you find these steps helpful, and please share with anyone who you think might also find them helpful, and as always, you are welcome to ask any questions either via email kate@philippacraddock.com or send me a direct message on Instagram @philippacraddock.

Warmest,
Philippa x

Since first featuring this Journal guide, we have received many incredibly positive messages, with a recurring theme, that the steps above have provided the final step for many florists to move entirely away from using floral foam. It has been wonderful to hear, we are thrilled it has helped so much. We have though also received a few messages from florists, saying they still don’t quite feel confident enough to entirely banish floral foam from their work, for which I greatly appreciate their honesty, and will continue to gently share a different variety of straightforward, no floral foam mechanics.

Although I created this guide to help you step away from floral foam, it also must be a practical and realistic guide, so for those not ready as yet to stop using floral foam entirely, there is something you can do … (this advice comes on the back of a positive message I received from Gill Hodgson, founder of UK based, Flowers From The Farm):

DON’T POUR THE WATER YOU HAVE SOAKED YOUR FOAM IN, DOWN THE DRAIN & BE SURE TO DISPOSE OF THE FLORAL FOAM BLOCKS RESPONSIBLY.

The floral foam soaked water will be full of micro plastics, and when it is poured down a drain, sink etc. it all ends up in the sea, causing further damage to our already fragile oceans. Floral foam is made from a combination of carbon black, formaldehyde and phenolic foam, making it non-biodegradable, non-recyclable and toxic for both humans and animals, so it must be disposed of carefully, to minimise damage. Please note, these steps will never remove the toxic micro plastics from our environment, but it will help prevent the particles from reaching our rivers, lakes, oceans and food chains:

STRAIN THE FOAM SOAKED WATER THROUGH COTTON FABRIC (AN OLD PILLOW CASE FOR EXAMPLE). DISPOSE OF THESE FOAM FRAGMENTS, ALONG WITH THE USED FLORAL FOAM BLOCKS, INTO LANDFILL-BOUND RUBBISH. AND FINALLY, POUR THE FLORAL FOAM SOAKED WATER INTO YOUR GARDEN (OR GAIN CONSENT FROM SOMEONE ELSE) TO CAPTURE AND HOLD THE REMAINING FOAM RESIDUE.

And please remember, it is so important that we never shame anyone, if we do this, we are simply making those who don’t know another way, feel nervous and scared to ask for help and support.

Warmest,
Philippa x