Why Low and Layered Wins

The best winter tables are the ones where nobody has to lean sideways to catch a neighbour's eye. A tall vase of forced branches looks stunning in a hallway, but at a table it becomes a wall. So the rule I come back to every December is simple: keep the whole arrangement below the eyeline — around 20 to 25 centimetres at most — and let it spread outwards instead of upwards. Think of it as a landscape rather than a monument. You are dressing the table, not building a centrepiece to be admired from the other side of the room.

This also happens to be the cheapest approach. A low, generous scattering covers more table for less material, and it means you can forage nearly everything you need on a single winter walk.

What to Gather, and When

Late November through January is prime foraging time for table decor, because so much of what looks dull in summer has dried into something sculptural. Take a basket and a pair of secateurs — never pull at plants, and only take from the ground or from places where you have permission.

• Pine cones — the classic. Look under mature pines and larches after a windy night. Smaller cones from larch and spruce are easier to work with around plates.
• Bare twigs — birch, hazel and dogwood. Dogwood keeps a dull red through winter, which lifts an otherwise brown palette.
• Seed heads — teasel, honesty discs and dried allium heads from the garden.
• Evergreen snippets — a few sprigs of ivy, holly or yew. Keep these small; you want accents, not a wreath.
• Moss and lichen-covered twigs — for texture at the base of the arrangement.
• Dried citrus — from the kitchen rather than the hedgerow, but it earns its place.

Preparing Your Foraged Finds

There are two jobs to do before anything goes on the table.

Pine cones. Cones brought in from the cold will be tightly closed, and they often bring tiny inhabitants with them. Spread them on a baking tray and put them in a low oven — around 100°C — for an hour. They will open up beautifully and anything living will leave. Let them cool completely before using them. If you would rather not use the oven, a week in a warm airing cupboard works too, though the cones will stay tighter.

Dried citrus. Slice oranges, clementines or lemons about three to four millimetres thick — thin enough to dry before they brown. Blot with kitchen paper, lay on a rack over a tray, and dry at 60-70°C for three to four hours, turning once. They are ready when they feel like stiff card. Thread them with twine and hang them for a day or two if you want a deeper amber colour.

Give evergreen sprigs a rinse and a good shake outdoors, and check for anything that might drop onto a plate later.

Building the Arrangement

Work on a long runner or a strip of hessian so you can move the whole thing in one go if you need the table for something else. Start with the flattest, heaviest things and build upwards from there.

• Lay moss and a few lichen twigs along the centre line, breaking them into short lengths so they read as a scatter rather than a snake.
• Group pine cones in threes and fives, with space between the clumps. Odd numbers look gathered; even numbers look placed.
• Push dried citrus slices slightly upright, propped against cones so they catch the candlelight.
• Add bare twigs last, laid almost flat, crossing each other at gentle angles. Resist the urge to make them stand up.
• Tuck two or three sprigs of evergreen near the ends, where they will not block anyone's view.

Leave gaps. The bare table between the elements is what stops the whole thing looking like a hedge.

Linen and Light

A washed linen runner in oatmeal, stone or charcoal gives the arrangement a base and hides the mechanics of it. Press it only lightly — the creases are part of the charm. Cloth napkins in the same family, tied with a single dried orange slice and a length of jute, take five minutes and look properly considered.

For light, choose low. Taper candles in short holders, a couple of pillars in shallow dishes, or tea lights in small glass votives. Height is the enemy here, so keep everything sitting close to the cloth.

One important safety note: dried foliage, moss and pine cones are flammable. Keep every flame at least a hand's width from anything dried, never let candles burn down unattended, and blow them out before you leave the room.

Keeping It Going Through the Season

The beauty of this kind of arrangement is that it can be refreshed rather than remade. Swap the citrus for dried apple rings in January. Add a few sprigs of rosemary when the ivy starts to droop. Store the cones in a lidded jar with a few drops of cedar oil, and they will come out next year smelling of the woods and ready to go again.

Set the table early, while there is still light to arrange by, then let the candles take over as the afternoon fades.