Some problems have no solution. All we can do is to share the pain and ease it a bit with laughter. For instance, whyizzit that
Why, oh why do we forget every year to delay pruning our evergreens until late fall? If we had all those boxwood, spruce and pine clippings now it would be a snap to copy some of the nifty ideas we see while we're doing our holiday shopping.
A simple and classy composition in the city of Northville, Michigan. Every bit of the contents home-growable to zone 4, save one silk poinsettia:
City sidewalks, pretty sidewalks, dressed in holiday style! Great ideas but we've no pine branch for clipping!
Fir, some pine boughs and a bit of redtwig dogwood to support plastic ornaments.
Force roses in warm water and sun so they open wide, thread them into place on a wreath and hang it where it will stay cold. The roses can last for weeks. As an alternative, use silk roses. (Gardenviews store, Northville, MI.)
Both arrangements at Fleur Detroit in Bloomfield Hills, MI.
Above and below: Twisted willow/Corkscrew willow (Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa') with various ornamental kale and squash bedded in juniper boughs and Douglas fir branches.
White birch or poplar branches hung with boxwood balls, and fir at their feet.